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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Not the first rodeo

ChazFest returns April 19 at the Broadside

SINCE A DECADE-LONG RUN ENDED IN 2015, there have been only a couple of ChazFests. The last one was in 2017 in Bywater. But the festival returns April 19 at The Broadside with 11 bands on two stages.

Fans also can expect the return of some ChazFest traditions. Festival namesake “Washboard” Chaz leary will perform with every band.

“I got one with Malevitus; that’s a Captain Beefheart song,” leary says. “The other guys, I’ll just jump up there.” leary likes all sorts of music, and he’s got four bands. The two most active are his traditional jazz band, The palmetto Bug Stompers, and The Tin Men, an only-in-New Orleans trio of himself, guitarist Alex McMurray and sousaphonist Matt perrine. He also leads his namesake blues trio.

At ChazFest, he’s performing with his Western swing band, Washboard rodeo. The group has only played a couple of shows since the pandemic, and he’s looking to get it back in regular rotation. But he’s bringing the group to ChazFest in line with festival tradition. The event has always highlighted local bands that didn’t get a slot at Jazz Fest. The festival “started the first Jazz Fest after the storm, and a lot of people didn’t get in,” leary says. “So we were like, let’s put on a festival ourselves, like a Mickey rooney-Judy Garland kind of thing. We were going to do it outside the (Jazz Fest) grounds, but then we did it where (organizers) lived — at the Truck Farm. They named it after me because it rhymed with Jazz Fest.”

The Truck farm was a field hidden behind houses lining the streets on a big block of St. Claude Avenue in Bywater. The space was bounded by the homes of several people in the music industry, including Dave pirner of Soul Asylum. Two of the primary original organizers, Alex McMurray and spouse Kourtney Keller also lived there. Some of the property was sold in 2017, which effectively made that year’s revival the last edition of the festival.

Organizers tried to keep things simple in the early years, like asking for a suggested donation rather than ticketing to avoid more onerous permitting processes. Tom Thayer, formerly the owner of bar and music venue d.b.a., helped them with beer and other things early on, he says.

Since selling d.b.a., Thayer has started a production company, New Suit Entertainment. He is producing

by Will Coviello |

a couple of concerts during Jazz Fest, and he is presenting the return of ChazFest after approaching the former organizers.

“I’ll do all the heavy lifting, I just need your blessing,” Thayer says he told them. He moved it to the Broadside, where there will be an outdoor stage and an indoor stage. There are concessions from the Broadside’s Bodega, and the Cochon King Barbecue truck will be set up.

The festival poster celebrates the event’s unexpected return. leary reclines under a beach umbrella as pigs fly above and hell freezes over.

The festival also is a special show for Washboard rodeo. Fiddler Neti Vaan left the band when she moved to St. lucia. She’s returning for this show. The rest of the lineup remains much the same since the recording of its self-titled 2010 album. Matt rhody plays fiddle and mandolin, Matt Johnson plays guitar and Jimbo Walsh plays bass. leary and The Tin Men also are at the heart of the Valparaiso Men’s Chorus. led by McMurray, the rowdy group of polished and unpolished musicians and singers revels in sea shanties and bawdy call-and-response sailor songs. They return for another ChazFest appearance.

Aurora Nealand will perform at Jazz Fest, but not with the rory Danger and the Danger Dangers band. The group originally premiered at ChazFest in 2010, with a lineup including the late

Parsons Dance with the Allen Toussaint Orchestra

The New Orleans Ballet Association commissioned David Parsons to choreograph a piece to music by Allen Toussaint. The resulting “Whirlaway” premiered in 2014, and it became a popular part of the company’s repertoire. parsons returns to New Orleans to perform the piece with the Allen Toussaint Orchestra, led by reginald Toussaint. Also on the program are “Caught,” reflecting on art and technology, and “Swing Shift,” a fast-paced piece working through partnering. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Mahalia Jackson Theater. Tickets 435-$189 via nobadance.com.

Parsons Dance company will perform with the Allen Toussaint Orchestra at Mahalia Jackson Theater on April 20.

Tulane Crawfest

Spencer Bohren and Andre Bohren and Marc paradis of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. The band is based in rockabilly and stretches into other genres. In November, it released the album “The Age of Invention,” which featured a couple of tracks written by Spencer Bohren.

The festival lineup also includes a few other Bywater favorites. ChazFest is among the gigs the longtime barroom band Morning 40 Federation is playing this spring. And guitarist and singer luke Spurr Allen’s Happy Talk Band is on the lineup.

Also on the lineup are Helen Gillet and the reBelle Band, Schatzy, Narcissy, keyboardist BC Coogan and The remaining Geraniums.

David Kunian, the New Orleans Jazz Museum curator and WWOZ host who’s emceed all the events, returns as well. The festival runs from 2 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.

With the empty weekend between French Quarter Festival and the beginning of Jazz Fest, Thayer saw a good date. If it goes well, he hopes to keep the festival going.

“It holds a special place in all of our hearts,” he says.

Tickets are $40 via broadsidenola.com.

Indiana funk band The Main Squeeze headlines Tulane University’s Crawfest. The lineup also includes local r&B and soul band J & the Causeways, los Angeles folk duo Mapache, Charleston, South Carolina rockers Easy Honey, the Iko Allstars, contemporary latin band Vale! UlB and more. There’s also plenty of boiled crawfish. There are two music stages on the Berger Family lawn in the center of Tulane’s campus. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 20. Free for Tulane students, and tickets are $20 general admission. Find tickets at tulanecrawfest.com.

Hayes & the Heathens

Texas singer Hayes Carll’s mix of sarcasm and independent spirit put him on track towards the mantle of outlaw country. Band of Heathens emerged from Austin’s music scene, playing a mix of rock and Americana. They joined forces as one band for this show and tour, and have done some recording, promising to release a single this week. At 8 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at Tipitina’s. Tickets $25 via tipitinas.com.

Maritime Music and Arts Fest

The festival features live music, an art market, food trucks and more to benefit

Washboard Chaz Leary sits in with a band during a Chaz Fest at the Truck Farm.

PHOTO BY KATHY ANDERSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE ARCHIVE

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NOBA

THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two local road Home grant recipients who alleged louisiana’s debt collectors violated the federal Fair Debt Collections practices Act in their attempts to claw back road Home money awarded more than 10 years ago. last year, HUD ceased efforts to reclaim road Home funds from homeowners. The court’s ruling allows grant recipients to seek compensation for the state’s unlawful collection practices.

Always remember to tip your bartenders often and generously.

Republicans show disagreements on insurance, killing pro-industry bill in Louisiana Senate

A RIFT AMONG REPUBLICANS HAS SPURRED THE DEATH OF A BILL aimed at exempting louisiana’s insurer of last resort from penalties, reflecting the tumultuous politics of the state’s insurance crisis.

Abramson Sci Academy and GEO Next Generation High School took first place in their categories at the Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s annual Class Got Brass competition, earning $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. Abramson Sci Academy took first place in the advanced category. GEO Next Generation led the beginner category.

