Gambit: March 22, 2022

March 22-28, 2022 Volume 43 Number 12

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SURPRISE

MARCH 22 — MARCH 28, 2022 VOLUME 43 || NUMBER 12

CONTENTS

Love

NEWS

YOUR AT W O R K !

Opening Gambit ...............................6 Commentary .....................................9 Clancy DuBos ..................................10 Blake Pontchartrain ......................11

SEND G N A S P R IE M E N T G N A A R R O D AY !

T

SPECIAL SECTION Summer Camps 2022 ...................19

C U R R E N T H O U R S : M O N - F R I 7 a m -1 p m /// S AT 7 a m - N o o n

FEATURES Arts & Entertainment ....................5 Eat + Drink ......................................38 Music Listings................................ 43

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Music ................................................ 45

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Back in action BUKU Music + Art Project returns Friday and Saturday

|

by Jake Clapp

Congo Square Rhythms & Treme Creole Gumbo Festival THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FOUNDATION COMBINES TWO OF ITS ANNUAL FESTIVALS for two days of music and

BEING ABLE TO GET BACK TO PLAYING MUSIC FOR CROWDS at places

like the Dragon’s Den and Hi-Ho Lounge has come with a morale boost for Sage Edgerson, or Legatron Prime as she’s known behind the DJ controller.

Like for other New Orleans’ musicians and artists, the loss of gigs and work in 2020 were tough for Edgerson, so it’s felt great being able to get back to performing and hosting events like Prime Time, her Saturday night show at the Dragon’s Den, and Where My Girls At, her women-elevating sets with DJ Jess. The vibe has felt a little more fun, too, Edgerson says, as partygoers take care not to take live music for granted.

The pandemic pause gave Edgerson time to think about her craft — she had the opportunity to really listen to music again, and she and her young daughter would have their own dance parties at home.

“When you DJ, you have to play certain songs because. I wanted to be a little more intentional with my sets,” Edgerson says, “and really just think about the people and the vibe and trusting my gut again.”

Edgerson is taking that intentionality to the BUKU Music + Art Project this weekend when she DJs as Legatron Prime at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 26, on the Riverside stage. It’ll be her first time playing BUKU, which takes place Friday and Saturday at the Market Street Power Plant site.

While she doesn’t fully plan out her sets — Legatron Prime likes to watch the energy of the crowd and “tell a story” through the songs she chooses — Edgerson has an idea of some of the artists she’d like to feature at BUKU. “I’ve got a few [Stone Cold] Jzzle songs, Rob49, $leazy EZ and Kr3wcial, and some Pell I’d like to throw in,” she says. “I want to be super culturally now New Orleans and high energy.”

BUKU will kick the spring music festival season in New Orleans into high gear when it returns this weekend after a long, quiet two years. The pandemic surged into New Orleans within days of BUKU’s planned 2020 festival, prompting the festival’s producers, Winter Circle Productions and AEG, to first postpone and later cancel.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BUKU

Now, the two-day festival — which leans into electronica, hip-hop and rock and features street art and sculpture throughout the event — is back in its traditional calendar slot in time to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Psychedelic rock band Tame Impala headlines Friday night on the Skyline main stage, with acts including $uicideboy$, Porter Robinson, Taking Back Sunday, Liquid Stranger, Tierra Whack and 100 Gecs and more playing across the festival’s five stages.

Genre-bending rapper and provocateur Tyler, the Creator headlines Saturday, with British rock band Glass Animals, rappers Baby Keem, Vince Staples and Maxo Kream, Alison Wonderland, Kali Uchis and others also playing.

New Orleans artists can be found throughout the schedule. Friday features Rob49, Ziggmonster, 504IcyGrl, Tatyanna XL and more.

And along with Legatron Prime, Saturday will include hip-hop collective glbl wrmng — which features Pell, Kr3wcial, $leazy EZ and others — Antwigadee!, Stone Cold Jzzle and SFam. BUKU also will host a series of late shows at local venues on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Thursday, a kickoff party at the Republic will feature So Tuff So Cute with GG Magree and MIJA. On Friday night, TroyBoi and Tokimonsta will play the Republic while Wakaan, Liquid Stranger and more will perform at the Orpheum Theater.

BUKU Music + Art Project returns Friday, March 25, and Saturday, March 26.

Saturday will feature four after-fest parties: Vince Staples plays with Amrit, Pell and others at the Toulouse Theatre; Alison Wonderland will play a house set with Shygirl and MZ Worthy at the Republic; Bassik with Svdden Death, Sullivan King and Mersiv perform at the Joy Theater; and Of the Trees, Supertask and more play the Orpheum Theater.

“We’re excited to break the ice” of festivals returning, says Reeves Price, Winter Circle Productions co-founder. In the late-2000’s, Price and Dante DiPasquale started booking electronic music shows while still students at Tulane University and co-founded Winter Circle Productions.

In 2012, they decided to take on staging a festival — and went big: the first BUKU featured Avicii, Skrillex, Wiz Khalifa, Diplo, Porter Robinson and more across twodays at Mardi Gras World.

“A festival is kind of a blank canvas: You can paint it however you like and you’re starting from the ground-up,” Price says. “I think what we love about festivals is the ability to build an experience from the ground up and create something unique versus working within the four walls of an existing PAGE 44

more in Congo Square. The Treme Creole Gumbo Festival has always focused on brass bands, and one of the stages at this event features Rebirth Brass Band, Hot 8, Treme, The Stooges Brass Band and more. Congo Square usually hosts a mix of local sounds and African dance, and the Congo Square Rhythms stage features Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles, Charmaine Neville, Casme, Erica Falls, local African dance groups such as Tekrema and Kumbuka African Dance, a drum circle and more. There also is an art market as well as food and drink vendors. The festival kickoff event on Friday featuring John Boutte, Tanya Boutte, Arsene DeLay and more will be live-streamed for free via jazzandheritage.org/live. Events in Congo Square are from 10:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 26, and Sunday, March 27. Find details at jazzandheritage.org.

P H O T O B Y M AT T H E W H I N T O N / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

A Mardi Gras Indian performs at the Congo Square Rhythms Festival in Armstrong Park.

Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival THE FESTIVAL CELEBRATES THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF “A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE” and hosts a wide

array of events, such as readings, tributes to Tennessee Williams, music, tours, performances and more. Participating writers include Jericho Brown, Ladee Hubbard, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Nathaniel Rich, Megan Mayhew Bergman, Peter Ho Davies and Katy Simpson Smith.

Performances include Vinsantos DeFonte’s “Nightingale,” based on Williams’ “Vieux Carre,” and a production of parodies of Williams’ “Streetcar,” “A Glass Menagerie” and more (see “Saved by the belle,” page 46). The festival runs March 23-27.

Visit tennesseewilliams.net for a complete schedule and tickets.

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OPENING GAMBIT NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

Lord, give us the strength to eat our body weight in delicious, delicious crawfish this season

#

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

THE COUNT

0 THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE CITY’S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS HAS FINED CONTRACTORS UNDER A 2018 ORDINANCE FOR ILLEGALLY DUMPING CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS IN CATCH BASINS.

Jay Weisman, a Ben Franklin High School geometry teacher, has won a $25,000 Milken Educator award. Lowell Milken, the founder of the awards, surprised the 9th and 10th grade teacher at a school assembly last week. The award is for early-to-mid-career teachers, and the Milken Family Foundation has awarded grants to teachers across the country for 35 years.

