BUTCH THOMPSON ON PIANO

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As I do every year at about this time, I’m heading for New Orleans to play a few gigs, hear some music, and see some old friends. My first visit there was in July 1962, and it changed my life forever. Preservation Hall had only recently opened, so it was easy to walk in and find a seat; the long lines all the way up St. Peter Street and around the corner came just a few years later.

Bourbon Street was just a half block away, but unless you walked to the corner you couldn’t hear the music. If you’ve been there lately, you know that fabled street, where tourists could find pretty good jazz in several clubs, has become a deafeningly Hellish tourist trap. Little or no jazz is played there — instead it’s a nightmare of bass amplifiers as the strip clubs try to drown each other out.

Fortunately there is still good music to be found. Head down to Frenchman street (at the far end of the French Quarter from Canal Street) and check it out. There’s a lot of traditional jazz there, including some really interesting young players who were probably born at least 20 years after my 1962 baptism at Preservation Hall, who have taken up the cause and sound just wonderful. Some play out in the street, some in hole-in-the-wall clubs, and there are parades and dancing everywhere.

We all knew the die was cast when the Louisiana Music Factory (http://www.louisianamusicfactory.com) relocated from their old place right off Canal Street to Frenchman street. This shop is action central, and I urge anybody who visits the city for the first time to go there immediately. You can buy CDs, yes, but you can also find out who’s playing where and when, find all the latest magazines and books — well, just see for yourself.

I’ll only be in town for a week this time. As I do every year, I’ll be playing JazzFest with my old trumpet-player friend Clive Wilson, who came to town during the early ‘60s - he was born in London, England - and never went back home. There are a few other gigs here and there, and I’ll see and hear old friends. Then there’s the food — but that’s another story. Check here if you’re in town and want to look me up: http://www.butchthompson.com/calendar.html


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