Senate Bill 113 would have shielded louisiana Citizens property Insurance Corp. from so-called “bad faith” penalties — fees that insurer pays when policyholders accuse it of failing to fulfill contract terms. The bill aligned with republicans’ pro-industry approach to the state’s insurance crisis, which stems from a series of devastating hurricanes that sent a number of small insurers belly up.

But the state Senate rejected the legislation Monday after lawmakers including republicans clashed over whether a lighter hand on Citizens, which took on thousands of new policies after successive hurricanes in recent years, would make a dent in the crisis.

Citizens’ executives over policyholders because the company has an incentive to minimize payouts.

Talbot, who chairs the Senate Insurance Committee and sits on Citizens’ board, argued that the bill would have lifted an unreasonable burden on Citizens that doesn’t exist in other states. He argued that the company doesn’t have the same incentive to pay lower claims as do privately-held firms.

Eight republicans and 11 Democrats joined Morris in voting against the bill and it died, 20-18.

Its failure may end up being an anomaly. Other pro-industry bills have advanced in the state House and Senate recently, while pro-consumer legislation, much of it carried by Democrats, has faltered.

THE COUNT #

31

THE PERCENTAGE BY WHICH MURDERS DROPPED IN NEW ORLEANS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 COMPARED TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

After several years of significant increases in violent crime, numbers have dropped nationally this year. In New Orleans, the declines in violent crime have receded to nearly pre-pandemic levels, according to data analyst Jeff Asher. The Times-picayune reports that police officials and criminal justice stakeholders are crediting new partnerships and crime data analysis for recent traction.

What do you look for in a good bar?

Louisiana is one of 14 states that keep their police certification database out of public view. The database, created by lawmakers in 2015, tracks “wandering officers” who move from department to department after misconduct. The Appeal also reported that the database has significant gaps that make it easier for problem officers to change departments.

The outcome showed the delicate line some republicans walk on insurance issues, as they seek to appease powerful insurance company lobbyists and cater to voters, many of whom are furious over soaring homeowners’ premiums.

“You wouldn’t hold your CEO accountable if all of a sudden the financials weren’t good at Citizens?”

Sen. Jay Morris, r-West Monroe, who voted against the bill, asked Talbot on the Senate floor. Morris argued the bill would disproportionately benefit

A package of bills that advanced last month are favorable to insurance companies, allowing them to drop policyholders, raise rates more easily and have more time to pay claims after a storm.

In one win for pro-consumer interests, the state could soon require loosely regulated affiliates of home insurers to report more information to the state, under a bill filed in response to a series published by the Times-picayune that found 11 of the 12 insurers that failed used an affiliate model that has come under scrutiny by regulators. — James Finn / The Times-Picayune 24.2%

Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Time for citizens to call lawmakers and kill bad bills

LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS ARE CONSIDERING A SLEW OF DRACONIAN, ham-fisted measures that, if passed into law, would eviscerate some of the most fundamental rights of citizens and local governments. Some would reduce or even eliminate citizens’ access to public records; others would impair local governments’ ability to regulate short-term rentals; and still others would weaken basic human rights or threaten the safety of transgender and gender-nonconforming louisianans.

Many of these bills were filed just before the April 2 deadline for introducing legislation in the current annual session. Most have yet to receive significant citizen or media attention. That’s likely the point: Gov. Jeff landry seems intent on getting lawmakers to pass bad bills by giving them as little time as possible to consider all potential ramifications.

Here are some of the worst measures:

• Covington Republican Rep. Mark Wright’s House Bill 906, introduced on the April 2 deadline, would dramatically rewrite the state’s campaign finance laws by allowing political oligarchs to dump

more money than ever to elect favored state and local officials. HB 906 would more than double — in some cases triple or even quadruple — individual and organizational contribution limits. Worse yet, it would make it more difficult than ever for whistleblowers to expose — and for citizens to learn about — campaign finance law violations.

Those changes would dramatically increase the influence of louisiana’s already powerful monied interests. For example, Wright’s bill would hike political action committees’ contribution limits from $5,000 to $20,000 and remove all limits on contributions to often-sketchy “independent expenditure” committees that support or oppose candidates. The bill also would increase the individual limit on contributions to gubernatorial transition and inaugural committees from $5,000 to $25,000.

Republican State Sen. Heather Cloud is the author of one of the most anti-democratic measures to be considered by the Louisiana Legislature in recent years.

Wright’s bill would put a giant “For Sale” sign on the Capitol, parish courthouses and city halls across louisiana and obliterate the notion of government of, by and for the people.

• Turkey Creek Republican Sen. Heather Cloud introduced Senate Bill 482 on April 2. As Gambit’s Clancy DuBos put it, Cloud’s bill “revives and injects with steroids former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Orwellian ‘deliberative process’ gubernatorial records exception.” Instead of giving the governor alone a purposely vague and overly broad “deliberative process” exception to louisiana’s public records law, Cloud’s

PHOTO BY TRAVIS SPRADLING / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

bill would cloak every level of government in secrecy. records ranging from routine budget drafts and inter-agency memos to university officials’ efforts to cover up sexual abuse by athletes and Mayor laToya Cantrell’s lavish travel arrangements would never come to light.

It’s been said that democracy dies in the dark. SB 482 would usher in louisiana’s Dark Ages.

• Shreveport Republican Sen. Thomas Pressly prefiled SB 237, which aims to stem a proliferation of unregulated hemp-derived THC products. pressly’s bill, which is set for Senate consideration on Monday, April 15, would effectively ban the sale of all THC-infused gummies, tinctures and soft drinks.

COMMENTARY

While the industry needs better regulation and oversight, pressly’s bill takes a chainsaw to a problem that calls for a scalpel. light or moderate forms of THC-infused products are not inherently dangerous. There’s no evidence of widespread illness, addiction or deaths associated with them, nor of harmful product-contamination incidents in louisiana.

The hemp industry has blossomed in louisiana over the last five years, with millions of dollars invested in a growing business sector that has created new jobs — including here in New Orleans. What’s needed are reasonable health and safety standards and specific point-of-sale age restrictions, not a job-killing ban.

• Marrero Democratic Rep. Rodney Lyons’ HB 591 would prohibit all local governments — including cities like New Orleans — from regulating shortterm rental (STr) operators. New Orleans has spent years writing and rewriting STr regulations, the latest version of which recently survived a constitutional challenge in federal court. National STr companies for years have ignored local regulations and run roughshod over vulnerable communities and cultures. Now that they have failed to annul New Orleans’ regulations, they want the state to let them go back to ruining historic, and too often historically Black, neighborhoods. Instead of prohibiting local regulation, the state should let the New Orleans model serve as a template for other local governments to write reasonable, constitutional rules for STrs.

• Denham Springs Republican Rep. Roger Wilder’s anti-trans bill, HB 608, is quickly moving through the House. The so-called “bathroom bill” attacks the basic human rights and dignity of transgender louisianans and could put trans and gender-nonconforming kids and adults in physical danger. HB 608 would also put millions of dollars in critical federal funding at risk — and cost louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars in convention and tourism business every year.

None of these bills will make louisiana a better, safer place to live. Some would do the opposite. They also don’t address emergencies that require quick legislative action. lawmakers should reject all such measures, particularly amid efforts to rush them through to passage without adequate time for public debate and citizen input.

