Karen Dalton-Beninato2013-05-19T13:26:25-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=karen-daltonbeninatoCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Karen Dalton-BeninatoGood old fashioned elbow grease.Reflecting and Recording in New Orleans Post-Fest (Photos)tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32352612013-05-08T04:17:18-04:002013-05-08T12:26:07-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/
Pete Fountain performed seated as his great-granddaughter sang, "You Are My Sunshine." When he closed with the traditional "When The Saints Go Marching In," the tent was a whirl of second line umbrellas as he slowly stood up to play clarinet and beamed down the dancers. The legends rally for their Jazz Fest gigs, for the fans who travel cross-country, for as long as they can. Frankie Ford, a hit-maker from the early days of R & B, walked to the front of the Gentilly Stage, held onto the mic stand and belted one of his hits: "For Your Love, I Would Do Anything." That about sums it up.
This year, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation was particularly busy behind the scenes. The George and Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center site was dedicated and will soon break ground to become a music education and performance center. The legendary George Wein, founder of the New Orleans festival as well as the Newport Jazz Festival, described the education center's dedication to himself and his late wife as "A very emotional experience."
Also behind the scenes, the Sync Up entertainment industry conference helmed by Scott Aiges of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation covered everything from converting social media into revenue to building a touring business.
And then there was the festival itself. Rozzi Crane, the first artist signed to Adam Levine's label 222 Records, said there were few places she could "sing with Eddie Roberts one night and Maroon 5 the next. No one has a lineup that diverse. That's one of the reasons I've been dying to play at this festival. That and the fact that New Orleans is one of the biggest music capitals in the world."
Hall and Oates, a big draw on closing day, played Jazz Fest for the first time this year. "It has been at the top of both me and Daryl's wish list for many years and it finally came to pass," John Oates said. "It was well worth the wait ... one of my career highlights for sure. Love, love, loved it!" He loved it enough to stick around post-Fest in Fudge Recording Studio as part of his Good Road to Follow digital singles project. Lose it in Louisiana was written with Craig Wiseman and cut in Nashville, but Oates came to New Orleans to give it a different feel. "It turned into a whole other song."
"I felt that if I came to New Orleans and played it with the local cats it would come alive in a different way, and it did." Chad Gilmore helped organize it, and George Porter, Jr. and Shane Theriot played on the track. With Porter on bass, "That's about as close to The Meters as I'll ever get," Oates said. "I've always wanted to record in this city, and this was the perfect song to do." He also cut "We've Got a Different Kind of Groove Sometimes," co-written with Jim Lauderdale while I visited the studio. As he travels from city to city working with his favorite writers and musicians, "It's freeing for me and I'm very lucky to be in that position. I don't take it for granted." His next festival appearance is Bonnaroo, where he'll serve as musical director for the Superjam '70s Soul Revue, with a rhythm section of Larry Graham on bass and Joseph Modeliste on drums.
The beat, from New Orleans outward, goes on.
(Photos by Jeff Beninato)
]]>Frank Ocean Wows Hometown Crowd at New Orleans Jazz Festtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32174942013-05-05T03:35:14-04:002013-05-05T03:51:38-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/No Church In The Wild with Jay-Z, Kanye West and The Dream, and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Channel Orange.
With all that under his belt, coming home is still a complicated thing. Ocean lived in New Orleans from the age of 5 until the post-Hurricane Katrina levee failure hit just as he was starting college. Relocated on the West Coast, he found success as did Dr. John, Earl Palmer and other New Orleans musicians before them. The 27-year-old has earned success as both a musician and as a writer. Listening to his fellow twenty-somethings singing along to: "I just don't know why I keep on tryin' to keep a grown woman sober," it's clear that lyrically he's not standard festival lyric fare.
Wrapped in lush orchestration, Ocean's song Pilot Jones fit well with the first sunny day we've seen all week. "In the sky up above // the birds // I saw the sky like I never seen before." The weather wasn't scripted to fit the song, but it felt as technicolor as a Hollywood set. And the hometown crowd ate it up.
In a festival of moments, there have standouts even before the week has wrapped. Irma Thomas singing a triumphant tribute to Mahalia Jackson in the Gospel Tent; Nicholas Payton accompanying himself on piano with trumpet; Nora Jones joyously playing piano in the Little Willies; Fleur Debris sounding like a vaporized thunderstorm; Fleetwood Mac playing what seemed to be every single hit - the list is long and there's one day left until the countdown to next year's festival season begins.
With a well-earned blister on one toe, tomorrow it's once more into the breach for The Black Keys, Aaron Neville and whatever else draws us off the track.
Robert Mirabal at Congo Square
Artist Lionel Milton
Native Nations Intertribal Dance
West Bank Steppers
Malê Debalê of Bahia, Brazil
Photos by Jeff Beninato
]]>Maroon 5, Jimmy Cliff, Willie Nelson: Jazz Fest Day 5 Trifectatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32130482013-05-04T01:42:11-04:002013-05-04T02:08:35-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/ I'm At a Payphone while working the stage, the mic and the audience as the crowd went wild. Once he was down to his signature white tee shirt, the crowd went ... well you get the gist. Young women, for the most part under-dressed for the weather, leaned on the stagefront barricades singing along to every word.
In 44 years of Jazz Fest, the screams for each Levine stage pivot sounded decibel record-breaking. He's this tween generation's version of what Shaun Cassidy was to me, so who can judge? I used to dream Cassidy's tour bus would break down in the middle of the Illinois prairie, he would stop for directions and we would hit it off. Maybe eventually get married. I was open to marriage.