Lucid CEO Patrick Comer and his wife Christina have donated $1.15 million to the Son of a Saint Scholars program. Son of a Saint is a local nonprofit that provides mentorship and support to boys growing up without fathers, and its scholars arm provides scholarships for students to attend local private schools. The donation is the single largest contribution Son of a Saint Scholars has received.

New Orleans Department of Public Works told City Council last week there are streetlights in New Orleans East that have been out for 400 days. “This is ASININE. I’m absolutely floored. Department of Public Works needs to be able to explain why our infrastructure goes neglected for 400+ days,” at-large Council Member JP Morrell tweeted afterward, adding, “How many DPW employees does it take to change a lightbulb?”

Despite the ordinance, which allows for fines of up to $5,000, DPW acting Director Joshua Hartley admitted during a council budget meeting March 17 it has never issued such fines. Hartley said he simply forwards complaints to the Sewerage & Water Board. DPW and SWB have been at odds for decades over issues pertaining to catch basins, road work projects and other issues that impact drainage – ultimately worsening quality of life for residents.

P H O T O B Y B R E T T D U K E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano, center, listens during a New Orleans City Council budget committee meeting in New Orleans on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

City Council committee narrowly passes budget accountability plan opposed by Cantrell THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL BUDGET COMMITTEE THURSDAY NARROWLY APPROVED temporary holds

on funding for some underperforming agencies and departments following a heated hearing which laid bare the stark differences between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and much of the council.

The holds, which were proposed by Budget Chairman Joe Giarrusso, will now go to the full council. If put in place, they would shift funds into a special debt servicing account for targeted agencies beginning in June. Giarrusso, Council Member JP Morrell and Council President Helena Moreno voted in favor, while Council Members Eugene Green and Oliver Thomas voted no.

“The demand from residents is what’s driving today’s ordinances,” Giarrusso said, arguing the measures were designed to force accountability to address longstanding issues relating to road construction, short-term rental enforcement and other basic functions of city government. “Residents need to feel, see and hear those results,” he said.

During the hearing, New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano

reiterated his opposition to Giarrusso’s proposal because it would halt agencies’ ability to hire new staff — and therefore worsen existing problems at the agencies.

“Freezing the funding for these agencies allows the agencies to stay stagnant. It is a symbolic but actually a real impactful piece of legislation that gives the administration great concerns. In no way would these pieces of legislation solve the issues that we spent the last several hours addressing or hearing. In fact, it would only exacerbate them,” Montano said.

Montano also argued it is unclear what specific reforms the council wants to see happen or when funding would be released.

“I have not heard what would open up this funding again … I can’t say from the administration what you all are asking,” he said.

While that argument clearly had an effect on Thomas — who came into the hearing seemingly skeptical of the administration’s position — other members weren’t as moved.

“If you have systemic problems that predate [the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida] …

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[saying] that somehow the problems that were there before will be fixed by osmosis, I don’t buy that,” Morrell said during a particularly heated exchange with Montano.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different outcome,” he added.

Chief Financial Officer Norman White was particularly critical of the proposal, accusing council members of seeking to strip the executive branch of some of its control. “This conversation seems to be about control. It doesn’t seem to be about what is right … You’re not proposing to help, you’re proposing to take away and to control,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents of New Orleans at the hearing were harshly critical of the officials generally and highlighted the neglect to the city’s infrastructure and lack of communication Giarrusso’s plan is designed to address.

For much of the nearly six-hour hearing, citizens from various neighborhoods shared the impact of short-term rentals, delayed

construction and a lack of communication on their daily lives.

Wade Kodrin, a resident of Marigny, argued short-term rentals have become such a problem that after Ida he and other residents in his neighborhood even found themselves looking after tourists who’d stayed through the storm.

“In the middle of Hurricane Ida, I get a knock on my door from drunk fraternity brothers with beers in their hand looking for candles and a flashlight. My block had six residents and 10 short-term renters there that were forced to take care of (the guests) because they didn’t have phones, power or food. We were forced to take care of the people destroying our neighborhood,” Kodrin said.

Council Member Lesli Harris of District B noted the problems with short-term rental enforcement have become so bad they are having a direct effect on the availability of housing for residents.

“We have families who are having to leave their neighborhoods to find and afford housing,” Harris said.

Other residents weighed in to criticize the dysfunction of road works and other construction projects.

Reuben Detiege of Hollygrove, whose home is near a canal, he said has temporarily relocated to the suburb of Elmwood because conditions were so dire in his neighborhood and his house is “unlivable.”

He said a construction company hired by the city, Fleming Construction, had filled catch basins on his block with cement and other debris, which caused excessive flooding. He and his neighbors have taken it upon themselves to clean some of the debris, but they lack the professional equipment needed to do so.

A resident of Uptown, Brendan Gonzalez asked “Where are the workers? Why does it take so long?” He added that he is “embarrassed” when friends visit from other regions of the country.

“They stay in the French Quarter the night before, they have a great meal, and love the food, but then when I bring them around, they’re like ‘What is up with these streets?’ I mean, it’s basic infrastructure...What do you expect from a government?

You expect basic services.”

Morrell called these “systemic” problems and assured speakers,

“We are just as frustrated as you are.”

And while residents were quick to criticize the contractors themselves, Andre Kelly, the area manager of the trade association Louisiana Associated General Contractors, said that in many instances, contractors’ hands are tied.

He explained that the city hires engineers, who draft blueprints that must be followed closely by contractors. If an unexpected obstacle comes up — such as a pipe that no one knew about, a tree root, or another piece of infrastructure not identified in the blueprints shows up — they must cease work on projects until city officials give them new instructions or approval to continue.

“There are some agencies that are slow, but none as slow as the city of New Orleans,” Kelly said, adding that he understands that some of it is due to the “complex” nature of the city’s existing, aging infrastructure. But he said, “some of this has to just be a lack of urgency.” — KHAYLA GASTON & SARAH RAVITS

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C O M M E N TA R Y i t ’s

personal

TWO YEARS AGO, COVID19 HIT NEW ORLEANS

and fundamentally changed how we live, work and enjoy ourselves in our city. City and state health officials have reported more than 87,000 cases in New Orleans, and the virus claimed the lives of 1,102 New Orleanians. The city’s economy took a massive hit, and Covid’s repercussions will likely reverberate for years to come.

It’s a grim anniversary, to be sure. But it provides an opportunity to reflect on how our elected officials and we, as a community, responded to the greatest public health threat to face humanity in at least a century.

The virus’ arrival in New Orleans presented a daunting challenge, with the first case diagnosed right after Mardi Gras 2020. The pressures on Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her team were, and continue to be, enormous. We have criticized Cantrell’s administration on other issues, but we’ve never failed to say that the mayor has done a remarkable job of protecting our community from the deadly virus.

We say so again now because it bears repeating.

The wisdom of the mayor’s proactive stance on lockdowns, masking and other precautions didn’t strike everyone as the obvious course back in 2020. Covid arrived only five months after the Hard Rock Hotel collapse, and many questioned whether an administration that, at that point, had still not extracted all the victims could handle something as enormous as a pandemic.