Given Gov. landry’s push for early adjournment, time is of the essence. We urge our readers to call and email their representatives and senators immediately. Tell them to vote against these and all similar measures.

To find your state representative and senator, go to legis.la.gov. A list of representatives and their emails can be found at house.louisiana.gov/H_ reps/H_reps_FullInfo. A list of state senators can be found at senate. la.gov/Senators_FullInfo.

You can call or email their local offices anytime, and during afternoon sessions, you can call the House switchboard at (225) 342-6945 or the Senate switchboard at (225) 342-2040 and ask for your legislator by name.

Rep. Rodney Lyons’ bill would let STRs run rampant across New Orleans.

PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

We need accurate sex crime and domestic violence stats

from NOPD

For example, local media recently noted that New Orleans’ violent crime rate, which declined significantly in the second half of 2023, continued to decline in the first quarter of this year. Murders dropped 31% compared to the same time last year, and non-fatal shootings fell by 42%. Armed robberies plummeted 52%, and carjackings declined at a similar rate.

That’s far below the roughly 35% national clearance rate between 2010 and 2022, according to the FBI.

“This is a very serious violent crime,” the researcher added, “and we’re not treating it the same way we treat other serious crimes.”

That’s good news as far as it goes, but those numbers gloss over two major categories of violent crime: sex crimes and domestic violence cases.

There’s the rub.

The Times-picayune’s account did contain one short statement about sex crimes: “Felony rapes ticked down as well, for an 11% decrease.” There was no mention of domestic violence.

According to veteran civil rights attorney Mary Howell and a local researcher who is a rape survivor, there have been issues with NOpD’s sex crimes data in recent years. The cops admitted as much on April 2 when NOpD issued updated data showing sex crimes were under-reported to the state and the FBI by more than 30% in both 2021 and 2022.

NOpD’s numbers were corrected because Howell and the researcher reported the discrepancies to police chief Anne Kirkpatrick. To the chief’s credit, she immediately ordered her department to hand count all sex crime reports for those years to get accurate data.

However, the updated numbers address only part of a much larger problem.

“We owe it to survivors to solve more of these crimes,” the researcher told me, noting that NOpD’s clearance rate for has been “less than 10%” since 2019.

Everyone wants murders, shootings and carjackings to decline, but, as Howell puts it, “We cannot talk about violent crime trends in our community if we don’t include in that discussion sex crimes and domestic violence, both of which primarily affect women and children.”

To be clear, I believe many forms of violent crime are declining in New Orleans. I also believe that NOpD, like most other law enforcement agencies, does its best to accurately record and report the incidence of crime to the FBI and the public.

But reporting accurate data is just part of the picture. NOpD’s Special Victims Division is severely under-resourced and understaffed. That’s a main reason why the clearance rate for sex crimes is so low.

The New Orleans City Council and the mayor must make sure that NOpD’s budget adequately funds the Special Victims Division — and holds officers in that unit accountable for a higher clearance rate. That’s actually part of the federal consent decree already in place over NOpD.

And it’s what all survivors of rape and domestic violence deserve.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Hey Blake, I’m invited to a wedding reception at the Capital on Baronne, located inside the old First NBC Bank building. Was it originally built as a bank?

Dear reader, THE BUILDING AT 210

BEGAN LIFE as the headquarters of Canal Bank and Trust. It opened in 1927.

Canal Bank and Trust had its roots in the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company, founded in 1831. Its original purpose was to finance the construction of the New Basin Canal, hence its name. According to The Times-picayune, the bank, which later became Canal Bank and Trust, grew into the largest bank in the South at the time of the Great Depression. It was liquidated in 1933 and reopened as the National Bank of Commerce.

Its Baronne Street headquarters were designed by noted architect Emile Weil, whose other local projects included the Saenger Theatre, Touro Synagogue and Whitney Bank building. The Canal Bank and Trust building was constructed at a cost of $5 million, according to a November 1927 Timespicayune article.

BLAKE VIEW

Over the years, the Baronne Street building was hailed by architectural historians and critics. In a 1991 Timespicayune column, art critic roger Green said the bank building offered depositors “quite a lot — architecturally speaking — for their money,” explaining that it imitated a “renaissance palazzo in Florence” with its limestone exterior and ornate features.

In 1971, the bank was renamed First National Bank of Commerce. When a later incarnation of that bank (also headquartered there) failed in 2017, the Baronne Street building was sold. It was converted into apartments and commercial offices. The original lobby was restored and reopened as the Capital on Baronne.

NEW ORLEANIANS HAD THE CHANCE TO SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS — 80 feet, to be exact — 85 years ago this week when the legendary Zephyr roller coaster debuted at the pontchartrain Beach amusement park. Newspaper ads called the wooden roller coaster the “most daring sensational ride in America.”

According to Bryan Batt and Katy Danos’ book “pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair,” the roller coaster was designed in Dayton, Ohio by the National Amusement Device Company. Batt’s grandfather, Harry Batt Sr., founder and owner of pontchartrain Beach, paid a whopping $100,000 for the attraction. He was pictured in the April 15, 1939, Times-picayune presenting Mrs. A.l. Claverie with a $25 prize for naming the roller coaster the Zephyr. Its Art Deco loading station was designed to resemble the lead car of the Burlington Zephyr train, which ran between Chicago and Denver.

“At its highest point, the new Zephyr exceeds 80 feet and at its turn it is expected to attain a speed of more than 80 miles per hour,” reported the April 23, 1939, Sunday Item-Tribune. In the same article, Harry Batt Sr. said the ride had been thoroughly tested. “Although it’s one of the most thrilling experiences of its kind, engineers and other experts have examined it minutely and pronounced it safe,” he said.

The Zephyr opened to the public on April 23, 1939. Miss New Orleans 1938, Irene Schoenberger, was on hand to christen the coaster with a bottle of champagne.

The Zephyr remained a popular attraction for decades, until pontchartrain Beach’s closure in 1983.

The building at 210 Baronne St. was originally constructed as a bank before it became a special events venue.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

mental health day drinking

Sometimes, ya just need to spend an afternoon at the bar

BY JOHN STANTON

THERE’S ANY NUMBER OF WAYS TO DAY DRINK. For most of the world, it either involves brunch, sports or a music festival. But for New Orleanians ... well, hell, we’re known the world over for drinking before the sun is over the yardarm.

Your kid is turning 8 months and two weeks? Let’s day drink! It’s Sunday? Well, then we’re second lining and drinking. A storm is coming, and everybody called out? Let’s get into it!

And if there’s a pot and some sort of seafood, well, we’re boiling ... and drinking!

But like most everything else we do here, there’s often another level to how we day drink. Because unlike everywhere else, New Orleanians understand the trick to staying happy and semi-sane is that sometimes, you just got to take a day to sit on a nice barstool, tip a couple few drinks and take a moment.

A self-care day of drinking can take any number of forms. It can mean decamping to your local in the early afternoon and wiling away the daylight hours with your favorite bartender and a regular or two.

