The Music of New Orleans
Our stay in New Orleans continues with a walk to an evening of entertainment at the historic Preservation Hall. By now you probably know how much we love live music. And when our walk includes exploring an area where we’ve never been – with drinks and dinner along the way – it’s even more fun.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Southeast to Sunshine
Music is the language of the soul
The header just above is the motto of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, which we visited on our last trip to Arizona in 2024. If you read my last post, we thoroughly enjoyed the Four Tops and Temptations at the Saenger Theatre just two nights ago. On a previous visit we boarded the Riverboat City of New Orleans for a lunch cruise and we loved tapping our feet to the live Dixieland trio while we passed by the banks of the Mississippi. And don’t forget our church music in Brattleboro, VT which was definitely a great evening! We have a good time – no matter the genre – especially if the music is live, and even more so in a historic venue.
I muted the video below because of the folks talking all through the performance, but if you’d like a little background music click here. When I listened to this link, I turned down the playback speed to .75 for a more laid back vibe like on our boat. I’ve always enjoyed movies where a parade follows a jazz band through the city, but a live version of that is still on my bucket list.
Our Guest has Arrived!
With our first-ever upgrade to a two-bedroom, my cousin decided to stay with us for a couple of nights. She arrived early afternoon and – like last time – brought a King Cake! Although this was a praline instead of the Kringle-like one we had last time, it was still slathered with frosting and sprinkled with sugar the colors of Mardi Gras! If you want to read a little more about the King Cake tradition (and about the baby they bake inside), visit this link.
Since none of us had been to Preservation Hall, we were all looking forward to a lovely day out. We had a few stops in mind on our way, as you might expect. Taking breaks along the way made the walk more relaxing, and it gave us an excuse to check out some new places – and a re-do.
Molly Marine
Darlene retired from the Air Force and went to work at the VA to help veterans get the benefits to which they were entitled. She recently retired from that job too, but had heard from her colleagues that the grounds surrounding “Molly Marine” were due for an upgrade. It turned out we walked right by the statue, and the newly-planted flowers were absolutely lovely!
“Molly Marine was the first statue of a woman in uniform, and it was erected on Nov. 10, 1943 in New Orleans, La. This was the year the women’s reserve was activated as well as the 168th Marine Corps’ birthday…
Molly Marine serves as a symbol of pride for the women, past and present, who have earned the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. The book she carries is said to carry the history of female Marines and the binoculars are used to look toward the future of the Marine Corps. The award is given with pride to the deserving Marines, and is used to promote and continue forward the rich history of women in the Marine Corps.” ~ READ MORE
The Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone
Time for a beverage in the beautiful Carousel Bar & Lounge at the luxurious Monteleone Hotel. According to its website it’s “been spinning for over seventy years,” which makes it a little tricky when returning from the restroom!
When the woman beside me ordered the beautiful cocktail pictured below, I just had to try one. Apparently the bartender had never heard of this concoction, but he will be putting it on the extensive list of beautiful (and very tasty) beverages served at this absolutely gorgeous hotel and bar.
“The famous Carousel Bar & Lounge in Hotel Monteleone is a long-time favorite New Orleans hotspot. The classic New Orleans hotel bar is the city’s only revolving bar. For decades, it has lured guests in to take a spin on the 25-seat, bright, circus-clad Merry-Go-Round. Recently, Vogue Living named our bar one of the Top 20 Bars in the World, due in equal parts to our whimsical revolving carousel and comprehensive list of cocktails. Vogue recommends our Sazerac, although our cocktail menu has plenty of other enticing options.” ~ READ MORE
A Random Stop and a Check-in
As we headed in the general direction of our evening entertainment for our checkin, we peeked into several places along the way. Since we had to get to our reservation (and probably didn’t need more drinks), we just kept on moving – darn it. Maybe next time.
The Toulouse Theatre looked like a fascinating place, but was closed when we walked by. Since the door was cracked, I went in hoping to get a few pictures, but we quickly realized there was a small private party going on – that we weren’t invited to – darn it. Maybe next time.
We arrived at Preservation Hall and checked in at our suggested time only to find out we had some time to waste before we could start to line up to get in. What could be better than a scoop of something yummy at Abbott’s Frozen Custard!
Preservation Hall
I didn’t get as many pictures as I had hoped, since none were allowed until the end of the performance. The venue was quite small, which made for an intimate evening, and since we arrived early we got great seats in the second row. The music was excellent and we will definitely come back to see another featured artist.
“The story of Preservation Hall dates back to the 1950s at Associated Artists, a small art gallery at 726 St. Peter Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Upon opening the gallery the proprietor Larry Borenstein found that it curtailed his ability to attend the few remaining local jazz concerts, and began inviting these musicians to perform “rehearsal sessions” in the gallery itself.” ~ READ MORE
“Trumpeter and vocalist Wendell Brunious boasts a towering musical family tree primarily flowered with trumpets. He is the son of trumpet master John “Picket” (or “Picky”) Brunious Sr. and Nazimova “Chinee” Santiago, the niece of guitarist/banjoist Willie Santiago.
Extremely knowledgeable in the music’s tradition and history, Brunious enjoys sprinkling his conversation with advisory quotes from his father and other artists who have crossed his musical path through his decades-long career.” ~ READ MORE
“Preservation Hall presents intimate, acoustic concerts featuring bands made up from a current collective of 60 masters of traditional New Orleans Jazz. These musicians have learned the traditional style from the greats who played before them, and are now working to pass it on themselves.
There is no audition process to play at Preservation Hall. While many of our musicians are related to the original players by lineage, they are all connected through sheer power of tradition.” ~ READ MORE
More Random Stops and Dinner
As we continued our tour of the French Quarter, we passed by several brightly colored shops on our way to dinner at Felix’s Oyster Bar & Seafood. It would have been nice to sit outside on their balcony for a nice view of the folks below, but it was pretty chilly (it was the end of January!) and I’m not sure if that is just for private events. Our food was very good, but it was not a relaxing meal, that’s for sure. When we order an appetizer and an entree, I like to enjoy one before the other – not at the same time. But that’s just me.
Next Day – Algiers
Algiers is a historic neighborhood of New Orleans and is the only Orleans Parish located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Last time we were here, we took the ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers Point. Today we took our car, since it would have been quite a walk to the location of the Algiers Mardi Gras Festival at the festival grounds in Federal City.
We had planned for it to be a most-of-the-day event, but we got there late and missed the Community Parade (at 9 a.m.), which would have been fun to see. We always seem to miss the Mardi Gras festivals whenever we come to New Orleans, which is always disappointing. I love parades (and the music).
They had quite a line-up of bands, starting with the Marine Reserve Jazz Band. There were DJs and kids performing. Had we brought bag chairs, it would have been more enjoyable so we could sit, relax, have a beer, and enjoy the music on stage. As it was, we listened to a couple of the bands, grabbed some great barbecue and sweet potato pie and called it a day. Another re-do is on our next trip to NOLA if the timing is ever right again.
