The pool of young trad jazz musicians in New Orleans is so deep that I am continuously finding new ones. This is especially true when a group tends to stick together. While there have been line up changes along the way, there does seem to be a core to Eight Dice Cloth, and you can find them at The Maison on Frenchmen Street as often as several times a week, but not on consistent nights.
The group is an excellent representation of the New Orleans street music sound and how in the post-Katrina era it has evolved from an old time circus gypsy sound you’d be just as likely to hear in Ashville to incorporate a greater and greater influence from New Orleans jazz. That evolution occurred because a wave of experienced musicians began migrating to the Crescent City, adopting it as their home, putting down roots, and taking its music and history seriously. When I lived in the French Quarter before Katrina most of the street bands were just passing through on their way to places like Austin. Now they are moving into the Frenchman St. clubs to play traditional jazz, and sending musical ripples out into the cultures of other trendy cities.
Over the course of four records, the first released in 2015, you can hear Eight Dice Cloth evolve from a wide ranging, though always jazzy, street music sound, including an accordion at times, to focus on jazz interplays, counterpoints, and arrangements. The