There’s the classic “catch up with an old friend” day drink. Thanks to the addictive nature of our city on anybody who visits, there's a seemingly endless parade of chances for a reconnect, whether it's an old college friend, a childhood friend who moved off, a once estranged ex — or even the still estranged ex of that once estranged ex. Sometimes a good day drink means meeting up with a homie or two, watching whatever TV show or old-time movie plays in the background while you talk shit, laugh and silently reaffirm the familial bonds that brought you together in the first place.

A good day drink with a couple of pals is somehow different than a normal night at the bar. Maybe it's just the broader culture’s disapproval of stepping away from work on a non-designated holiday. Or the differences in the light —even in a dark barroom — that come with sitting down for a beer or three when the sun’s still up.

Whatever it is, it always feels good to do nothing much at all with your friends to simply be in their presence.

THEN, THERE’S THE SOLO DAY DRINK. Puritans may look down their sour noses at the idea that it's OK to go to a bar and sit with nothing but yourself, a drink and the endless possibilities of who or what might walk through the door. They’ll say its lazy, or worse, a sign of a drinking “problem.” That's a sad way to go through life

because you can learn a lot sitting in a bar by yourself during the day. Plus, jokes on them since you don’t need to drink booze to enjoy some quality day-drinking time.

For years I traveled a lot for work, and over the years I got into the habit of arriving a day or two early, especially if I’d never been there before. That way I could spend some time sitting in bars and getting to know new cities.

The same goes for here at home. Sitting in the window at Harry’s Corner in the French Quarter is great not only for general people watching, but to get a sense of what’s happening in the neighborhood. You can literally feel the rhythms as the street goes from the quiet domain of locals to the playground of happy, boisterous tourists.

From the stools at Bud Rip’s and BJ’s you could literally watch the Bywater transform over the last decade and a half: as old timer daytime bartenders like the late, great Bob Smith gave way to a younger, hipper generation of bar hands, and dayside crowds once filled with plumbers, electricians and certifiable weirdos thinned and were slowly replaced, first by hipsters and metalheads and now Airbnb tourists looking for “authentic Nawlins.”

A SOLO DAY AT THE BAR can also be a great way to clear the mind or beat back those persistent demons and self-doubt.

I love a good solo daytime drink. Sometimes it's almost meditative, a

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY JOHN STANTON

simple matter of sitting quietly at the bar, sorting through whatever thoughts and hangups are preoccupying me and letting them fall away. Other times I find myself listening to a stranger’s tales of joy or sorrow, celebrating and commiserating in turn. And sometimes, I learn a thing or two about myself.

The first time I went day drinking by myself I was in my early 20s, maybe a year or two of age. I was staying in Missoula, Montana, working and going to college. I was driving home from somewhere one afternoon and stopped for gas.

Earlier that day I’d gotten into it with the woman I was with at the time, and being a proper Gen X manchild, was in my feelings, so after I gassed up, I decided to hit what looked to be a bar nearby.

It turned out to technically be a bar, but more to the point, it was a strip club. Though at 2 in the afternoon on a weekday, there wasn’t much stripping or clubbing going on. Instead, I found three young women sitting at the bar, smoking Marlboro Light 100s, sipping beers and chatting with the older woman behind the bar.

I froze in the doorway. I’d never actually been in a strip club at this point in my life and hadn’t at least consciously been fixing to that day. After an excruciatingly long pause, the clearly amused bartender greeted me, explained the entertainment wouldn’t start for a few hours but the bar was open if I wanted a drink.

I sat down, ordered a beer and a shot and tried my best to make it seem like I belonged there. It didn’t take long before the bartender turned her attention to me, and even less for me to volunteer what was almost certainly far too much information about my life, my relationship and whatever dumb thing I’d done that had caused the fight with my girl earlier in the day.

The women listened patiently as I talked my way out of whatever emo hole I’d dug for myself. They sympathetically laughed over just how earth shatteringly serious it all seemed, at least to me. They commiserated a bit, offered up the perhaps cliched but still sage advice to stop taking things so seriously and that everything would work itself out if I’d just get out of my own head. They were, of course, right, and after a few hours of chatting about life, work and nothing in particular, I left feeling a lot less like whatever crisis of youth I was dealing with would end the world as I knew it.

In short, I ended up in what would be the first of a lifelong series of therapy sessions in a bar.

With the world in a near constant state of chaos and stress, finding space and time away from it all — from your domestic squabbles, from your boss, from the existential threat of creeping fascism — is more important now than ever before. And a barstool can be a perfect spot to find it on a Tuesday afternoon.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY DRE GLASS

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Newmedicalresearch studies have opened at Tandem Clinical Research. Enrolling studies include:

•Alzheimer Disease

•Asthma

•BirthControl

•CeliacDisease

•Crohn’sDisease

•Depression

•Gastroparesis

•Heartburn

•High Cholesterol

•High Triglycerides

•LewyBody Dementia

•Liver Disease

•LossofSmell

•Obesity

•Osteoarthritis

•Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy

•Schizophrenia

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Back to the beginning

AT 67, LUOT NGUYEN THOUGHT SHE WANTED TO RETIRE after the stress of the pandemic took its toll. She’d spent a lifetime in the restaurant business. But after dipping her toe into the world of the formerly employed, Nguyen found the lack of structure just wasn’t for her.

The longtime chef is back in the kitchen at her family’s latest restaurant, Magasin Vietnamese Cafe, in a new location on Magazine Street, just a block up from where she originally opened a dozen years ago.

“My mom isn’t the type to spend all her time with the grandkids,” says her daughter Kim Nguyen, who as a native English speaker runs the business for her mother.

luot Nguyen came to the U.S. in 1975, like so many Vietnamese immigrants in the waning days of the Vietnam War. She traveled with her aunt, who adopted her when her mother died in childbirth, and the pair landed first in Orange County, California, where they worked in a relative’s restaurant. Then they relocated to New Orleans East, where Nguyen eventually opened Golden lotus, a Chinese-American restaurant. She later added another location on Canal Street, but both closed after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2012, the family opened a combination corner grocery and takeout spot, true to its name, which in French means small store. That first location was 4201 Magazine St.

“It was a risk to open a traditional Vietnamese place in that neighborhood,” says Kim Nguyen, who also works in real estate. “She didn’t know how the food would be received.”

It was welcomed with open arms.

They expanded with Magasin Kitchen in the CBD in 2016. There they introduced more creative dishes in a space with modern design. That location closed during the pandemic. Then the family opened Mukbang to focus on Viet-Cajun-style boiled seafood in 2022 on Oak Street. Between high seafood prices, a lack

Magasin reopens in new spot on Magazine Street by Beth D’Addono | ? WHAT

of street traffic and a brutally hot summer, the location floundered. last fall, Kim Nguyen rebranded Mukbang as Magasin, but business was too inconsistent. With her mom eager to get back in the kitchen, the family returned to open a smaller cafe on Magazine Street in March.

The menu remains essentially the same as the original restaurant, Kim Nguyen says. “My mom wants to keep her customer’s favorites while elevating with a few new dishes,” she says.