In the early stages, TV pundits and national public health officials warned that New Orleans would become the world’s hottest hot spot and potentially lay waste to our city. Even as she tried to contain the pandemic locally, Cantrell found herself forced to defend her city against unwarranted attacks in the pages of the New York Times and on CNN. To her credit, Cantrell handled the pressures and the pandemic deftly. She routinely made the

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New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. hard decisions that proved vital to limiting the loss of life and “flattening the curve” in New Orleans. She quickly canceled St. Patrick’s Day and Super Sunday parades in the city. Within days of that decision, she put the city into lockdown by shuttering bars, restaurants and music halls.

Without massive citizen support, those steps would have accomplished little. The mayor’s resolute leadership and plainspoken defenses of her decisions both challenged and inspired New Orleanians — who produced one of the world’s most effective local responses to Covid. We didn’t just flatten the curve; we crushed it.

There were, of course, missteps, notably creating de facto different rules for tourists and residents.

But whether you agree or not with Cantrell’s Covid policies (some of which we questioned at the time), it’s clear her stewardship during this crisis — and that of City Health Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno — saved untold thousands of lives.

Today, more than 85% of adults in New Orleans have received at least one vaccine shot. We celebrated Carnival and Mardi Gras this year and have not seen a spike in cases. And, for the first time in more than two years, we returned to the streets to celebrate life and our culture.

Those are remarkable achievements, for which the mayor and her team deserve credit.

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an at-large member of the City Council? The answer appears obvious: the mayor. That may not be the case, however, when state lawmakers consider a bill that would let the council regulate the Sewerage and Water Board.

The question arises amid a power struggle between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Council Vice President JP Morrell.

Morrell, a former legislator who joined the council in January, is the political brains and muscle behind House Bill 652. The bill, by state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, would declare the S&WB a “utility” and place it under the council’s regulatory purview — with authority to examine, audit and subpoena S&WB records.

Cantrell calls the measure a “direct attack” on the board’s leadership, meaning her leadership.

By law the mayor serves as the board’s president.

Heronner says Hilferty’s bill would add “bureaucratic red tape” to the agency’s functionality. “This is not the time to change,” Cantrell said. “This is a time to buckle down and continue the progress that this board, our leadership, is providing for this utility.”

That’s an interesting choice of words — “this utility” — inasmuch as Hilferty’s bill would codify that designation in state law. Moreover, most New Orleanians don’t feel S&WB has progressed, particularly when it comes to billing.

Morrell counters that Hilferty’s bill would “add a needed layer of accountability, not red tape.”

“Right now the board is accountable to no one except the mayor, who appoints all but one of its members,” Morrell said. “When something goes wrong, they don’t have to explain themselves to anyone. They expect the council to approve rate increases, but we cannot investigate whether that money is spent wisely.”

Morrell already won the first legislative round. He and Hilferty got the bill referred to the House

P H O T O B Y D AV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

Commerce Committee rather than the Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs, which typically reviews measures dealing with local government. The Commerce Committee, of which Hilferty is vice chair, will likely view her bill more favorably than would the municipal and parochial panel.

If you’re wondering why state lawmakers must referee a New Orleans political power struggle, the answer lies in law and history. The S&WB is a “political subdivision of the state,” not an arm of the city. It was created by legislative act in 1899 (when local governments in Louisiana had very limited power) and cemented into succeeding state constitutions. The Legislature thus controls S&WB’s legal status and political fate.

This fight plays out against a larger political backdrop. Morrell recently unveiled his own legislative agenda, which includes Hilferty’s bill and criminal justice measures.

Cantrell, meanwhile, has offered no agenda this year. Instead, she’s asking lawmakers to “do no harm,” according to one of her aides.

Previous mayors have asked lawmakers just to play defense, but in light of New Orleans’ mounting problems and the state’s nearly $4 billion in extra cash, it’s puzzling that Cantrell’s priority is preserving the status quo.

Particularly when it gives Morrell a platform to step up — and speak up — for the city in challenging times.

11

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has served a variety of purposes since a building was first erected there in the 1820s. For several years, it was the private residence of Edmond J. Forstall and later home to a number of businesses.

From 1867 to 1884, it was home to the Boston Club, a private men’s social organization which later moved to Canal Street. Later, it was also home to an Elks lodge, as well as the Louisiana Club, the Louisiana Jockey Club, the Transportation Club and the Orleans Club.

In 1909, the original building was demolished to make way for the main branch of the City Bank and Trust (founded three years earlier).

In 1919, City Bank and Trust was absorbed by the Whitney-Central Trust and Savings Bank. It would become Whitney National Bank in 1929 and then Hancock Whitney in 2011. What’s left of the lettering that spelled out “Whitney National Bank” can still be seen in the Carondelet

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Street building’s façade. Whitney operated what it called its “City Bank branch” there into the 1990s.

In 1996, a developer announced plans to build a hotel on the site, which abuts the well-known Kolb’s German restaurant. Kolb’s operated on St. Charles Avenue from 1899 until 1994. As part of the developer’s plans, the bank’s interior was demolished, but the hotel never materialized. Another hotel project was launched in 2001 but also never came to be.

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BL AKEVIE W THIS WEEK MARKS SIX DECADES SINCE A LEGENDARY NEW ORLEANS JOURNALIST BEGAN WRITING A NEW CHAPTER of local television history. Phil Johnson delivered his first WWL-TV editorial on March 26, 1962 – 60 years ago this week.

A New Orleans native, Johnson was a Jesuit High School and Loyola University graduate who began as a print journalist at the New Orleans Item. In 1962, WWL-TV general manager J. Michael Early tasked Johnson, who was then the station’s promotions director, with helping to fulfill a new mission for Channel 4.

“The Jesuits (of Loyola University) who owned the station told him they wanted the station to stand for something,” Johnson said in 2003. “We figured what better way to show that than by doing a daily editorial?”

Familiar for his bearded face and hallmark “Good evening,” which began and ended each editorial, Johnson delivered editorials on WWL-TV for 37 years.

“Beginning today and every weekday thereafter, this station will present editorial opinion: a living, vigorous commentary on all things pertaining to New Orleans, its people and its future,” Johnson wrote in his first editorial.

He called it “commentary designed to stimulate thought, to awaken in all of us an awareness of our responsibilities, not only to our community but to each other and to ourselves.”

Johnson, who also served as WWL’s assistant general manager and news director, earned three George Foster Peabody Awards for his documentary work.

He retired in 1999 and died in March 2010. Later that year, Gambit political columnist Clancy DuBos, who is also WWL-TV’s political analyst, began delivering a weekly commentary, which he continues to do each Tuesday on Channel 4’s 6 p.m. newscast.

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E

ach year during Sunshine Week (March 13-19), The Foilies serve

up tongue-in-cheek “awards” for government agencies and assorted institutions that stand in the way of access to information. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock combine forces to collect horror stories about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and state-level public records requests from journalists and transparency advocates across the United States and beyond. Our goal is to identify the most surreal document redactions, the most aggravating copy fees, the most outrageous retaliation attempts, and all the other ridicule-worthy attacks on the public’s right to know.

And every year since 2015, as we’re about to crown these dubious winners, something new comes to light that makes us consider stopping the presses.

