Mardi Gras musings

It's Fat Tuesday, and given that St. Louis has one of the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in the country outside New Orleans, you might expect that our local jazz and blues musicians would be quite busy. But while St. Louis' Mardi Gras is indeed a big party, it isn't necessarily a big windfall for local jazz and blues players, or even for bands imported from Louisana for the occasion, as pointed out in this Post-Dispatch article by Diane Toroian Keaggy

While local bands like Gumbohead and the Zydeco Crawdaddies that specialize in Louisana music do stay busy around Carnival time, the rest of the year is more of a hit-or-miss proposition. And you won't hear much else in the way of jazz or blues in Soulard during the height of Mardi Gras, something that has rankled me for a while, and that also apparently cheeses off some other people as well:

"It's appalling that you go down to the Mardi Gras and have to search to hear 'Saints Go Marching In,'" said (the Crawdaddies' Paul) Jarvis. "The bars ask why they should play a lot of money to bring up someone from Louisiana when they can have Joe Blow and make a lot of money."

Gumbohead took particular offense to last year's headliner, Mini Kiss, a KISS cover band composed entirely of little people. This year's headliner on Saturday is alternative act They Might Be Giants.

"It was more of a sideshow than a celebration of that tradition and heritage," said Halpin. "It was a real missed opportunity to make a gesture to a community hurt by Katrina."

Gumbohead drummer Benet Schaeffer noted: "The French heritage is almost as thick here as it is in New Orleans. Soulard is our French Quarter. We can't replicate New Orleans Mardi Gras, but can we at least not book Mini Kiss?"

Indeed. It should also be noted that even They Might Be Giants couldn't salvage a parade-day Saturday plagued by freezing weather, resulting in what this Post article is calling "the worst year yet for weekend's Mardi Gras."

Moreover, given that one of the perennial complaints about Mardi Gras is that it attracts too many underaged drinkers, would it not make some sense to book jazz and blues bands that may appeal to an older, more sedate, yet well-monied crowd? I've got nothing in particular against They Might Be Giants, but they hardly seem like a first-call choice for Mardi Gras, especially in a city with such a rich local music heritage. I'd be interested to hear readers' thoughts on this in the comments, so please feel free to chime in with your views.

Meanwhile, down in New Orleans, this year's celebration is a mixed bag, with some hopeful signs, like Mardi Gras Indians rebuilding their parade costumes, amid difficulties like the ones outlined in this New York Times article about the effects of the post-Katrina diaspora on New Orleans high schools' marchings bands. Still, they're doing their best to let the good times roll, and for all the latest coverage direct from the Crescent City, I recommend the Web site of the local daily, the Times-Picayune, which seems to have plenty of photos and video as well as text.

At least the weather in St. Louis seems like it will be better for tonight's parade, with temperatures something like 20 or 30 degrees higher than Saturday. So, by way of trying to maintain a positive attitude, we offer a bit of New Orleans YouTubery to help make your Tuesday a little fatter. The window on top has a clip of the Neville Brothers performing "Big Chief," while below you'll find Louis Armstrong blowing the heck out of "When The Saints Go Marching In". Laissez le bon temps roulez!



(Edited after posting to fix a typo.)