The cafe offers a solid menu of Vietnamese noodle shop standards, starting with pho offered with brisket, filet, rare steak, chicken and tofu. lemon grass beef, tofu, chicken and salmon are a few protein options available with vermicelli or rice. Bahn mi sandwiches are made with grilled pork or chicken, char siu pork or fried, marinated tofu.

The chef upped her game with some dishes. She makes hand-pulled wide noodles, which are served in a

stir-fried shrimp and garlic dish and in a spicy beef noodle soup. One version of her fried potstickers is stuffed with seasoned, chopped squid. luot Nguyen also played around with firm tofu to get a meaty, umami texture in vegetarian potstickers. She pressed the tofu and mixed it with rice flour to a consistency that will go through a pasta extruder, creating little nibs. She adds chopped avocado into her fresh spring rolls, giving a creamy finish to the popular appetizer.

As the third generation in the restaurant business, Kim Nguyen never planned to follow her mother’s path.

“But here I am,” she says. “She wasn’t happy not working in the kitchen. After she took a little break, it seemed like she lost her purpose. I wanted to see her happy again. It’s really all she wants to do.”

Hogs winners

HOGS FOR THE CAUSE HAD A BIG YEAR, RAISING $4.3 MILLION and handing out barbecue competition awards at its festival April 5-6 on the grounds of the UNO lakefront Arena.

This year, 91 teams competed in various barbecue categories as well as for the best side dish, bacon dish and wings. piggy Stardust won the overall Grand Champion title.

Teams raised $4.3 million both at the festival and in fundraising leading up to the event. The nonprofit Hogs for the Cause has now donated more than $12 million since it was founded in 2009, said festival organizers in a statement. Those funds have gone directly to support families with children being treated for pediatric brain cancer, and to health care facilities that provide treatment, including Children’s Hospital New Orleans and Our lady of the lake Children’s Hospital in Baton rouge. Team piggy Stardust won the best pork butt/shoulder category as well as the overall title. Squeal Team Six won

for whole hog. Bark & Bite BBQ won best ribs. The porkpourri award for the best creative dish was won by Deuce pigalow + Frey Meats. Best sauce was won by #Famous On Instaham. And porkHub won the wing challenge. The river pork pilots, who constructed what looked like a paddlewheeler out of three tiers of scaffolding, won Best Booth.

On the fundraising front, Fleur De Que again topped the list, raising more than $625,000. Both Hogwatch and Morten Anderson’s Mullets brought in more than $320,000. The Boar’s Nest topped $275,000.

March of the pigs raised more than $200,000, and teams above the $100,000 mark included Deswine Intervention, Mr. pig Stuff, Swine Krewe and Bark & Bite BBQ. — Will Coviello

PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Chef Luot Nguyen prepares traditional and creative dishes at Magasin Vietnamese Cafe.

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

Tis the season

FOOTBALL SEASON STARTS WITH THE FIRST WHISTLE on the gridiron. Carnival season starts with your first bite of king cake.

For me, the true start of crawfish season in louisiana is not when you can buy them, but when the social rituals we weave around mudbugs come to full bloom.

Despite all the factors stacking up against louisiana’s crawfish culture this year, I still saw it play out at a friend’s backyard boil on Good Friday. It happened as the angst over pricing finally took a back seat to renewed rivalries over technique and the gamesmanship that distinguishes the serious aficionado of the boil.

It was a happy moment in a crawfish season that remains vexing and is progressing with high stakes for many who rely on our cravings around these traditions.

What was distinctive about these Good Friday crawfish was the final step, applied immediately after a pot was emptied across the line of folding tables. It was a dose of lemon, squeezed from fresh fruit. The steaming-hot crawfish collected the citrus essence, adding another zap of acidic flavor on the top.

When I threw a question about the technique out over the table, I knew I was tossing chum in the water. The predicted response quickly surfaced as the brothers Mike Kerrigan and Matt Kerrigan staked competing claims for ownership over the particular twists of this boil.

This is how we know crawfish season has really begun in louisiana: people are plunging back into the pleasures of the boil, arguments and all.

The story of this season has been the lasting impact of last year’s severe drought on the areas across louisiana that produce the vast majority of the American crawfish harvest.

Downstream, where crawfish supply meets crawfish tradition, the situation brought much stress earlier in the season as people who always hold a Super Bowl boil or a Mardi Gras weekend boil scrambled to keep their customs going against market reality.

It has been far worse for people whose livelihoods are fixed to the surge in spending crawfish normally brings. Economic losses in the state could be close to $140 million, according to the lSU AgCenter’s estimates.

Gov. Jeff landry declared a state of emergency in March to help the industry, and now the Small Business Administration has a low-interest loan program to help crawfish-reliant businesses, from farmers to restaurants and markets.

There could be some respite on the way from wild crawfish from the Atchafalaya Basin, typically a later-season harvest dependent on spring snowmelt traveling south.

What this amounts to remains to be seen, but any help would be like a crawfish cavalry charge, especially since there are reports farmers of pond-raised crawfish fret that they

could run out of their supply earlier than normal, even in April.

For now though, the ritualized power of crawfish is still evident.

At the louisiana Crawfish Championships, held at the Immaculate Conception School in Marrero, I watched the competitive compulsion around crawfish and the judging process around it transform a Catholic school grounds into a hub of serious analysis, along with community fundraising.

That same day in Harahan, I witnessed crawfish deployed as gratitude at a party marking the 20th anniversary of Seither’s Seafood. restaurant proprietor and master boiler Jason Seither closed the business for the day to fill his oyster shell parking lot with friends, supporters, jambalaya, drinks, live music and one pirogue after the next of crawfish.

prices around the state (which can change daily) recently ranged between $5 and $11 per pound for boiled crawfish, averaging somewhere in the $7 range. last year around this time, it was $4.50 for boiled and live crawfish were under $3 per pound.

For that Good Friday boil I attended, live crawfish were sourced for $5 per pound from Capt. Sid’s seafood market in Metairie’s lakefront burg of Bucktown. With 300+ pounds procured for that feast, I counted my blessings for generous, tradition-bound friends.

Whatever we get out of this crawfish season, the final tally can still include time spent with family and friends around a hands-on tableau of louisiana flavor and tradition. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

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Shonda Cross

Coviello

CHEF SHONDA CROSS IS A SELF-TAUGHT CHEF who grew up in New Orleans. She changed careers to jump into the culinary world and worked at Nina Compton’s Compere lapin for eight years, five of them as sous chef. More recently, she launched her own culinary business, offering weekly menus for pick-up and catering and private chef services. She’ll have a booth at French Quarter Festival at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, and in summer, she’ll work with chef Serigne Mbaye on a special Juneteenth dinner, Afro Freedom Afro Feast. For more information, visit @chef_shonda on Instagram.

How did you get interested in cooking?

SHONDA CROSS: I started cooking at home and found a true love for it. I always watched my sister cooking for the holidays, when I was 12 or 13. It didn’t become a passion until I started cooking in my own kitchen and exploring different recipes and baking. I was making vegan cookies, peanut butter cookies. I was going nuts.

For a while it was sweets, and then I moved over to savory and started exploring foie gras and quail — things I hadn’t eaten at home but wanted to try. I had friends in the culinary space. They made me want to try all of these different things.

