Music

"It's Showtime!"

February 11, 2014

It has often been said that in New Orleans, dinner is an entire evening's theatre. The exciting dining scene is framed in stunning sets, complex social and cuisine interplay, defined roles, a cast of characters, and a satisfying close.

Now this city boasts one of the most dynamic live theater performance offerings you will find anywhere in the world, AND we still have the dining scene envied by America's other great culinary capitals.

Irvin Mayfield, Cultural Ambassador for New Orleans

by Kim Welsh

August 02, 2013

At only 35 years old, Irvin Mayfield, Jr. represents the continuity of the unfolding Jazz legacy of New Orleans. This versatile trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and University of New Orleans professor is on a path to position Jazz at the center of American culture.

Kermit Ruffins, New Orleans' Music Ambassador

by Kim Welsh

April 29, 2013

Proud of his humble roots and contributions to New Orleans music, bandleader, vocalist, and jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins claims Louis Armstrong as an early role model. He sings with an off-the-cuff charm that is the spitting image of our beloved Crescent City icon, "Satchmo," as he plays his trumpet with a bright, silvery tone. The jazz served up by our native Orleanian with a sunny disposition is as Louisiana as dirty rice and embodies the very essence of New Orleans jazz.

Big Chief "Monk" Boudreaux Won't Bow Down

by Kim Welsh

January 30, 2013

A few blocks away from the bacchanalian revelry in the French Quarter lies the mysterious and magnificent world of a mainstay of New Orleans Fat Tuesday celebrations. Mardi Gras Indians, resplendent in their brilliantly colored costumes, take to the streets in ceremonial dance to the beat of tambourines and drums, spellbinding confrontational rituals, call-and-response style chants, and Indian second line rhythms.

Our Living Legend, Lionel Ferbos

by Kim Welsh

November 07, 2012

Jazz trumpeter Lionel Ferbos is widely considered the oldest performing musician on the planet. At 101 years young, we adore our eldest statesman of traditional jazz, a native New Orleanian who appears at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, where he leads the Palm Court Jazz Band each Saturday night. He brings his mastery of the music of a bygone era to his regular gig at the Palm Court, the French Quarter mecca for traditional jazz enthusiasts. "I've had a wonderful life with music," Ferbos says. "As long as I have teeth, I'll keep playing.

Little Freddie King, New Orleans' Monarch of the Blues

by Kim Welsh

July 31, 2012

The official highway welcome signs in Mississippi say "Welcome to Mississippi, Birthplace of American Music," and few people typify that unique American music form called the Blues quite like Little Freddie King, who New Orleans now claims as its own.