These days I'm a Jimmy Cliff girl, because who can resist the bass lines? So we raced from Maroon 5 to the Congo Square stage where Cliff was hugging himself at song's end. It felt like a hug radiating back to the audience. He then launched into: Wild World throwing his arms out and his head back to absorb love from the crowd. Cliff alternately spun in joyful circles and danced across the stage. It's a different athleticism from Levine's, but no less engaging.
Willie Nelson was one more stop down the track at the Gentilly Stage. From You Were Always On My Mind to Angel Flying Too Close To the Sun, what he lacks in jumping around he makes up for in lyrics that are as swoon-worthy as anything in the pantheon of modern love songs. Listeners swayed to Nelson, 80, whose performing is still sway-worthy. He also won the audience engagement award for simply not wanting to wrap up the show. As cold as the day had grown, a rousing Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die followed by I Saw the Light wound down his set as dusk settled.
My husband and I were rounding the track for home when a shriek went up near Maroon 5's backstage area. A crowd of 'tweens had gathered outside the barricades to watch the band's transport pass, and someone had spotted Levine getting into an SUV. You couldn't tell which SUV had which band member, but one young fan picked the likeliest Levine wheels and went for it. Chasing it past the artist's entrance, she started to lose sight of the car at Mystery Street and shouted to her lagging friend: "RUN!!"
And so it goes.
Adam Levine
Jimmy Cliff
Willie Nelson
Photos by Jeff Beninato]]>Live from New Orleans: It's Jazz Fest in HD on AXS TVtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31962012013-05-01T18:10:20-04:002013-05-01T19:24:12-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/
Jazz, rock, electronica, world music and everything in-between are more accessible than ever this year as Jazz Fest comes to high definition cable television on AXS TV. Davis diagrams how those connections were made. "It starts, of course, with Mark Cuban. It's his network of networks. His decision and commitment is to be at the forefront of a very aggressive approach to live music and music performances on television. We've done a broadcast for five or six years, but they're all webcasts. State of the art for festivals nowadays is webcasts, so you get a certain quality on your home laptop. But this is not that." This is high-definition television on your home TV screen.
Cuban, AXS TV Founder and President, tells me that the broadcast has expanded thanks to early response. "The artist response to broadcasting live on AXS TV from Jazz Fest has been so overwhelmingly positive we've extended our coverage. We are live for over 10 hours every day from May 3 through 5 showcasing headliners, rising artists and local New Orleans musicians. No other network will cover live entertainment -- making music the ultimate live television event for fans across the country -- like we are. And this is just the beginning."
Social media is featured heavily in AXS programming, in fact Axs.tv web site will be a second screen for viewers. Bonus content from a digital team is planned to enhance the social media experience. "You have to," Davis said. "It's 2013." AXS has a strong reach through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and their YouTube channel, as well as on-camera talent. For Jazz Fest Game Day Presented by Stub Hub, "Our roving interviewer is Savannah Jane Buffett - Jimmy's daughter," Davis said. "She's our host for all behind the scenes and artist interviews. And she has a pretty good handle on music," he understates. "Jimmy was playing our festival since she was almost on her tricycle. So she knows the festival, knows the culture, knows a thing or two."
Buffet will be covering food, crafts and culture in addition to artist interviews. "While a lot of that will go into the actual show that's coming on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it's perfect fodder for the social media mill." The Twitter hashtag #axsjazzfest is one way viewers can engage at home or on the festival track. Newly expanded festival coverage begins at 2 p.m. Central Time and runs through 12:30 a.m. Central Time, offering more than 25 hours of live music and special features over three days. Hosts Allison Hagendorf and Bob Santelli (Grammy Museum Executive Director) will anchor the festival coverage.
Cuban's network is in partnership with AEG, co-producer of Jazz Fest with 44-year producers Festival Productions, Inc. FPI has partnered with AEG to produce the festival for several years. "It's reaped a lot of benefits," Davis said. Those benefits include AEG bringing their partners AXS TV to the table. In addition to AEG, Cuban's partners in AXS TV, formerly HD Net, are CBS, Ryan Seacrest Media and Creative Artists Agency. AEG Network Live, which produced the 12-12-12 Sandy Benefit, has produced previous Jazz Fest webcasts. Expanding to an international reach, Globo Network in Brazil has been added to the networks broadcasting Jazz Fest.
When AXS VP/Executive Producer of Event Programming & Production Darrell Ewalt met with the festival production team, Davis said he told them: "'We don't want just a singing head on the stage, we want to get the festival.' That was great to hear from our first big television partner," Davis notes.
I point out that many former New Orleans residents can now watch Jazz Fest from across the country on the years they don't make it back, then realize Festival Productions is also focused on selling tickets to the festival itself. He cuts a deal: "We'll give you a year or two off if you come, say, for 10. But then you know that you have to come back. But yes, it allows Fest-goers who can't make it to experience it and of course for us, almost more importantly, his (Cuban's) networks are available in 40 million homes. So it's a double fulfilling of our mission because it promotes the festival."
The festival, owned by a nonprofit, has a stated mission to promote New Orleans culture and music. "So even though we have this Jazz Festival for close to 500,000 people a year first-hand, the opportunity to reach millions of people and show them Trombone Shorty, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, etc.," Davis said. "That's a tremendous fulfillment of our mission and the Foundation's." In addition to the local heroes, viewers will be in for Willie Nelson & Family, Phoenix, Hall and Oates and many more headliners.
Could the festival's founders have anticipated 44 years ago 40 million people having access to the festival from around the globe? "I don't think I anticipated that 44 weeks ago," Davis laughs. "I think it's pretty innovative, carrying 24 hours of music."
