So.....uh....how do you work this here blog thing??

Ryan who??? is right......where the hell have I been? I looked today and realized I haven't posted in like 2 weeks +. Man that, and I, sucks.

Thankfully my boys, Kendall and Gerdon, have been holding the place down. And its a good thing, because I've been sucking. But, you know.....trying to get your damn Ph.D. will do that to you. Work's been getting me down. Always seems to find a way, but trying to graduate will really keep you away from your priorities (i.e. posting on music blogs, preparing for fantasy baseball drafts, etc.).

Well, its time for this to stop. And what better to give me a swift kick in the arse than the possibility of attending a music festival.

So, I'm going to the New Orleans Jazz Festival in May and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'm officially purchasing tickets tomorrow. I haven't been to a good music festival since Bonnaroo and even then the 'goodness' is heavily balanced by the associated 'disgustingness' of it.


Well, from what I understand, JazzFest will not be this way and I truly hope not. As it stands today I'm most excited about catching Jimmy Buffett and the Raconteurs.....but I have a feeling as the event approaches I'll be equally excited about catching all the local jazz bands that frequent the event. A couple other "names" that'll be there the weekend i'm going include: The Roots, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Santana, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, etc.

Needless to say, I'm excited. I've never been and i L-O-V-E New Orleans. So, has anyone out there in KGB reader-land ever been?? If so, let me know what you thought and what bands or things you recommend I check out.

So, I'll leave you with this Jimmy Buffett cover song to get you (and more importantly, me) in the mood.

Jimmy Buffett - Scarlet Begonias (Grateful Dead cover)

I promise it won't be three weeks until my next post.....seriously.....i promise.

A Weekend in the Big Easy

So, as Kendall pointed out, its been a bit quiet around here the past couple days. Well, one of those reasons is I spent the weekend in New Orleans. Sorry to take off and leave ya hanging, but i don't regret it. It was a fantastic time. I had a great time wandering both Bourbon St. and the rest of the French Quarter. One of the things I noticed is they've come a long ways since Katrina. But its definitely obvious there's a long ways to go still. For example, skyscraper hotels in downtown New Orleans still are unoccupied with broken windows and empty rooms. Spraypainted X's still can be seen on houses from where search and rescue crews marked the homes as they searched for any survivers. Water lines can still be seen upwards of 8 feet high on some houses. It blew me away and the the storm was 2 DAMN YEARS AGO!! I mean, I don't think its possible for me to even begin to fathom the devastation that must have occured directly after the storm.

But there's hope. They're slowly rebuilding, which is amazing to see. One of the best things I saw is that Preservation Hall is back open for business. Preservation Hall is one of the oldest and premier jazz clubs in New Orleans. And I was extremely disappointed to hear that it had to close its doors back in 2005. I just read that it reopened its doors back in April of 2006, so this isn't exactly groundbreaking news, but I had no idea it had reopened until I saw it this weekend.

Looks like a dump from the outside, but its definitely one of the cooler spots in New Orleans

Needless to say, it was a pleasant site. I didn't actually get to go to a show there, but fear not, I got to hear plenty of New Orleans jazz and blues while I was there. Its impossible to escape when you visit. It was very comforting to see New Orleans slowly making its way back to some sort of normalcy now almost 2 years later. New Orleans really is a one-of-a-kind city. Its an amazing place and I am glad to see it still surviving.

So, I don't have too much to add, so I'll just add a song or two to finish up my post. Here's a couple of songs that remind me of New Orleans whenever I hear them.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - When the Saint's Go Marching In: Just bought this and a couple other PH jazz band songs and they're exactly what you expect of a band from New Orleans. This is just a classic song, but its still great to hear. You can buy the Preservation Hall Jazz Band album here.

Dr. John - It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing): The king of New Orleans music. Borrowed this CD from my boss. Its Dr. John performing Duke Ellington songs and whereas I'm not particularly a fan of every song on the album, some are pretty damn good. This is one of the good ones. You can purchase the album here.

Radiohead - Life in a Glass House: This song has a New Orleans march sound to it. It's always reminded me of N'awlins. So I'll post it too. (Buy Radiohead here).

RR