After cooking those types of dishes, it made me want to dig deeper in the culinary space. When I saw chef Compton was opening a restaurant here, I reached out to her to see if she would give me a chance. It was my first professional kitchen job.

I actually saw her in rouses. I think I said, “I have never worked in a kitchen before, but I think I have a passion for it, and I would be forever grateful if you would give me a chance.”

I was in pastry for three years. I liked to make ice creams. That’s one of my favorite things: developing the flavors and textures.

I went from pastry straight to sous chef. leaving pastry, I was so excited. I finally got to put my hands on all the things I’ve watched.

How did you start your own business?

C: I went back (to Compere lapin) after the pandemic. I got to a point that I was working so much that I was missing out on a lot of family time. The

restaurant is in a hotel, so it’s open seven days a week and every holiday. I wanted to be closer to my family. I took a small break and then a friend called me up for a contract job and cooking for the military. We did that for nearly two years on and off. When we finished, I started a pop-up, DeauxJo, with a friend of mine, Jp (Joshua peterson). A Creole-Japanese pop-up. That was incredibly fun.

My friend Jp has a lot of experience in that space. He’s planning to eventually move to Japan. I learned a lot from him. We got to create all of these beautiful dishes and fuse these cultures together. It was amazing.

We made things like a jambalaya onigiri. It was a great seller as well. It was jambalaya with sticky rice wrapped in seaweed and we topped it with a Creole yum yum sauce.

Then I branched off and dove into the private chef sector. Four months ago, I leased a space in Gentilly. Now I am using that kitchen space for pop-ups and catering. I am enjoying it.

I miss the camaraderie in the kitchen and working alongside great chefs, but I like to have my time away.

I am having a lot of fun (offering pick-up food), doing all these different

WI NE OF THE WEEK

menus every week, but I am leaning towards private chef work and catering.

What are you doing at French Quarter Fest?

C: This is going to be my first festival. I did Food Fight last year. That was a lot of fun. I did one of my top sellers. I did blackened fish over grits with crawfish sauce, and I came in second place.

French Quarter Festival is going to be the biggest event I’ve taken part in. I am doing things that have done really well when I have put them on the menu. I am doing jambalaya arancini. I am doing blackened salmon cakes, which are like crab cakes but using salmon. I am serving it as a slider with a pickled mirliton slaw on a brioche bun.

I am doing crawfish queso. I think that was one of the favorites at the festival tasting I did. I am adding Creole spices to the queso, and it has crawfish, red peppers and scallions.

I have assembled a team with friends that are coming in from Houston and Mississippi and some folks from right here in the city.

Itscolor is abright rubyred. On the nose, it is clean and precise, with hints of morello cherries, wild berries and amoderate spiciness. On the palate it reveals a full and firm flavor, expressing all its intensity and elegance.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY LINO ASANA

Chef by Will

Bricks &Minifigs®(BAM) is thelargest franchised toystore specializing in buying,selling,and tradingnew andused LEGO®sets, bulk bricks,and minifigures.

Thenew storeinOld Metairie VillageShopping Center will mark thefirstlocationinLouisiana.

“I first discovered theuniqueatmosphere during atriptoHouston whilelooking forgently used LEGO sets formy5-year-oldson.Iknew from themomentIwalkedinthatthe NewOrleansareadesperately needed this.Ibegan filling outthe franchisepaper work that night.”

-LukeF., Owner.

Thestore will host birthday partiesand special LEGO®themedeventsfor allages, from STEMbasedsummercampstocorporate team building.

BAM’sbrand is builtonthree principles:

•REBUILD:Offering families thechanceto experience theirfavoritesetsorcreate original projects.

•REUSE:BAM buys,sells,and trades ever ything LEGO®.

•REIMAGINE:Staffassistcustomers of allages in creating unique masterpieces

“LEGO® is an agelesstoy that appealsnot only to children butalsotoanyonewho enjoys creativeexpressionthrough thoselittle plasticbricks.”

TheGrand OpeningCelebration on Saturday, May4th,from10amto7pm, will coincide with Star Wars Day! Thefirst100 customerswillreceive afreeexclusive Bricks &Minifigs®Metairie minifigure. Therewillbegiveaways,aphoto contest, andaCelebrity LEGO influencerinstore. Partiesbookedduringthe Grand Opening will receive 20%off.

Bricks &Minifigs®Metairieoffers an opportunity to suppor tthe smallbusinesswiththe Founder’sClubmembershipat$150, limitedto 100families, closingatthe endofMay the4th Membership includesanexclusive NewOrleans themed set, acustommembershipcoin, areusable tote,and exclusivediscounts, events,and sales.

Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and more. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com

Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$

Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. reservations accepted. lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$

The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lakeview: lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — rainbow trout amandine is served with tasso and corn macque choux and Creole meuniere sauce. reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. lunch Tue.-Sat. $$

Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. reservations accepted. lunch and dinner daily. $$

Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes char-grilled oysters topped with parmesan and herbs. reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse. com — There’s a seafood raw bar and dishes like redfish with lemon buerre blanc. reservations accepted. lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — A 6-ounce filet mignon is

$ — average dinner entrée under $10

$$ $11-$20

$$$ — $20-up

served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas and sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The eclectic menu includes a Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, cheese and pickles. Delivery available. reservations accepted for large parties. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$

Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The bar menu includes sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, including one topped with peach, prosciutto, stracciatella cheese, arugula and pecans. No reservations. Dinner Wed.-Sat. $$

Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and a NOl A Style Grits Bowl topped with bacon, cheddar and a poached egg. reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes filets mignons and bone-in rib-eyes, as well as burgers, salads and seafood dishes. reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Luzianne Cafe — 481 Girod St., (504) 2651972; luziannecafe.com — Cajun Sunshine Beignets are stuffed with eggs, bacon, cheese and hot sauce. No reservations. Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Sun. $$

Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. The menu also has noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. reservations accepted. Delivery available. lunch Sun.Fri., dinner daily. $$

Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca. reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$

Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Delivery available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co. — 817 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504)

837-8580; 1005 S. Clearview Parkway, Jefferson, (504) 734-1122; 2515 B Manhattan Blvd., Harvey, (504) 684-6050; 4141 St. Charles Ave., (504) 247-9753; 6920 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 455-1272; nohsc.com — The menu of burgers, salads and Creole dishes includes thin-fried Catfish lafitte over rice pilaf. Delivery available. lunch and dinner daily. $$

Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as seafood platters, po-boys, grilled oysters, salads and more. No reservations. lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese. The menu also includes wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, seafood pasta and more. No reservations. lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

The Original Italian Pie — 3629 Prytania St., (504) 766-8912; theoriginalitalianpieuptown.com — The Italian pie combo includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, black olives, mozzarella and house-made tomato sauce. No reservations. Dinner and latenight Tue.-Sat. $$

Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro — 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar’s menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$

Palace Cafe — 605 Canal St., (504) 523-1661; palacecafe.com — The contemporary Creole menu includes crabmeat cheesecake with mushrooms and Creole meuniere sauce. Outdoor seating available. reservations recommended. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill.com — The menu includes burgers, sandwiches, pizza and sauteed andouille with fig dip, blue cheese and toast points. reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — Black lentil vadouvan curry comes with roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and basmati rice. reservations

Annunciation (1016 Annunciation St., 504-568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com) serves dishes like trout amandine.

accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$

Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. No reservations. Dinner daily. $$

Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 9343463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available. reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$

Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 8271651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, and dishes like redfish St. Charles with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches and more. Delivery available. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 1433 St. Charles Ave., (504) 354-1342; 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — peruvian lomo saltado features sauteed beef, onions, tomatoes, soy sauce and pisco, served with potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating available on Magazine Street. Delivery available. reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — The menu includes beignets, flatbreads and a veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

the Maritime Museum louisiana, formerly known as the lake pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum. The music lineup includes Four Unplugged, The Chase Tyler Band, Few Blue, Brass Hearts Brass Band and more. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Madisonville Ball park at 1007 pine St. Admission $20, and free for children under 13. Visit maritimemuseumlouisiana.org for details.

