More Pics from Nola

Boz Shares His Etouffe Recipe

Use the link below to see Boz explain how to make his special Crawfish Etouffe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-soRPhIihU

Another Amazing Weekend!

A bit tardy in posting but we threw a surprise pre-birthday party for our pal Leroy Jones February 15 in New Orleans weekend. Totally shocked him!

He knew Kim Adkins was coming down to celebrate with him. What he didn't know was that I would be there, along with my good pal Jim Lee, along with Carol, Katy, Boz, Bill, Pat, Greg Stafford and a cast of assorted other NOLA characters would be there to greet him too! He arrived at 822 thinking he was picking up Kim to go out for dinner and out we sprang! It took him quite awhile to catch his breath.

Great dinner -- Boz cooked an amazing crawfish etoufee that he spent about five hours preparing. Oysters, appetizers, salad, birthday cake...the red confetti was especially delicious (another story that has to be explained). Only downer was Katy's dad passing out...first time we ever had an ambulance at 822. But it was only a scare...and he's doing fine.

Long story short...but the evening broke up at about 6:30 am when Lee, Katya, Kim, Bill and Pat headed home -- not sure I remember a night with more laughs per minute. Our sides literally hurt by the end.

Pics will follow -- a night for the ages!

Thursday night was spent at Vaughan's, 13, and Praline Connection -- Kermit was at a private but Steve Walker and Kid Chocolate put on a great show.

Friday day, before the big party, we visited the Wilson Charter School, our adopted school in Broadmoor. Another wonderful experience...the gratitude of the school for Ketchum's contribution could not have been greater. We left with a wish list of school needs, which we know our Ketchum team will fulfill.l

Saturday was Jon Boutte at DBA and Lee and Katja at Preservatio Hall. Both in fine, fine form. John greeted us with apologies for not joining us at dinner the night before...apparently even he had heard about the experience. Highlight was him thanking both Bill and Pat for their support...Pat, especially, for suggesting a new song to Paul Sanchez commemorating a very special memorial service in New Orleans last summer.

Sunday was a wonderful relaxing day at 13 with another hilarious dinner at Katja and Lee's house. See picture above!

A very, very special weekend of bonding and friendship, hilarity and, as always, great, great music.

Crawfish Fest in NJ...

Don’t know if anyone is aware of this event but on May 30, 31 and June 1, the 19th Annual Crawfish Fest will be taking place at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. Performers include:

Bonerama
The Radiators
The Funky Meters
Guitar Shorty
Allen Toussaint
The Nappy Brown Orchestra
And many others…

There’s also going to be a ton of Cajun food and they’re even serving Boudin Balls! Check it out at: http://www.crawfishfest.com/

Who’s with me?

Guess Who? Once Again....

For sheer chutzpah, you cannot beat our pals from Galveston -- Bill and Pat. Here they are at Mardi Gras with the good Doctor.

Looking forward to hanging with them and getting groupie tips this weekend in New Orleans.

"Break Out Your Beads...continued"

Oh, and I forgot to mention that for the encore, the Kings of Crescent City band second lined through the aisles of the Rose Theater. That broke the formality of the evening and definitely injected a bit of the NOLA vibe. If they bring this show to your city, DON'T MISS IT!

"Break Out Your Beads..."

The headline in the NY Post proclaimed it and Fat Tuesday arrived early in The Big Apple this past weekend. A proverbial all star line up of NOLA musicians -- aptly named the Kings of Crescent City -- blew us all away!! The performance was at the Rose Theater, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the band included:

- Victor Goines on clarinet and soprano sax
- Marcus Printup on trumpet
- Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews on trumpet and trombone
- Wycliffe Gordon on trombone and tuba
- "Papa" Don Vappie on banjo and guitar
- Jonathan Batiste on piano
- Reginald Veal on bass
- Herlin Riley on drums and percussion
- Wendell Pierce as host and narrator

The program, musical selections and narration focused on four of the original Kings of Crescent City -- Joe King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. I won't bore everyone with an exhaustive list of the numbers they chose but the combination of musical talent and superb narrative brought together NOLA's history and paid marvelous tribute to four men who changed the history of jazz and left a legacy which we all are privileged to still enjoy today.

It was a bit strange at first to see this ultra cool group of jazz artists in suits and ties on stage at Lincoln Center with music stands and sheet music but within the first several measures of the opening number, it was clear that although the atmosphere was more formal and dignified than most any club we frequent down in the Quarter, the experience would be something very special and unforgettable -- and as comfortable as sitting together with them in a private club. It was truly magical.

My favorite part of the performance was how the narrative helped to bring the whole thing alive. Garnering insight into the lives of the legends who wrote and/or performed the music we were treated to that night made me feel closer than ever to the essence of what makes NOLA jazz the most incredible form of music on the planet, IMHO.

Kevin tells me the performance might be broadcast on radio or Internet radio in the future so hopefully we'll all get to taste the magic one more time!