Author Archives: Jan V. Ramsey

March 10th 2010

Can We Ever Change?

We learned an important lesson in the past few weeks in regards to the cover of our March issue.

As those of you who are old enough to remember, in 1972 George Carlin did a monologue on the “seven words you can never say on television.” Those were shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. He updated that list in a performance at Carnegie Hall performance that appeared on HBO in their 1982-83 season and the list grew substantially.

But those words were way, way before cable television came along and brought those “filthy” words not only on to TV, but onto radio (listen to the radio lately?) and into the common vernacular.

We caught some severe flack—and rightfully so—for the usage of the words “Strange Fruit” on our March cover, that depicted the band MyNameIsJohnMichael hanging from a playground monkeybars. The idea was conceived innocently as a young band hanging like fruit from a tree, waiting to be picked by a record label.

Well, the photo in conjunction with the headline “Strange Fruit” hit lots of raw nerves. It recalled Billie Holiday’s song that described the bodies of black men’s hanging from trees who had been lynched by Southern racists—a really awful connection and mental reference.

We removed the photo and cover from our website, apologized publicly as well as to the band. We’ve reprinted covers for the magazines we’re sending to SXSW in Austin. We made a dumb mistake, really dumb and insensitive.

But thinking about all this retrospect, it struck me that many people caught the reference, but weren’t offended. And many didn’t catch the reference at all. Strangely enough, there was a lot more outrage from the white community. I was incredibly freaked out and upset when the blogosphere exploded in a mushroom cloud of ranting and screaming about OffBeat and how racist the cover was. God, if anything, OffBeat certainly can’t be considered racist. Insensitive, for sure.

So I started thinking about when, why and how words that have had very negative meanings have either ended up in common speech or have been rendered innocuous over time, and how that happens. How long does it take before we get over horrible incidents—tied to a few words—and shrug and move on (like Carlin’s filthy words). Do those offensive words ever become acceptable to use?

Over a decade ago, Bunny Matthews, who was then our editor and the OffBeat cartoonist, did a cartoon for our Jazz Fest issue that compared the Jazz Fest security folk to a bunch of Nazis because of the way people are herded in and out of the Fairgrounds. Some security people aren’t exactly pleasant about it, either (IMHO, they’ve improved a whole lot since we ran that cartoon). But at the time, it was a joke. Unfortunately, the Jazz Fest sure wasn’t laughing, neither was the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. All we could think about at the time was that even television shows like “Seinfeld”–which truly exposed Jewish culture to a mainstream audience–used the word “Nazi” to describe a very disagreeable person during their show (everyone surely remembers the “Soup Nazi”).

My question is, do our sensitivities run so deep that certain words can never be used in politically correct American society? Can no one use the word “Nazi” without a mental reference to the Holocaust coming to mind? Is any reference to the South’s nasty Jim Crow racial history—as egregious as it may be—off-limits as a literary or a visual reference? Can African-Americans use the “n-word” to each other, yet if it’s used by a non-African American—even if it’s used in a playful way—should it necessarily be construed  as unacceptable and loathsome? Are we still that divided by race? Are white and black people still that far apart?

Again—we didn’t mean to offend anyone. The people at OffBeat have a unique perspective when it comes to skin color: we really don’t care. Music is color blind. Our eyes and ears are color blind.

Surprisingly, many young people we talked to about the cover didn’t even know about the Billie Holiday song connection. How long does it take before people begin to forget how horrible racism is? Should we ever forget, even in times where interracial dating and marriage is acceptable?

But the wounds are still fresh, and we are truly sorry. We just didn’t think it through. We have to comfort ourselves with the fact that OffBeat’s body of work, which if investigated, would certainly have revealed to anyone who deemed the cover “racist,” that they were reading into our cover a sentiment that wasn’t there to begin with.

The questions remains: Do we continue to refer to our negative past, and by doing that perpetuate racial, religious, ethnic, anti-gay and other inflammatory connections? Or do we try to get to a space where we can move beyond the hatred and distrust that some humans seem to thrive upon? Hatred and distrust that stems from something that happened a long time ago? How long does it take before subsequent generations are themselves color blind?

I wonder: Will it ever be possible for us to love each other regardless of our skin color, our sexual orientation, our ethnicity? Can it ever really change?