As we were writing up this year’s faux awards, news broke that officials from the National Archives and Records Administration had to lug away boxes upon boxes of Trump administration records from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private resort. At best, it was an inappropriate move; at worst, a potential violation of laws governing the retention of presidential records and the handling of classified materials. And while Politico had reported that when Trump was still in the White House, he liked to tear up documents, we also just learned from journalist Maggie Haberman’s new book that staff claimed to find toilets clogged up with paper scraps, which were potentially torn-up government records. Trump has dismissed the allegations, of course.

This was all too deliciously ironic considering how much Trump had raged about his opponent (and 2016 Foilies winner) Hillary Clinton’s practice of storing State Department communications on a private server. Is storing potentially classified correspondence on a personal email system any worse than hoarding top secret documents at a golf club? Is “acid washing” records, as Trump accused Clinton, any less farcical than flushing them down the john?

Ultimately, we decided not to give Trump his seventh Foilie. Technically he isn’t eligible: his presidential records won’t be subject to FOIA until he’s been out of office for five years (releasing classified records could take years, or decades, if ever).

Instead, we’re sticking with our original 16 winners, from federal agencies to small town police departments to a couple of corporations, who are all shameworthy in their own rights and, at least metaphorically, have no problem tossing government transparency in the crapper.

The C.R.E.A.M. (Crap Redactions Everywhere Around Me) Award

U.S. Marshals The Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothing to F’ with…unless the F stands for FOIA. Back in 2015, Wu-Tang Clan produced Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, but they only produced one copy and sold it to the highest bidder: pharma-bro Martin Shkreli, who was later convicted of securities fraud.

When the U.S. Marshals seized Shkreli’s copy of the record under asset forfeiture rules, the Twitterverse debated whether you could use FOIA to obtain the super secretive album. Unfortunately, FOIA does not work that way. However, BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold was able to use the law to obtain documents about the album when it was auctioned off through the asset forfeiture process. For example, he got photos of the album, the bill of sale, and the purchase agreement.

But the Marshals redacted the pictures of the CDs, the song titles and the lyric book citing FOIA’s trade secrets exemption. Worst of all, they also refused to divulge the purchase price — even though we’re talking about public money. And so here we are, bringing da motherfoia-ing ruckus.

(The New York Times would later reveal that PleasrDAO, a collective that collects digital NFT art, paid $4 million for the record.)

Wu-Tang’s original terms for selling the album reportedly contained a clause that required the buyer to return all rights in the event that Bill Murray successfully pulled off a heist of the record. We can only daydream about how the Marshals would’ve responded if Dr. Peter Venkman himself refiled Leopold’s request.

The Operation Slug Speed Award

U.S. Food and Drug Administration The federal government’s lightning fast (by bureaucratic standards) timeline to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine lived up to its Operation Warp Speed name. But the Food and Drug Administration gave anything but the same treatment to a FOIA request seeking data about that authorization process.

Fifty-five years — that’s how long the FDA, responding to a lawsuit by doctors and health scientists, said it would take to process and release the data it used to authorize the

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In Massachusetts, some agencies believe 10-day deadlines are actually 11-day deadlines.

vaccine. And yet, the FDA needed only months to review the data the first time and confirm that the vaccine was safe for the public.

The estimate was all the more galling because the requesters want to use the documents to help persuade skeptics that the vaccine is safe and effective, a time-sensitive goal as we head into the third year of the pandemic.

Thankfully, the court hearing the FOIA suit nixed the FDA’s snail’s pace plan to review just 500 pages of documents a month. In February, the court ordered the FDA to review 10,000 pages for the next few months and ultimately between 50,000-80,000 through the rest of the year.

These 10-day Deadlines Go To 11 Award

Assorted Massachusetts Agencies Most records requesters

know that despite nearly every transparency law imposing response deadlines, they often are violated more than they are met. Yet Massachusetts officials’ time-warping violations of the state’s 10-business-day deadline take this public records’ reality to absurd new levels.

DigBoston’s Maya Shaffer detailed how officials are giving themselves at least one extra business day to respond to requests while still claiming to meet the law’s deadline. In a mind-numbing exchange, an official said that the agency considers any request sent after 5 p.m. to have technically been received on the next business day. And because the law doesn’t require agencies to respond until 10 business days after they’ve received the request, this has in effect given the agency two extra days to respond. So if a request is sent after 5 p.m. on a Monday, the agency counts Tuesday as the day it received the request, meaning the 10-day clock doesn’t start until Wednesday.

The theory is reminiscent of the This Is Spinal Tap scene in which guitarist Nigel Tufnel shows off the band’s “special” amplifiers that go “one louder” to 11, rather than maxing out at 10 like every other amp. When asked why Spinal Tap doesn’t just make the level 10 on its amps louder, Tufnel stares blankly before repeating: “These go to eleven.”

Although the absurdity of Tufnel’s response is comedic gold, Massachusetts officials’ attempt to make their 10-day deadline go to 11 is contemptuous, and also likely violates laws of the state and those of space and time.

THE

Virginia Del. Paul Krizek There are lawmakers who find problems in transparency laws and advocate for improving the public’s right to know.

Then there’s Virginia lawmaker Paul Krizek.

Krizek introduced a bill earlier this year that would require all public records requests to be sent via certified mail, saying that he “saw a problem that needed fixing,” according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The supposed problem? A records request emailed to Krizek got caught in his spam filter, and he was nervous that he missed the response deadline. That never happened; the requester sent another email that Krizek saw, and he responded in time.

Anyone else might view that as a public records (and technology) success story: the ability to email requests and quickly follow up on them proves that the law works.

Not Krizek. He decided that his personal spam filter hiccup should require every requester in Virginia to venture to a post office and pay at least $3.75 to make their request.

Transparency advocates quickly panned the bill, and a legislative committee voted in late January to strike it from the docket.

Hopefully, the bill stays dead and Krizek starts working on legislation that will actually help requesters in Virginia.

The Spying on Requestors Award

FBI If government surveillance of

ordinary people is chilling, spying on the public watchdogs of that very same surveillance is downright hostile. Between 1989 and at least 2004, the FBI kept regular tabs on the National Security Archive, a domestic nonprofit organization that investigates and archives information on, you guessed it, national security operations. The Cato Institute obtained records showing that the FBI used electronic and physical surveillance, possibly including wiretaps and “mail covers,” meaning the U.S. Postal Service recorded the information on the outside of envelopes sent to or from the Archive.

In a secret 1989 cable, then-FBI Director William Sessions specifically called out the Archive’s “tenacity” in using FOIA. Sessions specifically fretted over former Department of Justice Attorney Quinan J. Shea and former Washington Post reporter Scott Armstrong’s leading roles at the Archive, as both were major transparency advocates.

Of course, these records that Cato got through its own FOIA request were themselves heavily redacted. And this comes after the FBI withheld information about these records from the Archive when it requested them back in 2006. Which makes you wonder: how do we watchdog the spy who is secretly spying on the watchdog?

