In September 2005, the New Orleans Jazz Vipers were one of the first jazz bands back on the streets of New Orleans. It was a month after the hurricane and almost no music venues were open yet, so the band played outdoors, near the corner of Decatur and Gov. Nicholls streets, outside Angeli on Decatur.
“Then [...]
In early October, members of the Family Ties Social Aid and Pleasure Club strutted through downtown New Orleans in fresh new blue outfits. Under the day’s hot sun, sweat poured off foreheads and some suits wilted a little. Still, the club was prepared to keep up their fancy footwork for the standard second-line parade length—four [...]
Hot 8 Brass Band snare drummer Dinerral Shavers grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, a couple blocks from the levee. After Katrina, his mom’s house floated an entire block. He seemed the perfect candidate for Habitat for Humanity’s Musicians’ Village. But when he and most of band mates applied, all [...]
