In case you haven't noticed, we live in a time and country where everyone is supposed to be a specialist—cosmetologist, urologist, dietician, mortician—you name it. In the U.S. of A. you are what you do: the label is you.

New Orleans, on the other hand, is situated on the alluvial plain where the Mississippi River flows into the universe. In the universe there are many musicians, artists and poets who are not overly concerned about labels. The Neville Brothers, for instance: America's ente...