In late October I finished a bicycle trip in New Orleans, where I had allotted two days to indulge my other passion, traditional jazz. I could have easily stayed longer, but even though my itinerary was flexible, it wasn’t entirely without limitations.
Because there was some big convention taking place in the city, I could not get a hotel room anywhere downtown at a price I was willing to pay, and my Wyndham Hotels reward points were not usable. And my Airbnb inquiry was not answered. So I wound up staying (for free) at a Wyndham hotel by the airport that has a free shuttle, which I used in combination with public buses to travel into and out of the city. While this was very inexpensive, it precluded taking in late night music gigs. Using my bike was not a viable option due to the risk of theft and of riding 10 miles back to the hotel after dark, possibly in the rain. Once in the city, all the music venues were within easy walking distance of each other, so the bike would have become a liability.
Buffa's
My first gig was at Buffa’s, an unpretentious bar on the edge of the French Quarter. My friend Banu Gibson had an early show there with her quartet, so that one was easy to attend. Backing her up were her regular pianist David Boeddinghaus, Larry Scala on guitar, Jim Singleton on bass, and Andy Schumm from Chicago on clarinet and cornet. Andy was an unexpected treat; Banu had