Quint Davis introducing Billy Joel at Jazz Fest (Photo by Jeff Beninato)
Artists and schedules for AXS TV Jazz Fest Broadcasts are available for May 3 to 5 at: http://www.axs.tv/jazzfest. You can look for the AXS Channel near you HERE: Tune-In radio's Jazz Fest based programming is at: http://tunein.com/radio/New-Orleans-Jazz-Fest-Radio-s189903. Jazz Fest schedules, which have changed slightly in the last day, are HERE. ]]>New Orleans Jazz Fest Day 3: Get Up and Live, You Ain't Dead No More!tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31763962013-04-29T02:44:38-04:002013-04-29T12:46:30-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/
This year I would have called her for the Selvy Singers' transcendent chorus of Oh Happy Day. The Selvys' CD Get Up and Live, You Ain't Dead No More! could apply to New Orleans, where death sometimes feels like a technicality. Our second line mourners dance from funeral services to cemeteries known as cities of the dead. And musical references from over 100 years ago fly freely, something you wouldn't hear at many other festivals.
For the Kid Ory Tribute, jazz trombonists including Freddie Lonzo, Lucien Barbarin, Craig Klein and Ronell Johnson swung into a tune from 1902, Under the Bamboo Tree, which Ory helped popularize with his Creole jazz band. It's not all jazz at Jazz Fest, day three included headliners Dave Matthews and Earth Wind & Fire who played gamely in the rain.
But we were tent-bound after the Ory tribute, with clouds gathering and a distant rumble. Kermit Ruffins exhorted a crowd of fans so large it looked like a massive camp-out to do "the Palm Court Strut, Swing your Butt." Many did.
Satin-smooth jazz singer Diane Reeves told us that she missed her last scheduled Jazz Fest performance because her mother was "making her transition. And when you lose someone you love, the thing that I found to be most healing is she comes in so many ways," Reeves said. "If I'm in a place where I'm not feeling good about something and somebody gives me a hug, I know that it's her."
The theme of loss and love continued with the Treme Brass Band and its all-star guests leading a dedication to their band member "Uncle" Lionel Batiste, a ladies' man with impeccable style. As they started to wind down, the skies lit up with a lightning bolt and fierce whomp of thunder. Bandleader Benny Jones reassured the huddled tent's audience: "Don't worry. We gonna play all night."
Kermit Ruffins
The Selvy Singers
Diane Reeves
Calexico
Photos by Jeff Beninato
]]>Jazz Fest Day 2: Billy Joel Offers Honesty on Honesty, and New Orleans Legends Get Their Duetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31724112013-04-28T02:30:27-04:002013-04-28T12:15:32-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/Deacon Blues at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest on Saturday. Rounding the festival track later, my husband told Moore he remembered him playing his CYO dances in high school. "I was so much older then," Deacon John said with a smile.
By day two of Jazz Fest, serendipity takes over at the racetrack. At the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, a crowd outside the packed tent was dancing as enthusiastically as those inside. We stayed for awhile, then danced through.
Jason Marsalis drew us in with a xylophone set so intense, it could levitate the extras in Fantasia. Gerald French & The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, a jazz band over a century old, played a tribute to the late, great, ever-outspoken Bob French.
Bob, never one to mince words, would have enjoyed Billy Joel's honesty. After playing The Entertainer, Joel said: "Every once in a while I wrote a bullshit song. Honesty ..."
He was like a truth volcano. But Honesty is more than balanced by Allentown, which he played next.
Joel touched on the fact that almost eight years ago, the East Coast watched Hurricane Katrina, "And we all wondered what would happen if one did hit New York. And it did, we got Hurricane Sandy. So we know how you felt. We're trying to rebuild, we're taking inspiration from you guys..."
For years, Jazz Fest was the annual cathartic gathering as we all slowly came home from cross-country evacuation locations. So it's a welcome change, to be looked to as inspiration for city of resilience, rather than a worst-case scenario.
Joel was the breakout hit of the 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief, if one can be a breakout hit after a lifetime career. From the first lines of Miami 2017, Saturday's festival crowd was rapt. "The storm came out beyond the Palisades, out in the Rockaways the oceans overflow..."
Down the track from Joel, the tribute to Sidney Bechet offered songs from the pantheon of a New Orleans music legend. From Dr. Michael White to Donald Harrison to Roderick Paulin, the stage overflowed with jazz masters. Bandleader Leroy Jones introduced Summertime with the side note that Bechet accomplished something unusual in 1959 with a George Gershwin tune recorded with New Orleans flair: "A hit jazz record."
Deacon John
Jason Marsalis
Allen Toussaint
Billy Joel
Photos by Jeff Beninato
]]>What the Elle? New Orleans Jazz Fest Is Style-Worthytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31678222013-04-27T10:03:23-04:002013-04-27T10:03:27-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/Elle Creative Director in a May fashion spread. The white Prada onesie on his model styled for Lollapalooza suggests as much, because in a battle between a festival port-a-let and a model in a white onesie, the port-a-let would have bragging rights for years. Models were also styled for six other festivals, from giant madcap bows to insouciant overalls, but not one for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
With 44 years of festival style to its credit, that seems like a significant oversight. Jazz Fest ramped up yesterday, and it was an eye-buster from the stage to each audience. I'm not saying all the styles were "the love child of Sienna Miller and the Farmer in the Dell," as Zee writes of Glastonbury. But I did potentially spot the love child of Jerry Garcia and a box of feathers. Because at Jazz Fest, the uniform style is any embellishment that pops into your head as you're heading out the door. A dozen more buttons on your hat? Why not! Add an oversized banner that makes sense only to you? Done.