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March 9th 2010

More on OffBeat’s March Cover

In regards to OffBeat’s much-blogged and –talked about March cover:

We admit that we showed a terrible lack of judgment and insensitivity towards our readers who may have taken offense to a reference to the Billie Holiday song, which has become symbolic of racial injustice.  Any reference—verbally or visually—to racial issues was never our intention, but we are now acutely aware that the words “Strange Fruit” still resonate as a symbol of the evils that result from racial issues. We apologize for our egregious error.

I’d also like to take a minute to tell the people who blogged about the cover that I’m sorry I lashed out, which is my nature and temperament. When you know that your intentions were not what’s been portrayed out there, frustrations rise to the surface. I do respect your opinions, and I’m very glad that this happened. It’s been a real teaching moment for me personally.

We at OffBeat look at this incident as an opportunity to an open discussion of the use of certain phrases in the vernacular.  Hopefully, in the future,  instead of attacking OffBeat’s reputation and supposed intent, let’s have a reasonable discussion about how this resonates with all of our readers.

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March 3rd 2010

Where Are The Memorials?

I wonder why there’s such an overall lack of appreciation for musical legends in New Orleans, which is the most musical city on earth. There’s such a deep love for our musical culture—not necessarily shared by the majority of the population of this city and state—that it seems a shame that we’re not honoring the places and people who created the music.

One easy way to do this that’s certainly fairly economical in cost is to put plaques on the important places in New Orleans and Louisiana musical history.

I thought of this early today on my way to work, as I passed the bar on Elysian Fields that used to be Charlene’s.  When Charlene Schneider passed away, her patrons and friends erected a plaque to her memory on the side of the bar. I’d never seen the plaque before, but I thought it was something that was very thoughtful and let everyone know how great a person Charlene was, and how important she was to the community.  At the office today, there was a new book waiting for review. The book is about Donald Harrison, Sr. (Big Chief Harrison and the Mardi Gras Indians), authored by Al Kennedy, a well-respected New Orleans historian, writer and university professor. I thumbed through the book and found the photo section, as is contained in a lot of biographies, and came across a photo of the house on Jackson Avenue where Donald Harrison grew up.  Without going into a lot of detail (read the book!), suffice it to say that Big Chief Harrison was a “magnificent American hero” whose involvement in the Mardi Gras Indian culture and music needs to be memorialized, along with so many others.

Some plaques have been erected through the efforts of private groups like the Preservation Resource Center. There’s construction going on in Armstrong Park that will also contain some status of local musical heroes, like fellow Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Tootie Montana, Mahalia Jackson, trumpeter Buddy Bolden, brass bands, the old French Opera House and Congo Square. There’s a Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street with memorial statues of Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Ronnie Kole, Fats Domino and Chris Owens. Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio location on North Rampart Street has a plaque (too bad it’s now a laundromat with nothing inside to memorialize the great work that came out of that studio). The New Orleans Jazz Historical Park gives regular tours of the city’s music places. That’s a start.

At one time the state of Louisiana had a “Music Trail,” an idea which is probably a pretty good one (it no longer exists in Louisiana – duh), although the state of Mississippi has one, and Alabama sort of does too. A reader sent me a photo he’d taken when a music marker was placed commemorating Ace Records. If you look closely at  the photograph, you’ll see the names of Louisiana artists mentioned as well: Jimmy Clanton, Huey “Piano” Smith, Frankie Ford and Earl King.

We need more emphasis from tourism people in New Orleans and around the state to preserve and promote these sites that are interesting, attractive to locals (especially students) and visitors and are so important to our musical culture. Perhaps it should be a collaborative effort between the cities’ and states’ tourism offices and CVBs and the preservation groups in each area. And, most importantly, all efforts need to be coordinated and marketed and promoted.

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February 24th 2010

Keeping New Orleans New Orleans

I grew up in New Orleans and in its environs, and have lived everywhere from Uptown, the Irish Channel, Downtown, Broadmoor and Central City, in addition to some of our illustrious suburbs. I’ve lived in many other cities and have traveled to even more both throughout the US and the world, and I can tell you, despite the problems we have here, this is a very fine place to live. Once you’ve lived in New Orleans and enjoyed everything it offers, any other city pales in comparison. That’s why so many people stay here and never leave. That’s why we’re attracting a lot of young people from outside of our “borders” who have gone to school here, or who have come to New Orleans post-Katrina to help with the rebuilding, have fallen in love with the city, and decided to stay.