‘Third Stream’ concerts

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra violist Sixto Franco will be joined this week by Chicago ensemble Missing piece, los Angeles violinist Myra Hinrichs and New Orleans guitarist Tim robertson and cellist Juan Horie for a series of concerts of Third Stream music, a genre coined by composer Gunther Schuller that blends jazz and classical music. The programs include the regional premiere of Schuller’s Fourth String Quartet as well as the world premiere of guitarist Jonathan Freilich’s “propaganda Umbrella 1.” Artist and Ambush Magazine theater critic Brian Sands commissioned Schuller’s piece in honor of Sands’ parents and violinist Felix Galimir. performances are at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 15, at the New Marigny Theater; Tuesday, April 16, at Studio St. philip; and Friday, April 19, at Marigny Opera House. Find details and ticket information via sixtofranco.com.

glbl wrmng

Hip-hop collective glbl wrmng, which features New Orleans rappers pell, $leazy EZ, Kr3wcial and more, play this week’s Wednesday at the Square along with rocker Grace Gibson. Things start at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, and admission is free. Find more details at ylcwats.com.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Austin-based musician Black Joe Lewis and his band The Honeybears take inspiration from classic soul greats like James Brown and bluesmen like Howlin’ Wolf for a high-energy mix. They play at 9 p.m. Friday, April 19, at Tipitina’s with Deltaphonic. Tickets are $25 via tipitinas.com.

Music for 18 Musicians

Composer Steve Reich debuted his minimalist work Music for 18 Musicians in 1976, and it has become one of reich’s most well-known and acclaimed pieces. New Orleans musician and composer Neal Todten will present the piece — for four pianists, six mallet percussionists, four

vocalists, two clarinetists, a violinist and a cellist — at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, at Happyland Theater. The program also includes a new piece by Todten, “A little Direction Music.” Tickets are $20 via eventbrite.com and $25 at the door.

Croatian Fest

The Croatian American Society presents the free festival of music, food, dance and more. The entertainment lineup features the Bravo Band, Klapa Valovi, Klapa BA, Ivan Heller, Damir radov, Komenka Ethnic Dance Ensemble and CAS Kolo Dancers. There also are cultural displays, Croatian food and beer, cooking demonstrations, a kids area and more. From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at 220 Croation Way in Belle Chasse. Visit croatianamericansociety.com for details.

Mid-City Mid Fest

Once Around the Kitchen and the Bayou Beer and Wine Gardens mark 4/20 with a mini-festival fundraiser for Trampled rose dog rescue. There will be music by JKl Trio, ramBull rompers and the Happy Talk Band; vendors serving food, including Once Around the Kitchen, Crawfish by Andy and The Nori Guys; and an arts market featuring a lot of local makers. Mid Fest runs noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 20. No cover. Find more info on Instagram, @oncearoundthekitchennola.

Swans

In its early years in the 1980s, Swans delved into noise rock and defying conventions, but over the decades it evolved through various types of experimental rock, before becoming a project of founder Michael Gira and a changing cast of supporting musicians. Gira recently recorded new music and is working toward a new album. At 8 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at Civic Theater. Find tickets via civicnola.com.

A Night of Sake & Shadows

Author and journalist Michael Allen Zell last month released his latest novel, “The last Shadow,” a crime fiction story that flows across New Orleans, from the riverbend to Versailles, as a martial arts student and her teacher come into conflict with a dangerous crime boss. On Tuesday, April 16, Zell and sake specialist Shaun Williams, also known as riceGirlrich, celebrate the novel’s release at Bar Sukeban with Baadassssss: A Night of Sake & Shadows, which will feature sake pairings. The event starts at 8 p.m. Find more information on Instagram, @michaelallenzell.

MUSIC

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MONDAY 15

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Dayna Kurtz and Alex McMurray, 9 pm

BOURBON O BAR — rick Berthod, 4 pm; Kid Merv, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Secret Six Jazz Band, 6 pm; Jump Hounds, 9 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — Jenavieve Cooke + the Winding Boys, 2 pm; Dominick Grillo + the Frenchmen Street All-Stars, 6 pm; Michael Watsonc and the Alchemy, 9:30 pm

TUESDAY 16

BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — peter Harris and the O.G.s, 8 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Dr. Zach, 4 pm; Ingrid lucia, 8 pm

CAFÉ ISTANBUL — Hunter Diamond, Helen Gillet, James Singleton, Justin peake, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Kid Chocolate and the Free p.O.C., 9 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE — rebirth Brass Band, 7 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — Chris Christy Band, 2 pm; The little Big Horns, 6 pm; Smoking Time Jazz Club, 9:30 pm

TOULOUSE THEATRE — Mo lowda & the Humble, 8:30 pm

WEDNESDAY 17

BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Firm roots ft. peter Harris, Derek Douget, Dwight Fitch, Jr., and the New Orleans Groovemaster, 8 pm

BLUE NILE — New Breed Brass Band, 9:30 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Gary Brown, 4 pm; Serabee, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tin Men, 6 pm NEW ORLEANS BOTANICAL GARDEN — Evenings with Enrique, 5 pm

SANTOS — Black Kat Boppers, Becky lynn Blanca and The Mayhaws, 9 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — Chris Christy Band, 2 pm; Shotgun Jazz Band, 6 pm; Martin peters and the party, 9:30 pm

ZEITGEIST THEATRE — Hunter Diamond, Helen Gillet, James Singleton, Justin peake, 7:30 pm

THURSDAY 18

BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN

HOTEL — Double Bird ft. peter Harris, Ashlin parker, Victor Atkins, and Willie Green III, 8 pm

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Sullivan's Saddle Bag Serenaders, 9 pm

BLUE NILE — Where Y'at Brass Band, 9 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Kimchisoop, 4 pm; Captain Buckles Band, 8 pm

MARIGNY OPERA HOUSE — Byron Asher/ Tomas Majcherski Quartet, 8 pm

MYSTIC FORMS OF VOSCOVILLE — Hunter Diamond, Helen Gillet, James Singleton, Justin peake, 8 pm

NOCCA — Claybourne Elder, 7 pm

PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da lovebirds with robin Barnes and pat Casey , 8 pm