The Futile Secrecy Award

T H E R I P VA N W I N K L E AWA R D

Concord Police Department When reporters from the Concord Monitor in 2019 no-

ticed a vague $5,100 line item in the Concord Police Department’s proposed budget for “covert secret communications,” they did what any good watchdog would do — they started asking questions. What was the technology? Who was the vendor? And they filed public records requests under New Hampshire’s Right to Know Law. In response, CPD provided a license agreement and a privacy policy, but the documents were so redacted, the reporters still couldn’t tell what the tech was and what company was receiving tax dollars for it. Police claimed releasing the information would put investigations and people’s lives at risk. With the help of the ACLU of New Hampshire, the Monitor sued but Concord fought it for two years all the way to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

The police were allowed to brief the trial court behind closed doors, without the ACLU lawyers present, and ultimately the state supreme court ruled most of the information would remain secret.

But when The Monitor reached out to EFF for comment, EFF took another look at the redacted documents. In under three minutes, our researchers were able to use a simple Google search to match the redacted privacy policy to Callyo, a Motorola Solutions product that facilitates confidential phone communications.

Sometimes it may take more than a decade to get records you requested.

Hundreds of agencies nationwide have, in fact, included the company’s name in their public spending ledgers, according to the procurement research tool GovSpend. The City of Seattle even issued a public privacy impact assessment regarding its police department’s use of the technology, which noted that “Without appropriate safeguards, this raises significant privacy concerns.” Armed with this new information, the Monitor called Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood to confirm what we learned.

He doubled down: “I’m not going to tell you whether that’s the product.”

The Rip Van Winkle Award

FBI Last year, Bruce Alpert received records from a 12-year-old FOIA request he filed as a reporter for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. Back when he filed the request, the corruption case of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, was still hot — despite the $90,000 in cash found in Jefferson’s cold freezer.

In 2009, Alpert requested documents from the FBI on the sensational investigation of Jefferson, which began in 2005. In the summer of that year, FBI agents searched Jefferson’s Washington

home and, according to a story published at the time, discovered foil-wrapped stacks of cash “between boxes of Boca burgers and Pillsbury pie crust in his Capitol Hill townhouse.” Jefferson was indicted on 16 federal counts, including bribery, racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering, leading back to a multimillion-dollar telecommunications deal with high-ranking officials in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

By the time Alpert got the 83 pages he requested on the FBI’s investigation into Jefferson, Alpert himself was retired and Jefferson had been released from prison. Still, the documents did reveal a new fact about the day of the freezer raid: another raid was planned for that same day, but at Jefferson’s congressional office.

This raid was called off after an FBI official, unnamed in the documents, warned that while the raid was technically constitutional, it could have “dire” consequences if it appeared to threaten the independence of Congress.

In a staff editorial about the extreme delay, The Advocate (which acquired the Times-Picayune in 2019) quoted Anna Diakun, a staff attorney with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University: “The Freedom of Information Act is broken.” We suppose it’s better late than never, but never late is even better.

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The Return to Sender Award

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The FOIA Gaslighter of the Year Award

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry In another case involving the Times-Picayune, the FOIA gas-

lighter of the year award goes to Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry for suing reporter Andrea Gallo after she requested documents related to the investigation into (and seeming lack of action on) sexual harrasment complaints in Landry’s office.

A few days later, following public criticism, Landry then tweeted that the lawsuit was not actually a lawsuit against Gallo per se, but legal action “simply asking the Court to check our decision” on rejecting her records request.

Gallo filed the original request for complaints against Pat Magee, a top aide to Landry, after hearing rumblings that Magee had been placed on administrative leave. The first response to Gallo’s request was that Magee was under investigation and the office couldn’t fulfill the request until that investigation had concluded.

A month later, Gallo called the office to ask for Magee and was patched through to his secretary, who said that Magee had just stepped out for lunch but would be back shortly.

Knowing that Magee was back in the office and the investigation likely concluded, Gallo started pushing harder for the records.

Then, late on a Friday when Gallo was on deadline for another story, she received an email from the AG’s office about a lawsuit naming her as the defendant.

A month later, a Baton Rouge judge ruled in favor of Gallo, and ordered Landry to release the records on Magee. Shortly after Gallo received those documents, another former employee of the AG’s office filed a complaint against Magee, resulting in his resignation.

The Redacting Information That’s Already Public Award

Humboldt-Area Law Enforcement Across the country, police departments are notorious for withholding information from

the public. Some agencies take months to release body camera footage after a shooting death or might withhold databases of officer misconduct. California’s state legislature pushed back against this trend in 2018, with a new law that specifically puts officer use-of-force incidents and other acts of dishonesty under the purview of the California Public Records Act. But even after this law was passed, one northern California sheriff’s office was hesitant to release information to journalists — so hesitant that it redacted information that had already been made public. After a local paper, the North Coast Journal, filed a request with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office under the 2018 law, the sheriff took two full years to provide the requested records.

Why the long delay? One possible reason: the agency went to the trouble of redacting information from old press releases — releases that, by definition, were already public.

For example, the sheriff’s office redacted the name of a suspect who allegedly shot a sheriff’s deputy and was arrested for attempting to kill a police officer in May 2014 — including blacking out the name from a press release the agency had already released that included the suspect’s name.

And it’s not like the press had accidentally missed the name the first time: Reporter Thadeus Greenson had published the release in the North Coast Journal right after it came out.

That isn’t Greenson’s only example of law enforcement redacting already public information: In response to another public records request, the Eureka Police Department included a series of news clippings, including one of Greenson’s own articles, again with names redacted.

The Clear Bully Award

Clearview AI Clearview AI is the “company

that might end privacy as we know,” claimed The New York Times’s front page when it publicly exposed the small company in January 2020.

Clearview had built a face recognition app on a database of more than three billion personal images, and the tech startup had quietly found customers in police departments around the country.

THE

Whose Car is it Anyway? Award

Waymo Are those new self-driving cars you see on the road safe? Do

you and your fellow pedestrians and drivers have the right to know about their previous accidents and how they handle tight turns and steep hills on the road?

Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc. and operator of an autonomous taxi fleet in San Francisco, answers, respectively: none of your business, and no! A California trial court ruled in late February that Waymo gets to keep this information secret.

Waymo sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles to stop it from releasing unredacted records requested by an anonymous person under the

California Public Records Act. The records include Waymo’s application to put its self-driving cars on the road and answers to the DMV’s follow-up questions.

The DMV outsourced the redactions to Waymo, and claiming that it needed to protect its trade secrets, Waymo sent the records back with black bars over most of its answers, and even many of the DMV’s questions.

Waymo doesn’t want the public to know which streets its cars operate on, how the cars safely park when picking up and dropping off passengers, and when the cars require trained human drivers to intervene. Waymo even redacted which of its two models — a Jaguar and a Chrysler — will be deployed on California streets … even though someone on those streets can see that for themselves.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do Award

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Texas law requires a unique detour to deny or redact responsive records, directing agencies to go through the Attorney General for permission to leave anything out. It’s bad news for transparency if that office circumvents proper protocol when handling its own records requests; it’s even worse if those records involve a government official — current Texas AG Ken Paxton — and activities targeted at overthrowing the democratic process.

On January 6, 2021, Paxton (who is currently up for reelection, facing multiple charges for securities fraud, and was reportedly the subject of a 2020 FBI investigation) and his wife were in Washington, D.C. to speak at a rally in support of former President Donald Trump, which was followed by the infamous invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters. Curious about Paxton’s part in that historic event, a coalition of Texas newspapers submitted a request under the state’s public records law for the text messages and emails Paxton sent that day in D.C. Paxton’s office declined to release the records. It may not have even looked for them. The newspapers found that the AG doesn’t seem to have its own policy for searching for responsive documents on personal devices, which would certainly be subject to public records law, even if the device is privately-owned.