New Orleans has never been truly  open to outside influences (remember, we’re real resistant to any kind of change). So getting new blood and new ideas in the city is potentially a good thing for everyone.  We need change from the old way of doing things. I’m anticipating that we’ll have a very positive change in city government, and hope that the Landrieu team does not disappoint.

I wonder what would happen if every “outsider” young guy who stayed in New Orleans, got married and had kids thought that Mardi Gras krewes were nonsensical and decided to opt out of participating in the krewe’s ball. What if all the music clubs on Frenchmen Street were taken over by people who didn’t like traditional New Orleans music and it turned into a street of dance clubs and electronica bars? How do we perpetuate the very things that make up the fabric of our culture and make those things as important to people who weren’t brought up “within it”? Is that possible?

Personally, I think that the strength of our music, food, history and culture is probably sturdy enough to stand the test of time. But what we need are some obvious young flag-bearers who can carry it into the future. This is the kind of stuff I think about—I guess because as you get older, you start considering your legacy , and I really do worry about New Orleans’ future. The legacy of this city’s music and culture is way too rich and important for it to languish in the future, or be brushed aside by a generation who just doesn’t get how special New Orleans is. How do we ensure that our cultural legacy continues?

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February 18th 2010

The more things change…

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”…If you’re from New Orleans, you probably know what this means: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Over the Mardi Gras weekend, the citizens of this fair city were regaled with the news that Mayor Nagin presented the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club with a grant for $800,000 to rebuild their headquarters.

Ordinarily this would probably raise a few eyebrows, considering the amount of money that’s changing hands. Close-to-a-million is a lot of duckies. Considering that the Mayor is a member of the Zulu organization, it smells sorta fishy. But, hey, this stuff has been going on in New Orleans for a really long time.

I’m pretty positive that most of the citizens of New Orleans don’t know this, but there are a lot of “slush funds” in city government that those in the know can take advantage of. And they’re all under the aegis of so-called economic development. Give you a couple of examples: when I first started the magazine and was trying to get the Louisiana Music Directory off the ground, I found out there were some funds available for economic development for projects that were evaluated by the City Council. So I went to a councilman’s office who I knew, who granted me about $1,000 to help get the project off the ground. Mind you, it cost way, way more than $1,000 to create and maintain this project, which is still around today at LouisianaMusicDirectory.com. In my humble opinion, that grand was well-spent and certainly had something to do with economic development. Keep in mind that it was only a thousand dollars.

In the early days of OffBeat, there was others in city government employees (no names here, if you’re involved in local music, you’ll know who they are) who created some worthy educational projects using  the city’s time and funding. However, instead fof keeping these projects going at the city level, these individuals created their own non-profit entities while working for the city and were given substantial (six-figure) grants from the same “economic development” grant funds our current mayor used for the Zulu project to fund their non-profits. These people then left the city’s employ, using the economic development funds to basically provide start-up funding (including their salaries, for probably several years) for  their own businesses (just because it’s a non-profit doesn’t mean that it’s a charitable endeavor. Trust me, non-profit Executive Directors can make a shitload of money). I’m also aware of a gentleman who operated a small restaurant where Lil Dizzy’s is now (on Esplanade) who couldn’t make it work (he really wasn’t a good businessman, based on my observations), and who managed to get economic development funding for a new place of his own in a different location.

Now all of these people had an “inside” on how to get that economic development grant. To my knowledge, there is no “competitive process” to get this funding. It’s purely who you know in city government. Ray Nagin is member of Zulu, so in my mind that’s a clear conflict of interest. But you know, in Louisiana, those three words don’t mean squat.

I’m not dissing Zulu, but I know how the process of acquiring those funds works. There are a lot of organizations who were at least as deserving as the Zulu SA&PC. The new mayor and city council need to get rid of the slush funds that provide patronage to their special friends. This is supposed to be government for all, not a select few.

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February 10th 2010

When Will Music Be “All Dat?”

I’m hoping that the post-Superbowl glow that everyone in the city has doesn’t end for a while. In fact, I hope we can think positively about New Orleans for at least the next few years. We’ve elected a new mayor by a landslide (“our” candidate, Mitch Landrieu). The significant thing is that the guy is capable of running the city. He’s done a great job of running his office and the Culture, Recreation and Tourism part of the state for the last few years. He’s connected with legislators all around the state, as well as to the White House. I think he’s going to accomplish some great things in the city. Ah, yes, Jan Ramsey, ever the cockeyed optimist!