THE GOAT — Nixil, Tortuous, F.I.T.H, 9 pm

THE HISTORIC BK HOUSE & GARDENS — James Andrews, 6 pm

THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE — les Getrex, 5 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE — Wit's End, C'est funk, 6 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — Chris Christy Band, 2 pm; Jenavieve Cooke + the Winding Boys, 6 pm; Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band, 10 pm

FRIDAY 19

BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Oh Yeah! ft. peter Harris, Ed perkins, Joe Ashlar, John Maestas, and Deven Trusclair, 8 pm

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Max and the Martians, Mr. Sam and the people people, 9 pm

BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers Funk Box, 8 pm; Kermit ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, 11 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Ellen Smith & April Spain, 4 pm; The Faculty , 8 pm

BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Jenavieve Cooke and the Winding Boys, 6 pm

DEW DROP INN — Big Sam's Funky Nation, 9 pm

DOUBLE DEALER COCKTAIL BAR AT THE ORPHEUM THEATER — Or Shovaly Trio, 9:30 pm

NOLA BREWING TAPROOM — Marc Stone & John Mooney, 5 pm

NOLA 'NACULAR — Chris Vincent, Frenchie Moe, Scott perro, 6 pm

OKAY BAR — The light Set, Ellie Talks Too Much, 8 pm

PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON NEW ORLEANS RIVERSIDE — phil Melancon, 8 pm

THE GOAT — The Schisms, St.Ove, Ismonic, 10 pm

THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE

— richard Knox New Orleans Jazz Organ Trio, 3 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE — Zoomst, 6 pm; lauren lane, 11 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — paradise Jazz Band, 2 pm; New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings, 6 pm; Vegas Cola, 10 pm

SATURDAY 20

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Bruisey peets, 9 pm

BLUE NILE — George Brown Band, 8 pm; The Soul rebels, 11 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Brian Wingard, 4 pm; The Blues Masters, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tuba Skinny, 6 pm; Higher Heights, 10 pm

DOUBLE DEALER COCKTAIL BAR AT THE ORPHEUM THEATER — Or Shovaly Trio, 9:30 pm

NOLA BREWING TAPROOM — Everybody Solo 420 Fest, 5 pm

PIROGUE’S WHISKEY BAYOU — Happy Talk, 8 pm

PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON NEW ORLEANS RIVERSIDE — phil Melancon, 12 am

SANTOS — Soft Kill with Gumm plus liberty & Justice, 9 pm

THE GEORGE AND JOYCE WEIN JAZZ & HERITAGE CENTER — International Accordion Kings, 7 pm

THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE — les Getrex, 5 pm

THE SPOTTED CAT MUSIC CLUB — Twerk Thompson + Big Jon Atkinson Band, 2 pm; panorama Brass Band, 6 pm; Khris royal and the point, 10 pm

WILD BUSH FARM AND VINEYARD — Charmaine Neville, 6:30 pm

ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Superdome Bodhi , 8 pm

SUNDAY 21

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Max BienKahn, Gina leslie, Helen Gillet, ryan Scully, Sam Gelband, Sabine McCalla, Maggie Koerner, Video Age, Dayna Kurtz, lola and Bruisey, Miss Martha, and more, 5 pm

BLUE NILE — The Baked potatoes, 8 pm; Street legends Brass Band, 10:30 pm

BOURBON O BAR — Marc Stone, 4 pm; Kenny Brown & the KB Express, 8 pm

BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm

D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Treme Brass Band, 2:30 pm; palmetto Bug Stompers, 6 pm

NOLA BREWING TAPROOM — The river Benders, 5 pm

OKAY BAR — Diamond/peake duo, Byron Asher, 8 pm

Bring the fun of a piano bar to your next event!

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MUSIC

Delta driven

by Jake Clapp

BLUES SINGER BESSIE

SMITH’S “BACKWATER BLUES” is often connected to the well-known Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which devastated predominantly Black communities in Arkansas, Mississippi and louisiana. But while Smith’s song was released in early 1927, it was originally about a 1926 flood near Nashville, Tennessee.

In the almost 100 years since its release, though, that detail has faded. “Backwater Blues” could be associated with countless stories of watching floods devastate homes and livelihoods.

“lord, when you send the rain,” the newest album by Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music, features an instrumental recomposition of “Backwater Blues.” It is immediately preceded by a tumultuous original titled “The Break” and an audio sample of a woman, pamela Mahogany, sharing her experience of Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failures.

“You can’t recompose ‘Backwater Blues,’ which is about floods, and you can’t be living in New Orleans, where there’s a constant threat of flooding, and not consider Katrina and hurricanes in this context,” Asher says. “There’s so much resonance from the text of ‘Backwater Blues’ to Katrina and backward.”

Central to “lord, when you send the rain,” which is out Friday, April 19, on Sinking City records, is the way the blues transcends, but can still tie together, time periods or places. The eight-song album is influenced by traditional blues music — from its early years when it traveled from the Mississippi Delta to New Orleans at the beginnings of jazz — but it is also contemporary and experimental, with free improvisation and the use of audio samples.

Asher, a clarinetist and saxophonist and adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans, brought together a large ensemble of considerable musicians on the album, including reeds players Aurora Nealand, reagan Mitchell and ricardo pascal; cornetist Shaye Cohn; trombonist Emily Frederickson; sousaphone player Steve Glenn; pianist Oscar rossignoli; bassist James Singleton; drummer Doug Garrison; and peter Bowling with live electronics. They recorded the album at Esplanade Studios with Misha Kachkachishvili.

It’s broader than music, though, says Asher, citing scholar Clyde Woods’ term “blues epistemology.” Blues is a

worldview born from Black communities and is an act of resistance against white supremacy and economic exploitation.

“lord, when you send the rain,” a quote from a 1989 James Baldwin poem, grew out of Asher’s first Skrontch Music project, released in 2019. That album focused on how the history of New Orleans jazz was intertwined with anti-racist activism in early 20th century Creole communities — a history that echoed in 2015 and 2016 amid Black lives Matter protests.

Blues history was an important part of that original work, and Asher says he wanted to continue to follow the thread. He began composing his new pieces in 2018 during a MacDowell residency.

Inspired by Angela Davis’ book “Blues legacies and Black Feminism,” which focuses on Ma rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, Asher’s first pieces for the album were recompositions of Smith’s “Backwater Blues” and rainey’s “louisiana Hoodoo Blues” and “Barrelhouse Blues.” For each song, Asher set the lyrics to original music, then removed the lyrics for the new instrumental compositions.

The other tracks on the album are wholly original compositions, which build on the blues connections. The joyful song “Threads,” which features a solo by Nealand, also incorporates Caribbean influences in a way that draws a line from the Mississippi Delta to the Caribbean — with New Orleans in the middle.

The Skrontch Music ensemble debuted the music at the Broadside in 2021, and Asher hopes to bring the album back to the stage later this year.

“This is just my take on this music, but [blues] and its history permeates all of the music that is made in New Orleans today,” Asher says.

Find more at byronasher.com.

Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music is a contemporary large jazz ensemble.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY CAMILLE LENAIN

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