I have never attended Fashion Week, but maybe a little more Jazz Fest individualism is exactly what it needs. Mask-maker John Fleming, who displays the magnificent model below in the arts and craft section, said he's often thought a photo booth to capture the looks on the fairgrounds would be a hit. Age-appeal, like the fest's styles, is far ranging. French pop sensation Phoenix plays one day, and 101 year old jazz icon Lionel Ferbos another. Somehow it all fits, forerunners flexing their chops and newcomers finding the spotlight.
New Orleans musicians themselves are sartorially splendid. Dr. John once cocked my floppy hat "acey-deucey," and it never looked better. I have no knack for styling and Mac Rebennack has better things to do that fix my brims, but it was funky while it lasted.
Elle should be so lucky.
Fleming Studios Mask in Jazz Fest Arts & Crafts
Dr. John rocks the Acura Stage with "Big Shot"
Keep N It Real and We Are One Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs
George Benson sings "Masquerade" at Congo Square
Comanche Hunters Mardi Gras Indians
Feather-filled van waits backstage
Jazz Fest style stalwarts Cowboy Phil and Julie on the track
(Photos by Jeff Beninato)]]>Roger Ebert: The Truth Is Still the Truthtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.30181862013-04-04T20:35:25-04:002013-04-06T13:00:01-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/Roger Ebert's passing today is heartbreaking to the writing community and to budding writers who need an example of what it is to have a voice in the world and use that voice to great effect.
Last year he quietly helped save the University of Illinois student newspaper at our mutual alma mater,the Daily Illini. It's where many young journalists first found their sea legs as writers. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois was his hometown and he kept the Midwestern quality of remembering where he came from, and offering support over the years. I still have a copy of his book A Kiss Is Still A Kiss where he wrote: "And Don't You Forget it!" on my dust jacket.
As a journalism freak from grade school onward I was more excited to meet Jack Anderson, Mike Royko and Roger Ebert than whoever was the pop star at the time (because I honestly wouldn't have known). One of my first Daily Illini articles was about a student whose battle with manic depression led to suicide. I went to his family's home for Thanksgiving at their invitation, and absorbed the heartbreak because as his father told me, "If this causes one child to call home and not think there's no way out it will be worth it." We cried all the way through to the pumpkin pie.
College newspapering led to a Chicago suburban paper job which eventually led to freelance with a side of social media or whatever this is now. Ebert practically invented the model of a reporter as an individual presence on Twitter. He led by example using his voice on the new platform as he, with the help of his wife Chaz, fought to keep his voice in life.
The first thing most modern media groups will tell you at a job interview is that in this new normal, your Twitter opinions will be screened, parsed and graded. And any discussion of politics is off the table. Had he not been a legend and supported in speaking out by the Sun Times, Roger Ebert probably wouldn't have lasted five minutes in a media atmosphere that can choke a writer's most important instrument -- his or her voice. He could rebut one of Sarah Palin's screeds, review the hell out a movie, talk about whatever was for dinner and riff on the news, all in one day of Twitter. As one will.
When 20th Century Fox boycotted At The Movies over a bad review in the '90s, Ebert and Gene Siskel held firm and the studio eventually capitulated. Hopefully with less terrible films. Because when you've sold your opinion to the highest bidder it can be dressed up in verbiage such as compensated influencer, brand advocate whatever godawful thing it's called next, but the fact remains that you may have become a shill. And it's hard to de-shill oneself when that particular bird has flown the coop.
Ebert never caved. His voice was bold, honest, logical, brilliant, decent, kind, hilarious, all the things our voices long to be when they grow up. Roger Ebert has left the aisle seat, but the truth remains the eternal truth. And don't you forget it.]]>Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival Rocks. That Is All.tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.29873242013-03-31T09:38:50-04:002013-03-31T15:10:55-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/That Is All, former literary agent John Hodgman sets the end of the world at a New Orleans lit festival. If that's where it all unfurls, what a way to go. At last weekend's Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival, lovers of theater, literature, modern authors and the written word in general assembled from all around the world.
My fest week kicked off at The Historic New Orleans Collection with author Moira Crone's session on shaping speculative fiction. For her latest novel, The Not Yet, Moira was on a literary fellowship researching what would happen if New Orleans and its outlying suburbs were a chain of islands. So when the Hurricane Katrina levee failure hit, she was studying water.
Thursday night, Those Rare Electrical Things Between People featured readings of three one-act plays by Tennessee Williams. Alison Fraser and former Mad Men star Bryan Batt of New Orleans moved through Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen in grand Williams style. Actress Cristine McMurdo-Wallis was the revelation of the fest as she and NOLA's own Nell Nolan performed Something Unspoken, careening between comedy and pathos. The Huffington Post's Harry Shearer portrayed fallen hero The Palooka, written when Williams was only 28 years old. The evening was hosted by Festival Board President Janet Daley Duvall, and Aimee Hayes directed.
The next morning clouds slowly cleared as Williams' one-act Auto-Da-Fe was performed in the courtyard of the historic Hermann-Grima House. McMurdo-Wallis portrayed the overbearing mother of Ben Berry's neurotically stricken Eloi Duvenet. A butterfly insistently wound its way around the performers, jumping just out of camera range. Director Jef Hall-Flavin gave the play a modern ending with Eloi jumping from his coffin and dancing in a boa as a brass band and the flamboyantly costumed Krewe of Armeinius second lined. Jef Hall-Flavin of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival directed the production which Curator David Kaplan said was six years in the making.
Friday night featured a gathering of writers and festival supporters, and when author Susan Straight thanked columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. for speaking out for introverts regarding Yahoo!'s decision to end telecommuting, she spoke for us all.