Mitch Landrieu actually signed a pledge to create and find ongoing funding for a Music and Culture Office. I sincerely hope he lives up to that promise. Music has almost always been shoved to the back burner by every city administration. I noticed, for example, that even though OffBeat endorsed Landrieu, no mention of it’s been made in any of his press. So that’s not particularly a good sign. There was a big “Musicians for Mitch” show at House of Blues on February 3, which hopefully helped his campaign. I think the “Music Swings Votes” mayoral candidates forum probably had more to do with that. But one can never forget that a “really be show” is the thing that will be remembered.

Music also tends to get relegated to the back burner by the “cultural community.” For example, the Arts Council of New Orleans doesn’t seem to even be aware that music is probably the basis of the city’s culture. I’ve never understood the reason for that (wish someone would enlighten me). All the organizations that support music and musicians have sprouted up mostly on their own. I’m not dissing the “cultural community,” but music has never been given top priority—it certainly is more of a contributor to economic development than painting, sculpture, dance, theater, performance art, or literature. Music and food are what create much of the attraction of New Orleans. I simply cannot imagine 400,000 people—such as those who come to the French Quarter or Jazz Fest—who would come into the city to consume the creative arts. They come here to experience the music and food, and then what else we have to offer.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t all work together to strengthen our cultural “brand.” I just think a rebranding of New Orleans should put music at the top of the list. If you disagree, tell me why…let’s talk about it.

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February 1st 2010

Wha?

OK, I’ve been way out of the loop. My computer’s hard drive crashed and burned, along with all my information (back up in the “cloud”, but buying another computer and trying to restore everything has been all-consuming). I haven’t blogged for a long time, not even since the big game. I am thrilled we are going to the Superbowl, and never thought I’d see it. If you read the previous post, I was a little ahead of the game in dissing the almighty NFL–as they tried to lay claim to “Who Dat?”

Bad, BAD PR move. The Jazz Fest tried that tactic over a decade ago, and it didn’t work.

Anyway, the Best of The Beat was a great success again this year; everyone had a fantastic time; the musicians and music businesses felt honored. So we did our job. And everyone had a really good time. Would like your suggestions for next year, if you please. Keep in mind that the whole shebang is financed by OffBeat and our sponsors. Question: if you’ve been to Best of The Beat over the years, do you prefer the House of Blues or the other venues we’ve used?

And here’s what really stimulated me to my daily rant: How is it that the “ministers” in New Orleans have any credibility when they endorse a candidate? How can they endorse a political candidate? In fact, how can they have anything whatsoever to do with politics and still maintain their non-profit status? Isn’t that illegal? Am I missing something here? A lot of political candidates tout the fact (most recently John Georges’ campaign) that they’re endorsed by a bunch of ministers? Frankly, I personally believe that this is a racist tool to entice black voters. I hate this crap. I know I’m idealist and naive, but I’m still waiting for this city to judge its leaders on their merit, and concern for the community, as well as their performance, not the color of their skin or how much money they have in their campaign chest.

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January 16th 2010

Dis Is the Day

OK, so the big game day is here. The Saints either pull it off–or they don’t. For the sake of the city’s morale and because home games bring a lot of money to the city, I hope they win. Alex was screaming with laughter the other day when it was announced that Deuce McAllister was back (I thought he’d won a million bucks or something). Actually, there are a few people in New Orleans who aren’t at the Saints game, and I’m one of them because I’m at the office working on the Mardi Gras issue. I apologize, but I’ve never been a big football fan. I find it ridiculously boring. When I was a kid, I watched baseball and boxing on TV with my grandfather. But those were the days when the NFL didn’t control the sports scene in America. For anyone as ancient as me, I can remember when baseball was “America’s game.” Not anymore.

Football sucks

Football sucks

All that’s changed in the past 50 years. The NFL is the million-pound gorilla in sports.  I admire the organization, as it’s proved to be an unbelievable master of marketing. The whole country is now goo-goo eyed with football fever. It cracks me up to warch the TV ad with Alyssa Milano modeling ladies’ clothing with team names imprinted on them. I think that is just so bizarre. Ladies, if you buy this crap to support a football team, you are whack. But that NFL marketing works, doesn’t it? It may be working a little too well (have you kept up with the NFL lawsuit that’s now being discussed by the Supreme Court?)

