New Orleans has long been a piano town. And it’s long been a parade town. Therein lies the problem: If you’re a pianist, you can’t join the parade. No one’s yet found a way to strap a Steinway around his or her neck and march down St. Charles Avenue. This dilemma has often perplexed Jonathan [...]
Tag Archives: NOCCA
Khris Royal’s Royal Education
September 30, 2011 – 1:45 pm
Oak Street is quiet on a Wednesday night. This strip of secondhand stores, head shops and coffeehouses in the Riverbend lies empty but for the occasional taxi and mohawked bicycle rider that roll down the road toward South Carrollton Avenue. They are coming from the Maple Leaf Bar, the last establishment still open at 11, [...]
School Days: Jazz Alumni of NOCCA
May 1, 2011 – 12:17 am
For many, jazz is merely a style of music. For New Orleans, it is as much a part of its tradition as it is an institution. Founded in 1973, the New Orleans Creative Center for the Arts (NOCCA), has championed its legacy in the contemporary era. In its brief history, NOCCA alumni such as Harry [...]
NOCCA Recognized by Grammys Wednesday
April 21, 2011 – 1:20 pm
“You’re in NOCCA. People love you.” Entertainment attorney Ashlye Keaton reminded performing arts students at NOCCA of this fact Wednesday as part of Grammy Career Day, where she sat on a panel with musician Delfeayo Marsalis, Basin Street Records’ Mark Samuels and the Music Shed’s Chris Finney. The session gave students practical insight into how [...]
YouTube du Jour: Clyde Kerr, Jr. Interview
September 2, 2010 – 11:20 am
Jazz trumpeter Clyde Kerr, Jr. ,a renowned teacher at NOCCA, passed away at the beginning of August. In our September issue, some of his former students, including Troy Andrews and Irvin Mayfield, talk about how much they learned from Kerr, not just about playing jazz, but about art and life in general. In this video [...]
Obituary: Clyde Kerr, Jr. (1943-2010)
September 1, 2010 – 12:08 am
New Orleans jazz lost one of its most respected musical educators when Clyde Kerr, Jr. died in his sleep at his New Orleans home. He was 67, and his cause of death is not determined, though he had been suffering from several health problems in recent months. It’s undeniable to say that he has left [...]
Teacher, Musician Clyde Kerr, Jr. Dies
August 9, 2010 – 1:13 pm
Renowned trumpet player and influential teacher Clyde Kerr, Jr. died Friday after battling an illness in recent months. He was 67. A native of Treme and graduate of St. Augustine High School and Xavier University, Kerr has played with many national and local performers including the Jackson Five, Aretha Franklin, The O’Jays, Tony Bennett, Jackie [...]
Seeking Satch Competition: The Sons of Satchmo
August 1, 2010 – 12:11 am
“New Orleans is the only place I know of where you ask a little kid what he wants to be and instead of saying ‘I want to be a policeman,’ or ‘I want to be a fireman,’ he says, ‘I want to be a musician,’” said Allan Jaffe, founder of Preservation Hall. The French Market [...]
Conun Pappas, Jr., Oh, What A Feeling (Independent)
July 1, 2010 – 12:32 am
New Orleans has been a jazz piano town since, as he claimed himself, Jelly Roll Morton invented the jazz piano. Conun Pappas, Jr. is a native son and a piano prodigy, but in his journey from the jazz program at NOCCA to the Manhattan School of Music, where he is now, he has located his [...]
Frank’s Place Tonight
May 24, 2010 – 10:57 am
In a nod to the great New Orleans-based television show that preceded it, HBO’s Treme presents “Open for One Night Only: Frank’s Place” at NOCCA tonight at 6:30 p.m. The 1987 series was Tim Reid and Hugh Wilson’s first series after WKRP in Cincinnati, and it starred Reid as a son who inherited the family’s [...]
