My husband and I haven’t missed a Jazz Fest since Katrina and we lived in New Orleans for three months in 2011, so we often get requests from friends about what to do. I’ve compiled an ever-expanding list to share when someone asks. These are my NOLA tips — I welcome your additions, questions or objections: In general, New Orleans…
After talking about it for years, I finally started beginner piano lessons last spring, in part because the approach of my 40th birthday felt like a good deadline. I fantasized about learning a song that I’d be comfortable playing in public, maybe even hosting a big 40th birthday bash with New Orleans Bingo Show headlining and with me playing my…
We took our Christmas tree down last weekend, and I think that’s got to be one of the saddest rituals of the year. When we decorate the tree in December, we’re preparing for a fun-filled season of celebrations. Taking the tree down is not only a less fun chore, it’s also the physical reminder that all that socializing and holiday…
Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays New York tonight and I’m such a geeky fan girl that I’m going even though I think I’ve seen them five times already this year. Traditional jazz is my soul music. It never fails to make me happy. Whether I am covered in mud on a rainy day at New Orleans Jazz Fest or packed…
The Village Voice this week has a wonderful, sprawling piece on Woody Allen and his love of traditional jazz. Yes, the same Woody Allen, he of the artsy movies that define the neurotic New York archetype, also happens to have a standing weekly gig at the Carlyle. If you’re wondering if they’re any good, it might be worth noting that…
Editor’s note: This is a fairly lengthy post. I suggest you fire up Preservation Hall’s live performance on World Cafe, maybe mix yourself a hurricane, and settle in. Ben Jaffe grew up with dreams of becoming a modern jazz musician, “really hell bent on moving to New York.” Family responsibility and appreciation of where he’d come from put him on…
