Delaying our celebration of the New Year at home, we got back to New Orleans on January 11th to begin the real festivities!
We met friends from Houston and Kansas City that first week and with beautiful weather, we enjoyed several lunches and dinners indoors and outdoors at iconic French Quarter restaurants. Oysters are always on the list together with shrimp, catfish, and crawfish delicacies.
Our first stop at the Maison Bourbon featured Dave Ruffner (tb), John Gill (bj), Danny Rubio (tuba) and Josh “Jams” Marotta (dr). We stayed for a set and then headed down the block to Fritzel’s with Tom Fischer (cl), Kevin Clark (tp), Gerald French (dr), Chris Sharkey (bs), and Leslie Martin (p).
As mentioned in the prior column, The Danny Barker Banjo & Guitar Festival was postponed to March 17th so we had a few afternoons that needed to be filled that first week. Fortunately Kevin Clark, as the recently appointed Music Director of Fritzel’s, has arranged for afternoon music sessions on Thursday thru Sunday beginning at 12:30 pm. Many of the musicians that have regular gigs at the Frenchmen Street clubs welcome the opportunity to play during the afternoon in a French Quarter location. On Wednesdays, Richard Scott (p) also has a several hour session so that satisfied the need for some afternoon activities.
Palm