Saturday afternoon, Writing New Orleans featured panelists Thomas Beller, Richard Campanella, Nathaniel Rich and Kim Marie Vaz. Their discussion of covering New Orleans post-Katrina while cutting through stereotypes came together like a fine gumbo (by way of an example). Throughout the festival, authors touched on Katrina almost 8 years down the road. Some moved here post-Katrina to write about the city. Some left post-Katrina and haven't moved back. Each year, in at least one panel, members of the audience talk about their manuscripts on Katrina. For disasters we're often more comfortable talking around than about, art has a way of cutting straight through.
"Katrina almost killed me," poet and activist Niyi Osundare said in the "Make This Place Your Own" poetry reading. He read from works both about his home country of Nigeria, and about his years in New Orleans. Brenda Marie Osbey, Poet Laureate of Louisiana from 2005 to 2007, offered a tribute to her friend, the recently deceased Chinua Acheb, author of Things Fall Apart. Ava Leavell Haymon read from her chilling nursery rhyme that may keep me half-awake for the rest of my life. And Brad Richard, New Orleans poet and teacher, read from works about Katrina with a line that resonated: "Stop acting like a ghost."
That night, actor Jeremy Lawrence performed his new work: There's No Way We Can't Finally Win, culled from every manner of written word from Williams. Much of it is unpublished and deals with the writer's struggles with savage reviews and complicated relationship with fame in his later years. The portrayal of Tennessee Williams rehearsing for a potential wine commercial was as dead-on as everything Lawrence does. Williams wrote that his mission was: "To record what I see as I see it and what I feel as I feel it, publicly out loud -- with absolutely no fear, no intimidation, no regard for formidable consequences."
My Sunday started with actress Judith Chapman interviewed by film historian Foster Hirsch about the one-woman show on Vivien Leigh she produced: Vivien. The interview touched on Leigh's marriage to Lawrence Olivier, and her relationship with Tennessee Williams from A Streetcar Named Desire to The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. She slipped in and out of character as Leigh, while describing the legend's life and struggles. Chapman is a star of CBS' The Young and The Restless, and her autograph line was the longest of the weekend. From a later conversation, I learned that Chapman and Lawrence may be working up a Tennessee and Vivien performance for next year's festival, so stay tuned.
Author Michael Cunningham went native, sporting a pair of Muses Krewe Mardi Gras beads from fellow Pulitzer nominating committee member Susan Larson of New Orleans during his Q and A. He discussed everything from his start in professional writing to his novel The Hours and its film adaptation. The talk then turned to television. Cunningham has written a pilot for HBO and is in a development deal with Showtime. I asked him more about this at the Stanley and Stella Shouting Contest, after things died down. Talking to a Pulitzer Prize winner about my feelings on television made me feel like Steve Carrell in Anchorman saying: "I Love Lamp," but Cunningham reiterated that he thinks television is where it's at. Cable, in particular.
After the judging, Judith and Jeremy walked back to the Hotel Monteleone arm in arm, with my husband and my arms linked on the outside as ballast during a sudden gust. It's possible that I imagined they were Tennessee and Vivien and we were all on a French Quarter spree in 1951.
Who wouldn't?
]]>South by Southwest, Year of the Aspirational Hashtagtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.28971532013-03-17T17:20:46-04:002013-03-18T17:32:29-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/Prince, blew Austin's South By Southwest festival away at a show hosted by Samsung last night. The concert was promoted with Twitter hashtag #thenextbigthing, though Prince may be better suited to hashtag #eternalpurplerockgod. It reminded me of the Super Bowl in New Orleans, where big shows rolled in the shadow of ever-bigger shows in a corporate battle for biggest. All with their own hashtagged branding message.
If last year was the year of the South by Southwest killer app, this was the year of the aspirational hashtag. Plastered on posts and building wraps all over Austin, hashtags brewed by marketing teams offered the chance to win entrance to not so secret "secret" shows. It's the new ad on the side of the barn, secret show hashtags.
But at the heart of SXSW, Sixth Street is still full of musicians hoping to be next year's Next Big Thing. Industry insiders gather to see what will still sell, whether it be some combination of branded streaming or old-fashioned touring until the wheels fall off. Labels are transitioning from disc to digital, commercials are the new A&R rep, crowdsourcing is the new cash advance and YouTube is the new publicist. In the musical instrument expo center, I saw a No Talent Required banner. Hoping that doesn't catch on. The business model seems to be social media engagement for eventual funding for eventual product for even more social media engagement. And so on, in an endless loop.
In the heart of all this change, South by Southwest is still full of fans and musicians doing double takes in hotel lobbies to see who's who. My husband Jeff was there to attend the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gathering, and promote New Orleans CD Patrons of the Saint for Micah McKee and Little Maker. Micah's been gigging all weekend and didn't make it to Austin. He was playing a solo gig last year in New Orleans when author and music lover Allison Davis heard him and asked to buy his CD. But there wasn't one. So she signed on as executive producer, and booked Jeff as producer for Patrons of the Saint. After a year in Blue Velvet Studios, it's been independently released.
Now Wonder Days is in rotation on the soundtrack of New Orleans, WWOZ-FM, and CD's are selling briskly at Louisiana Music Factory, on Amazon.com if you're not in New Orleans, and on iTunes.
All this proves that as cynical as we can get about the prospect of anyone discovering anyone, it happens. After the Patrons of the Saint CD was released, Ogden Museum After Hours curator Libra LaGrone said she hasn't been so sure a band would make it since hearing Mumford & Sons in a hotel lobby at South by Southwest. When you believe in an album, CD, download, or whatever we're calling them now, that's music to your ears.