American football is BORING. It’s stupid. It definitely brings out the worst in its audiences (that also goes for college football–those people are really fanatics). European football is a lot more interesting. But I think I figured out why it hasn’t taken off in the US. Ever watch a soccer game? It’s fast, very fast. Not deadly slow like football. And you know what? Here’s the key issue: you can’t put as many commercials into a soccer game because it’s too fast. It’s all about the money to be made by the NFL, the owners, the broadcast media who cover and promote the hell out of the sport. They got y’all buffaloed into thinking football is the greatest thing in your life, at least during one season of the year. Now that is just sad.

I know a lot of you reading this will think I’m unpatriotic when it comes to the Saints. Well, hell, somebody’s gotta stand up for the underdog few of us who don’t glue ourselves to televisions to watch football. I have a lot better things to discuss over a few beers than football scores and stats (or baseball and basketball, for that matter). Get a freakin’ real life, would you?

Football has never engaged my mind. I’ve tried, I really have. Can someone tell me what I need to do to start to loving football?

Let the hate mail begin…if you want, you can  throw something at me at the Best of The Beat, next Friday night. Just don’t make it hard or wet.

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January 13th 2010

Please, No More Lip Service

The Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on Music was interesting, but not controversial enough (you know I like to stir things up). Surprisingly, not one of the candidates objected to putting music industry development into their administration. It really does sound like a good idea. But we had a mayor who promised us that eight years ago, opened a music office, didn’t fund it and then abandoned it. So you can’t really trust what politicians say. It’s been nothing but lip service.

New Orleans is plagued by a lot of serious problems–our ongoing recovery, which has been way too slow; educational issues; a population that’s drifted away post-Katrina; a lot of corruption (not unusual in New Orleans since the city was established); blighted homes and buildings (another ancient issue in New Orleans; our decay is part of our “charm,” or so they say); economic development problems (the city has yet to acknowledge its almost total dependency on the hospitality industry as the backbone of the economy); and of course, rampant crime. All of these issues are probably more in the forefront of the candidates’ minds; so that’s what they’re pitching to the voters.

The fight (my lifelong effort) for the city government and business leaders locally to take the issue of the music industry seriously is ongoing. If you don’t remind ‘em, it’s easy to forget because the vast majority of the people who live here take our music for granted. They don’t comprehend that music, food and our historic architecture are the cornerstones of our culture and what makes New Orleans a great city to live in and also to visit. Thus the lip service: “Yeah, we love music! We support music! Blah, blah, blah.” Yet, when it comes to putting a real effort into truly developing and branding New Orleans as a music city, city government, tourism officials and business leaders have really done nothing. In Monday’s  forum, James Perry said that New Orleans has “invested in tourism but it hasn’t invested in culture.” This is so true. But the reason why this has happened is that the hospitality industry is organized; hoteliers, restaurants and their respective trade organizations literally control the way the city is perceived and marketed. They carry a lot of clout. The musicians and music businesses are not. So no one listens to them. There is no inroad into the back rooms where the real decisions that affect policy is created, economic development initiatives are crafted, marketing and branding are decided upon and the deals are made. That’s just the truth.

Until the music community steps up and demands that they are taken seriously, all the forums and my ranting will go nowhere. Asking the candidates to sign off on a pledge to create a music and cultural agency or office and a pledge to fund that office is something that we have to hold our leaders accountable to. We asked all the candidates to sign a pledge of this nature. Only Mitch Landrieu and James Perry signed off. That takes chutzpah for a politician and I applaud both of them for it.

We still have until February 6 to hear all the rest of the promises. But I believe that the next mayor will be the  linchpin in the city’s commitment to its music and culture. Stay tuned.

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January 12th 2010

Tremé and Davis

Cute but Crazy Davis Rogan called me today to correct me on implying on my last blog that he wasn’t involved in the upcoming HOB Tremé series. He is involved, but to what extent is still shrouded in secrecy, and “nothing can be revealed until we all sit down together to enjoy the premiere of the first episode on HBO on April 11.” Fair enough, honey. We’re glad you’re working with the series. Talent never goes unrecognized!

A note on MusicSwingsVotes.org’s Mayoral Forum last evening at Loyola. After all these years, maybe we’ll be able to finally get a mayor who “gets it.” All the candidates who were there (Troy Henry was the only no-show of the invited candidates, but he did send a statement) took a stand on saying they would support and fund a music and cultural office or agency within city government. I personally have signed pledges from Mitch Landrieu and James Perry. I just wished that more people had attended the event.  So it goes…

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