WHOSE CAR IS I T A N Y WAY ?

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Waymo sued the California DMV to keep public records about its autonomous vehicles secret.

The Travis County District Attorney subsequently determined that Paxton’s office had indeed violated the Texas open records law. Paxton maintains that no wrongdoing occurred and, as of late February, hadn’t responded to a letter sent by the DA threatening a lawsuit if the situation isn’t remedied ASAP. “When the public official responsible for enforcing public records laws violates those laws himself,” Bill Aleshire, an Austin lawyer, told the Austin American-Statesman, “it puts a dagger in the heart of transparency at every level in Texas.”

The Transparency Penalty Flag Award

Big 10 Conference In the face of increasing public interest, administrators at the

Big 10 sporting universities tried to take a page out of the ol’ college playbook last year and run some serious interference on the public records process.

In an apparent attempt to “hide the ball” (that is, their records on when football would be coming back), university leaders suggested to one another that they communicate via a portal used across universities. Reporters and fans saw the move as an attempt to avoid the prying eyes of avid football fans and others who wanted to know more about what to expect on the field and in the classroom.

“I would be delighted to share information, but perhaps we can

do this through the Big 10 portal, which will assure confidentiality?”

Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank shared via email.

“Just FYI — I am working with Big Ten staff to move the conversation to secure Boardvantage web site we use for league materials,” Mark Schlissel, then-President of the University of Michigan, wrote his colleagues. “Will advise.”

Of course, the emails discussing the attempted circumvention became public via a records request.

Officials’ attempt to disguise their secrecy play was even worse than a quarterback forgetting to pretend to hand off the ball in a play-action pass.

University administrators claimed that the use of the private portal was for ease of communication rather than concerns over public scrutiny. We’re still calling a penalty, however.

The complete list of winners can be found on our website, gambitweekly.com. The Foilies were compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Director of Investigations Dave Maass, Senior Staff Attorney Aaron Mackey, Frank Stanton Fellow Mukund Rathi, Investigative Researcher Beryl Lipton, Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia) and MuckRock (Co-Founder Michael Morisy, Senior Reporting Fellows Betsy Ladyzhets and Dillon Bergin, and Investigations Editor Derek Kravitz), with further review and editing by Shawn Musgrave. The Foilies are published in partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. For more transparency trials and tribulations, check out The Foilies archives at https:// www.eff.org/issues/foilies.

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Soon after the initial reports, the legality of Clearview’s app and its collection of images was taken to court. (EFF has filed friend-of-thecourt briefs in support of those privacy lawsuits.)

Clearview’s existence was initially revealed via public records requests filed by Open the Government and MuckRock. In September 2021, as it faced still-ongoing litigation in Illinois, Clearview made an unusual and worrying move against transparency and journalism: It served subpoenas on OTG, its researcher Freddy Martinez, and Chicago-based Lucy Parsons Labs (none of which are involved in the lawsuit).

The subpoenas requested internal communications with journalists about Clearview and its leaders and any information that had been discovered via records requests about the company.

Government accountability advocates saw it as retaliation against the researchers and journalists who exposed Clearview.

The subpoena also was a chilling threat to journalists and others looking to lawfully use public records to learn about public partnerships with private entities.

What’s more, in this situation, all that had been uncovered had already been made public online more than a year earlier.

Fortunately, following reporting

by Politico, Clearview, citing “further reflection about the scope of the subpoenas” and a “strong view of freedom of the press,” decided to withdraw the subpoenas.

We guess you could say the face recognition company recognized their error and did an about face.

17 2022

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# $ % " " "" ' ! &

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NEW ORLE ANS PARENT S’ SURVIVAL GUIDE CHOOSING THE BEST CAMP FOR YOUR CHILD THIS SUMMER Q&A with camp director Zakiya Cornish of Young Audiences of Louisiana BY

JENNY PETERSON

ZAKIYA CORNISH IS THE DIRECTOR OF EXTENDED LEARNING with Young Audiences of Louisiana, a nonprofit that offers arts education and integration programs at schools across Orleans and Jefferson parishes. Cornish coordinates art-based learning for students after school and during the summer.

How can parents choose between a summer camp that offers varied classes versus a singlefocused camp?

ZAKIYA CORNISH: I think it should depend on how much exposure the child is getting in various art forms and experiences during the school year. During the school year, you may not necessarily get a full range of experiences and you may want to use summer as an opportunity for your child to explore many opportunities so that they get a taste of everything.

One of the beautiful things about the exploratory space is that it offers kids an entry point to something that they may not have experienced before.

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P H O T O B Y R AW P I X E L / G E T T Y I M A G E S

Summer camps provide opportunities for kids to explore new interests.

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ST. TAMMANY ART ASSOCIATION

Fingerprints Art Camp June 2022

Theater Camp July 2022

Young Artists Studio June 2022

Register now at www.sttammany.art/summer-art-camps 323 N New Hampshire St. • Covington

P H O T O P R O V I D E D B Y Z A K I YA C O R N I S H

Zakiya Cornish

What are the benefits of summer camp in general?

ZC: Summer camp has

always been a space where kids get the opportunity to do more exploring and the opportunity to engage without the rigor and expectation of the school year. It’s all about creating new experiences. It’s about taking field trips. It’s about getting to deep dive into an art form or into a STEM or robotics class and not have to worry about a grade or a test. It’s based out of curious learning and gives kids an opportunity to relax and not worry about testing.

Where should parents start to find a camp that fits their kids?

ZC: I would say to check with a child’s school, because even if the school doesn’t run a summer program, they have affiliates that they work with and can send information. If you’re looking for something more discipline-focused, there are STEM camps running this

summer through an organization called STEM NOLA. Community centers like NORD (New Orleans Recreational Development Commission) have open enrollment and provide an enrichment experience where kids get to dabble in a little bit of everything. NORD also has some strong-focus camps like tennis camp and robotics camp.

How does it inspire kids to be taught by summer camps instructors who are professional musicians and artists in New Orleans?

ZC: It is such a joy to watch

students interact with artists. We have a few theater teachers who are in prominent roles in movies on Netflix. It becomes such a rewarding experience. It’s a very tangible reality for them. It’s not just saying, “You can be anything you want to be,” it’s them realizing, “I really could be, because this person looks like me, they’re from my city and they’re doing such big things.”

HAVE A SAFE

SUMMER!

YEAR-ROUND INDOOR SWIM LESSONS

FOR AGES 6 MONTHS TO ADULT

LOVESWIMMING.COM

Register now for summer camp at Christ Episcopal School in Covington!

• Sports, drama, and traditional summer camp options • Pre-k through teens, depending on camp • Sessions in June and July www.christepiscopalschool.org

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L U N C H T H AT PACKS A PUNCH

Tips to help picky eaters enjoy healthier foods this summer BY

COME COOK UP SOME FUN WITH US!