So if you get a chance, give Wonder Days a spin on Soundcloud below. There's a guitar explosion halfway through. And Chichen Itza with its unique horn mix. And watch for Micah McKee and Little Maker at next year's South By Hashtag, or whatever we're calling it by then. In the meantime, rock on.
Giant Grammy at Austin's NARAS Gathering.]]>Mickey Hart's Love Song to Jersey Shore Supports Sandy Survivorstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.28580562013-03-12T03:53:55-04:002013-05-11T05:12:01-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/benefit song (HERE) for victims of Hurricane Sandy, and it's coming in a little later than the first wave of benefits for a reason. "I knew that it would need an afterburner. When I saw Bon Jovi, Brian Williams and all those people one one broadcast -- I was affected. Five minutes later, there was the song. It's not Mozart (he laughs) but it's very well intentioned and it's done with emotional content. Also trying to give you a sense of place with the buoy kind of sounds ... it kind of makes you feel like you're..."
At the shore?
"Yeah. It's important because you see the shore is different than any other place. Shore towns, people come to enjoy life and be a community. Take the kids, the family, walk the boardwalk, have a beer. These kinds of place have certain kinds of spiritual sense of place. It's a totem. It's like a place where you go to become human and have fun and do all those things you don't do in the city and at work. I know, I got the hit when I was a kid."
The Jersey Shore and Sandy have faded from the news over the months, a struggle I remember post-Katrina levee fail. "People think it's over. It isn't over," Mickey says of Hurricane Sandy survivors. "This is a time when they need hope, and it's a song of survival and hope."
Much more than the song Jersey Shore is included with your online tip jar donation. There's over two hours of music from the Mickey Hart Band including tracks from Mysterium Tremendum, and a full length recording of the band performing last August at the Stone Pony. By any measure, that's a lot of music from the renowned former drummer of the Grateful Dead. All net proceeds go to Clean Ocean Action which has 4,000 volunteers mobilized and "offering real help, whatever it takes."
"We make a lot of music, and this is time to share that music and give it whatever punch I can give it," Mickey says. "The music was from the Jersey Shore, the Stone Pony. So that all kind of tied in so people can understand the loss of place. This is what musicians do. Try to reflect what's going on around them. The things that move you, you sing about them. You dance, you ritualize, you try to make meaning. These are mysterious things. Why did these storms come together, and whack them? This is part of the mystery of living life. Personal tragedy, group tragedy, and also to see that you can help. It's possible to make a difference with situations like this."
"If you can affect something and you see something you can affect in some small way you have to go after it. The Dalai Lama, I know his Holiness, and the way he thinks about the sound of his choir, the Tantric choir from Tibet, he says that even if the holy sound, the sacred sound reaches one human ear, it might do some good. I sort of feel the same way about this. I have great expectations but even if it helps one person get through the night, get through the tragedy, I will be so so happy. And the whole band, we feel the same way. It runs everywhere from that to making a whole bunch of money for them."
I tell him I remember the songs that flowed from and to New Orleans as we recovered.
"That's what music can do. It heals. You know, it heals the soul and makes you want to find victory over adversity. That's what song does, it brings the spirit up. It elevates the human spirit. Without the human spirit you might as well crawl under the covers and die. Once the spirit is gone you become a vegetable. You really can't function. So the idea is to keep the spirit healthy, right? Music's a tuning system. That's what music really does, it tunes you into the world around you and into yourself. And to others. That's what music really does. It's just vibrations. Controlled vibrations, but they're very powerful.
Speaking of which, he's just back in the studio after a tour with African Showboyz of Ghana.
"Wow, talk about vibrations. These guys are a thundering horde of drummers. It's beautiful. You've got seven drummers just really laying it down dirty so it's a real thrill with the African Showboyz. And the band's a joy. It's great to play every day with them."
I put in a request for a New Orleans stop on any future tour. When we last met he was headed to Congo Square to drum for an afternoon, which sounds about right. Mickey's back in the studio now, and I wished him luck shaking his cold as I shook off mine.
"We'll get it. stay with it."]]>The Wonder of It All: Super Bowl Eve Rocks New Orleanstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.26120922013-02-03T16:13:55-05:002013-04-05T05:12:01-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/
Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monáe and Gary Clark Jr. (far right) perform onstage at Bud Light Presents Stevie Wonder and Gary Clark Jr. at the Bud Light Hotel (photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Bud Light)
Stevie Wonder at the top of his game singing Ribbon in the Sky to his newly engaged daughter, backup singer Aisha Morris, then grilling her fiance about his intentions made the Bud Light Hotel concert Super Bowl eve a tough moment to top. This was the same Aisha cooing in Isn't She Lovely, and Stevie told the band that once Aisha had her own babies they would all be aunts and uncles. It was moment in a week of big moments for New Orleans.
As soon as Wonder left the stage with surprise guest Janelle Monáe and opening act Gary Clark Jr. (he had called both up to play), half the crowd slipped into the dissonant drone of Seven Nation Army. The other half (49ers) is getting tired of that song. Jack White's anthemic hum has been heard floating through the Verizon Super Bowl Boulevard fest at the riverfront; in and out of CBS Super Bowl Park in Jackson Square, and coming off balconies along Bourbon Street. In this midst of all this are celebrities Tweeting photos of each other in hotel lobbies across the French Quarter. Paul McCartney and David Arquette win for most pop-up appearances at back to back invitation-only parties. Celebrity bashes faced off with Justin Timberlake's concert featuring guest Jay-Z for DirecTV; Lil Wayne blowing the roof off of the GQ Lacoste Mercedes-Benz party; Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson performed at the Samsung Galaxy Shangri-L" Party; and Cee-Lo and Goodie Mob for ESPN. And that was just this weekend. Social media, celebrity cameos, corporate branding and Seven Nation Army are the overriding themes of Super Bowl week in New Orleans.
Sometimes the branding comes right at you. While walking (very) briefly down Bourbon Street under the Pistachio team's balcony, a drink sailed past my head along with bags branded Show Us Your Nuts. Miraculously, I avoid being splattered Gangham Style. Making it down a block of Bourbon Street unsoaked was a highlight of the week. Another was having good friend Micah McKee's CD released right in the middle of all the Frenchmen Street madness. Last night he reported that Lou Ferrigno was holding court on Frenchmen. You're likely to see anyone as the Super Bowl madness accelerates.
Philanthropy has been another big Super Bowl week tie-in. John Paul DeJoria opened his Patrón Tequila Express, formerly Franklin Delano Roosevelt's private rail car, to host a celebration of five years of partnership with the St. Bernard Project, whose founders are still building homes for returning Louisiana residents seven years post-Katrina. Saints quarterback Drew Brees hosted a benefit for Hurricane Sandy survivors at the House of Blues. Willie Roaf's Big Easy Super Lounge at the historic U.S. Mint helped raise funds for Pontchartrain Park Youth Athletes and the New Orleans Association of Black Journalists. There was as much New Orleans fund-raising as there were national articles reflecting on Hurricane Katrina through the lens of this year's Super Bowl. And there have been a lot of those.
Now the Super Bowl is upon us at last, and in just over a week Mardi Gras will fill the same balconies. For anyone riding out the party straight through to Carnival here's one last tip from a local: Life is exploding around you. Enjoy it and watch your step.
]]>New Orleans Food and Music Bucket List: Experts Share Top 10tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.25922712013-01-31T14:14:43-05:002013-04-02T05:12:01-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/ Colleen Rush, author of Low & Slow BBQ, Master the Art of BBQ in 5 Easy Lessons and The Mere Mortal's Guide to Fine Dining, and contributor to publications from Gourmet Live to Coastal Living has 5 favorites as current as they are varied. Anyone who advises you to shut up and eat the lamb neck has only your best interests at heart:
Root
Modern, playful, ethnic-but-still-NOLA menu that isn't just smoke and mirrors - chef Phillip Lopez is at the top of the new generation of New Orleans chefs. Love the aloo gobi, and the house-made charcuterie list (morcilla, in particular) is one of the best in the city.
Restaurant R'evolution at the Royal Sonesta Hotel
The most ambitious restaurant opening New Orleans has seen in years, from Louisiana chef John Folse and Chicago chef Rick Tramonto, R'evolution covers Cajun/Creole history, geography and gastronomy from a modern perspective. A few things stand out: Wine director Molly Wismeier's list, Tramonto's in-house aged steaks from Allen Brothers (on display in the restaurant's Market Room), and the restaurant itself -- a beautiful space to unburden your wallet.
Killer Po-Boys in the back of the Erin Rose bar
There's a Po-Boy 2.0 thing happening in New Orleans, and Killer Po-Boys is one of the ringleaders. You'd never guess this dive bar a few feet away from Bourbon is home to some of the most inventive, tasty po-boys in the city right now. Don't think twice. Order one of everything.
Serendipity
Two of my favorite places in New Orleans - Chef Chris DeBarr's Green Goddess and Ed Diaz's Bar Tonique - got married and had this baby. Not as dive-y charming as her parents, but Serendipity delivers the same far-out culinary meanderings and spot-on cocktails, and one of the city's most interesting and affordable wine lists.
Toup's Meatery
What the physical restaurant lacks in personality (and sound-proofing) it more than makes up for in meat domination. Solid charcuterie list, followed by meat, and more meat (porchetta, confit chicken thighs, double-cut pork chop). No concessions are made for vegans or food nit-pickers. Shut up and eat the lamb neck.
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Marc Stone, a full time blues and roots guitarist and bandleader in his own right, has worked with many New Orleans greats and shares their music on the soundtrack of New Orleans, WWOZ-FM 90.7. Just back from a European tour, Marc's as much a popular local disc jockey as he is a music historian. Here are his 5 don't-miss performers of New Orleans music:
Benny Turner
The greatest blues singer I have ever worked with, the Real Blues incarnate. Younger brother of the late, great Freddie King and uncredited co-creator of Freddie's classic "Hideaway". He moved to Chicago from Texas in 1955 and played with all of the innovators of Chicago blues - Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Little Walter and of course extensively with Freddie until Freddie's untimely death in 1976. He is heard on many of Freddie's classic live recordings and sings and plays bass with all of the soul and brilliant phrasing of his older brother, just in a deeper register. He was also band leader for New Orleans Blues Queen Marva Wright for over 20 years. One of the last of the originators of electric Blues, an absolute must see.
Walter "Wolfman" Washington
Indescribably brilliant and unique guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. His approach is drenched in blues, soul and and jazz. His musical style is completely his own, eschewing any of the cliches of New Orleans music like second line beats, but as pure New Orleans as anything you've ever heard, and funkier than a mosquito's tweeter. A true spiritual messenger of music.
Henry Butler - solo piano
Henry no longer lives in New Orleans, but any chance to see this man in front of a good piano where his expansive genius is free to roam is a mind blowing and intensely soulful experience.
Mardi Gras Indian practice or Super Sunday/St. Joseph's Day/Mardi Gras Day
To witness the amazing, "only-in-New Orleans" cultural phenomenon either in the dark neighborhood bars where the African American social groups known as Indian Gangs gather to rehearse their chants, songs and moves, or on the few special days when all of the Mardi Gras Indian gangs take to the street in their full regalia of gorgeous and intricate feather and bead suits, is a must for anyone who wants to experience all of the mystery and soul of New Orleans culture.