NOLA VORE Commissary and Catering Kitchen OUR ONE WEEK CAMP SESSIONS COVER IMPORTANT BASIC KITCHEN SKILLS: • Kitchen Safety & Sanitation Knife Skills • Sauteeing, Grilling, Frying, and Roasting • Egg Preparation • Measuring & Baking JUNE SESSIONS BEGIN THE 6TH, 13TH, 20TH, AND 27TH. END OF SUMMER ENCORE SESSIONS BEGIN JULY 25TH AND AUGUST 1ST. 9AM - 12:30PM, MON-FRI ALL SESSIONS ARE FOR KIDS AGES 7-13

nolavore.net/cooking-camps-and-classes.html

JENNY PETERSON

gambitpets

PET ITS PORTRAST

JU AREN’T OCATS FOR ARIST RE ANY MO

ED TRAMPL SCUE: ROSE RE MOST

THE HELPING EIR FIND TH IN NEED S R HOME FOREVE

: CAT CHAT

TIPS FOR E FIRST TIM NERS! OW HUMAN

ISSUE DATE

APRIL 12 SPACE RESERVATION

APRIL 1

CALL OR EMAIL SANDY STEIN: 504.483.3150 SSTEIN@GAMBITWEEKLY.COM

The creators of Camp Kaleidoscope & MADD Camp present A creative arts and experience camp for Age’s 2-9 Session Dates : June 6-17 June 20- July 1 July 11-22 July 25-29 Register online at cedarwoodschool.com

PHOTO BY FIZKES/GET T Y IMAGES

Cutting fruits and vegetables into fun, convenient shapes, and packing them with dips like hummus or guacamole can make healthy eating more enjoyable.

PACKING A HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS LUNCH for kids at summer camp can seem like an impossible task: juggling wholesome nutrition with something they’ll actually want to eat.

“The last thing we want is to send kids to camp with what we think is this beautiful, packed lunch that’s nourishing, and it either comes back uneaten or doesn’t come back at all because kids have either given it away or thrown it away,” says Molly Kimball, a dietician with Ochsner Fitness, founder of the Ochsner Eat Fit nonprofit and author of “The Eat Fit Cookbook.”

Kimball said involving kids in lunch choices is key.

“It’s communicating with kids asking, ‘What do you want?’

And as ridiculous as some of their answers might be, at least you’re hearing what they say,” Kimball says. “Sometimes parents might be (short) on time at the grocery store, but it can end up saving time and frustration later to spend a little bit of extra time at the store involving kids and seeing the things they’re gravitating toward.”

A little creativity can help the fussiest eaters to enjoy a nutritious lunch — even one that includes all five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy.

Kimball offers these tips: Turn a sandwich into pinwheels. Layer cheese, protein, lettuce and tomatoes on a wrap, roll it up and then slice it three times to make smaller rounds.

Deconstruct sandwich ingredients into compartments— often called a bento box.

That could include a dollop of chicken salad or tuna salad in one compartment and then adding crackers or vegetables in other compartments for build-your-own finger food.

Replace potato chips with nuts for a protein-rich, filling side.

Pack healthy dips. Single-serve guacamole or hummus encourages dipping

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Swap out deli meat. Change up the menu by using dinner leftovers, likebaked chicken, cut into cubes.

Peel and chop fruit.

Already peeled and sliced fruit is quick and easy to eat. Same goes for vegetables.

Ditch the Ziploc. Reusable lunch boxes and hard, reusable food containers ensure sandwiches don’t get squished and then tossed.

An ice pack helps food items stay cool.

P H O T O B Y T H I TA R E E S A R M K A S AT / GET T Y IMAGES

No, you don’t have to be a food artist or stylist. But a little creativity can help the fussiest eaters to enjoy a nutritious lunch.

S TAYING HYDR ATED

PHOTO BY OLESIA BILKEI/GET T Y IMAGES

Fresh fruit can be an unexpected source of hydration.

IN THE SWELTERING SUMMER HEAT, water and low sugar sports drinks are great, but Kimball notes that fresh fruit and Greek yogurt are also unexpected sources of hydration and perfect for lunch boxes.

Kimball recommends Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt and BodyArmor Lyte sports drinks; both are readily available at grocery stores and low in sugar.

It may take a few tries to create a kid-approved nutri-

tious packed lunch and it’s OK if parents don’t hit a home run every day, Kimball says.

“Don’t put pressure on yourself that that summer camp lunch is going to always hit every (nutrition goal). Let’s try to hit most of them,” Kimball says.

“Realize that you have snack time when they get home from camp, and dinner and other opportunities to help round it all out.”

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vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peppers and cherry tomatoes.

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24 EXCELLENCE IN DANCE EDUCATION FOR OVER

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5956 MAGAZINE STREET, NEW ORLEANS

YEARS!

REGISTER TODAY! (504) 899- 3780

WWW.NEWORLEANSDANCELESSONS.COM INFO@THENODA.COM

NOW ENROLLING FOR

Summer & Fall Classes

GIVE YOUR CHILD THE GIFT OF DANCE Free Trial Class + Free Registration for Summer and Fall

Group classes in ballet, tap, and jazz dance.

Private lessons are available!

AT NEW ORLEANS DANCE ACADEMY, YOU GET: •2 FREE recital tickets •FREE Recital Recording - a $50 value!

•ACCESSIBLE STAFF: Desk staff available to assist you during all teaching hours, every day •NO-HASSLE COSTUMES: We take care of every facet of recital and performance costumes •NO FUNDRAISING: Students and parents are never required to fundraise for studio events

All levels of dancers are welcome ages 2 t o adult LIMITED ENROLLMENT! CALL US TODAY AT: (504) 899-3780

STY

p m a c r What to pack fo

$12 from Little Miss Muffin.

Global Kids activity cards $15 from Alice & Amelia.

its v a R rah a S by Patches

Water bottle

$6 each from Dirty Coast.

$25 from Dirty Coast (713 Royal St., 504324-6730; 1320 Magazine St., Suite 105, 504-766-0752; 5631 Magazine St., 504-3243745; dirtycoast.com).

“A Girl Like Me” notebook Liquid Sunshine raincoat

$26 from Little Miss Muffin.

$72 from Little Miss Muffin.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE BEAUFORT BONNET CO.

Backpack $75 from Little Miss Muffin (766 Harrison Ave., 504-482-8200; 3307 Severn Ave., Metairie, 504-455-1444; 3307 Severn Ave., 504-455-1444; shoplittlemissmuffin.com).

Peace pen

Swig insulated lunchbox $39 from Alice & Amelia (4432 Magazine St., 504-502-6206; shopaliceandamelia.com).

$8 from Little Miss Muffin.

Sunglasses $14.99 each from Alice & Amelia.

Consuela bag

Camo high tops Faux snake skin high tops $40 from Little Miss Muffin.

$44 from Little Miss Muffin.

“Stuff” ditty bag $56 from NOLA Boo (517 Metairie Road, Suite 200, Metairie, 504-510-4655; nolaboo.com).

$16 from Little Miss Muffin.

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SUMMER S L E

Go Fish card game

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SPONSORED CONTENT

ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT lafayette.aie.edu Looking to immerse yourself in the world of animation and video games? Join Academy of Interactive Entertainment at one of our week-long Summer Camps for ages 12-18!

Our camps will teach you the programs used in Video Game Art and Design and Game Programming. Participants learn about software and basic techniques used in the industry.

UPTURN ARTS

CABRINI HIGH SCHOOL 1400 Moss St. • New Orleans, LA cabrinihigh.com Cabrini High School is a private, all-girls, Catholic school for grades 8-12. Cabrini is rooted in the philosophy of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini who believed that education should be of the mind and the heart.