A second line parade with any or all of the great Brass Bands
The true heart and soul of New Orleans, out in the street. One of the most amazing communal experiences of music and dance you will ever witness.
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I would add Dr. John to music and SoBou to food, as lagniappe.]]>New Orleans Dogs Showcase Their Style: Barkus 2013tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.25644212013-01-27T23:01:34-05:002013-03-29T05:12:01-04:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/Barkus 2013 rolled through New Orleans' French Quarter today with block after block of canine costumes. For the Krewe's 20th year of parading, the theme was Tails & Tiaras: Here Comes Honey Bow Wow.
A true community parade, dog rescue groups march with pets available for adoption, families create floats with their pet troupes, and groups of friends take the theme into Only In New Orleans territory. There were NFL Commissioner-themed marchers with the Super Bowl almost upon us, and ever-present political humor with a group of signs noting Dogs: They Can't Get Indicted. And then there was the doggie stripper pole.
After seeing two hours of pups pass by I've made a slideshow rather than blow up Twitter. It's hard to choose a favorite but you're welcome to try. Photos, as always, by Jeff Beninato.
]]>7 Days of Super Bowl: Media Tips From a Localtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.25537132013-01-25T17:32:58-05:002013-01-27T13:45:20-05:00Karen Dalton-Beninatohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/
Monday: Check-in
Four new hotels you'd be lucky to book are the W French Quarter, Hotel Mazarin, Hyatt Regency and The Saint. Hopefully your news outlet booked early so you don't end up out on Airline Drive with fallen televangelists. With room secured, take in the Big Easy along with thousands of Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers fans. Mayor Mitch Landrieu has vowed that every orange construction cone will be off the street by Monday, pointing out that the state of New Orleans is notable "for a city that seven years ago was 15 feet under water." Super Bowl-related renovations are everywhere, including boosted phone signals according to the larger carriers. Towers have been added so you won't need a microcell booster to Tweet #sb47 from within the Mercedes Benz Superdome
Over at CBS Super Bowl Park at Jackson Square, formerly known as Jackson Square, CBS has signage in place for visiting hosts of The Talk, The Late Show and the Late Late Show. WDSU reports that the NFL's Clean Zone sign restrictions are limited to the Mercedes Benz Superdome area and no longer affect the French Quarter and Central Business District.
Tuesday: Media Day
It's Media Day, as indicated by the 47-foot po-boy in the Media Center. If you're Perez Hilton, and someone has to be, the city will be riddled with celebrity sightings. In the Hollywood of the South it's hard not to make a loop without seeing stars. We've run into the Jolie - Pitt family noshing at Verti Marte and I don't know what a sandwich photo is worth, but with all the photographers huddled outside the deli there's clearly a market for it.
Wednesday: Free Day
Speaking of sandwiches, Adam Richman has been in town all week shooting a Tailgate Takeover to air Wednesday on the Travel Channel. Adam's another regular likely to have a French Quarter pied-à-terre sooner or later. Once here, celebrities tend to flee when an influx arrives. As Midwestern transplant Tennessee Williams was known to complain: "Too many goddamn tourists." To see tourists up close, this is as good a day as any to check out Bourbon Street. Bringing a full-body sized container of hand sanitizer couldn't hurt. If, despite your best efforts, if you find yourself with a party rash stop by the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. They don't sell ointments but it will give them a good laugh.
For a mental cleanse, buy some heavy reading at Faulkner House Books and take it for a spin in one of Tennessee's favorite haunts, Hotel Monteleone's Carousel Bar. Visit Congo Square then walk cross the street for photos of legendary recording engineer Cosimo Matassa in his former studio, now a laundromat. Another way to pay homage is to tip the hell out of New Orleans musicians including the Paulin Brothers (pictured above). Visit Palm Court where the 101 year old Lionel Ferbos still gigs on occasion. The philanthropically inclined can check out the Musicians Village, former home of the late, great Bob French. You could be lucky enough to run into Musicians Village resident Smokey Johnson, godfather of the second line beat, holding court. And back to sports, the NFL Experience kicks off at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The Home Stretch: Some of the following events are invitation only with media registration still being accepted. Others, like the riverfront concert series, are free.
Thursday: The Big Easy Super Lounge with Willie Roaf at the US Mint; Woldenberg Park concert series kickoff; Madden Bowl with Lil Wayne at Bud Light Hotel; Micah McKee and Little Maker CD Release at the Blue Nile.
Friday: Super Bowl Breakfast at The Hyatt Regency honoring Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys; Pitbull and Flo Rida at the Rolling Stone LIVE party at the Bud Light Hotel; Drew Brees Hurricane Sandy benefit at the House of Blues with Nelly and Swizz Beatz; VH1 Best Super Bowl Party Ever featuring Train at the Sugar Mill; Ice Cube and Rebirth Coors Light Party at Howlin Wolf; Playboy Party at Jax Brewery; Jenny McCarthy and Cirque de Soleil at Leather and Laces in the Superdome; ESPN's Next Big Weekend Party at Tad Gormley Stadium.
Saturday: Justin Timberlake and Questlove at Mark Cuban DirectTV Beach Vollyball benefit for Shriner's Hospital at Mardi Gras World; Lil Wayne at GQ Party The Elms Mansion; Stevie Wonder at the Bud Light Hotel bash; Brooklyn Decker hosting Leather and Laces in the Superdome; Miss America Mallory Hagan at Taste of the NFL benefit for national food banks at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