Cabrini students excel in a learning environment that features small class sizes and individualized attention, an experienced, caring, and certified staff, and academic rigor with support for students’ varied abilities. Cabrini develops young women who live the core values of respect, excellence, and service.

If you would like more information about Cabrini, please contact the Admissions Office, 504-483-8699 or jmontgomery@cabrinihigh.com.

1719 Toledano St., NOLA upturnarts.org Do you like the arts? Are you creative, curious, and a fan of Field Trip Fridays? If so, you will LOVE our summer lineup of dance, music, theater, and visual art every day as part of our quest to become true ART-adVenturers! 12 themed sessions are available for ages 4-15 on a sliding scale. Tuition includes breakfast, lunch, performances, and field trips.

KIDSPORTS AT OCHSNER FITNESS CENTER 1200 S. Clearview Pkwy.

Harahan, LA Kidsports Summer Camp, held at Ochsner Fitness Center - Harahan, offers a summer’s worth of fun filled, structured, and engaging activities for kids ages 3-12. Run by a trained and experienced staff, kids are separated into small groups based on age, to enjoy friendship, fun and fitness.

Campers will get a chance to engage in sports, obstacle courses, artist-led crafts, field trips, water fun, interactive gaming and more! Camp dates are May 16th - August 12th. To register or for more information, call 504.226.8033 or visit https://digital.ochsner.org/ summercamps/

ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART SUMMER CAMP 4521 St Charles Ave. • New Orleans, LA ashrosary.org/summer Let Your Fun Shine at Sacred Heart! Campers will enjoy a wide variety of festive and fun summer activities and enrichment opportunities including the return of FIELD TRIPS, water fun, indoor and outdoor games, music, dance, cheer, sports, visual arts, and more. Lunch will be offered by Pigeon Catering for an additional fee, and after-care is available for all camps, which take place June 13-July 22, 2022.

For more info, visit ashrosary.org/summer or call 504.269.1230

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Spend the summer at Camp Cabrini!

Enjoy camps and clinics that explore art, drama, music, sports, and more. For girls and boys entering grades 1 – 7.

For more information, please visit our website at theacademyofourlady.org/summer-camp or email camp@theacademyofourlady.org

Learn more at cabrinihigh.com/camp.

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Mandeville School of Music & Dance 105 Campbell Ave #3 | Mandeville, LA (985) 674-2992 River Ridge School of Music & Dance 2020 Dickory Ave #200 | Harahan, LA (504) 738-3050 With a choice of over 40 instrumental, vocal and dance programs, this summer camp provides children ages 5-14 with the opportunity to try out up to eight programs of interest. The goal of each class for beginning students is to provide an introduction and basic foundation in a fun and relaxed environment. For experienced students, the goal is to provide the inspiration and motivation necessary to take their skills to the next level! Camp is held from 9 AM - 3 PM Monday - Friday and includes a LAAPA t-shirt and one free instrument rental.

ST. TAMMANY ART ASSOCIATION 323 N. New Hampshire St. sttammany.art/summer-art-camps The St. Tammany Art Association is now offering three different camps for young artists of all ages.

Fingerprints Camp guides youth ages 6-12 in a hands-on learning environment through the basics of painting, drawing and clay, exploring Art History and their own imaginations. In Theater Camp, young actors ages 5-16 work with Director Caree Llewellyn to bring scripts to life in a unique opportunity to put on a play! In the Young Artists Studio, teens ages 12-17 of all artistic ability have the opportunity to grow their skills and prepare their future portfolio with one-on-one instruction from Robyn Kennedy, a professional artist with college level teaching experience. Call us at (985) 892-8650.

NOLAVORE 2139 Baronne St. • New Orleans, LA nolavore.net/cooking-camps-and-classes.html Come cook up some fun with us this summer! Our one-week summer camps cover important basic kitchen skills, such as kitchen safety and sanitation, knife skills, sauteing, grilling, frying, roasting and more! No two sessions are alike! Enrollment is limited to provide a safe, constructive learning environment.

All sessions are for kids ages 7-13. Four one-week sessions are available beginning June 6th, plus two End of Summer encore sessions starting July 25th and August 1st. Camp hours are 9:00am-12:30pm, M-F. Snack and lunch provided. Campers also receive a Nolavore apron and a self-assembled recipe book of all dishes prepared during the week.

JEFFERSON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY ECOLE BILINGUE Ecole Bilingue 821 General Pershing St., NOLA EBNOLA.com Summer day camp at Ecole Bilingue explores an incredible range of programs, all infused with French immersion. Campers young as two (*must be potty trained) and up to twelve-years-old will explore the world through music, theater, cooking, and water play when they spend a summer at EB. Our school campus is the perfect environment for a safe and enriching summer experience. The EB summer camp runs throughout June and July. Registration is now open. No French background required.

(504) 885-2000 www.jpas.org/summer2022/ JPAS Musical Theatre Intensives provide a challenging and high-quality musical theatre education to students of the New Orleans area.

Students who attend JPAS Intensives are challenged and encouraged through an inviting and enriching environment. Young performers have the opportunity to work with local professional artistic staff on an individual and group basis so space is limited. At JPAS, we place the child first and give them the opportunity to spread their wings in a creative and remarkable way. If you have any questions about the camps do not hesitate to reach out to our camp director Nikki Lopez at nikki@jpas.org.

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LAAPA

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925 Camp St., NOLA Through a series of small, specialized camps, kids in grades 2 through 12 can explore photography, painting, printmaking, mixed media, fashion design, and more! Each session draws inspiration from Southern works of art and gives campers the chance to learn from professional artists.

Camp space is limited, and includes offerings like Fine Art FUNdamentals (grades 2-5), Eco-Fashion: A Movement and Design Camp (grades 5-8) and Photography Camp (grades 6-12). Proof of vaccination or negative PCR test is required. Visit ogdenmuseum. org/summercamps to learn more about each camp and register. If you have questions, contact education@ogdenmuseum.org or (504) 539-9608.

ARDEN CAHILL ACADEMY CAMP CORRAL 3101 Wall Blvd., Gretna LA Voted #1 Summer Camp in New Orleans by Gambit readers for two years, Camp Corral offers two sessions comprised of 10 themed weeks of on-campus activities such as horseback riding, swimming, art, theater, sports, game room, petting farm, archery, riflery, STEAM and more. Space, Dinosaur and Adventure week are always a hit, while blue and white days, rodeos, theatre productions, and the overnight camp“in” are not to be missed. Academic enrichment classes are offered as session options. Conveniently located in Gretna, 10 minutes from the GNO Bridge. For more information or to register now, visit Camp Corral online at ArdenCahillAcademy.com.

MOUNT CARMEL ACADEMY 7027 Milne Blvd., NOLA www.mcacubs.com Choose your adventure at Mount Carmel’s Summer Camp! Campers customize their summer fun by picking their favorite classes from a diverse and exciting selection. They will enjoy being artists, scientists, dancers, athletes, cheerleaders, chefs, detectives, designers, actresses, and so much more! Campers will explore their individual interests and uncover new talents as they make friends and have a blast! Registration Now Open.

Girls entering grades 2-8 June 6-July 1, by the week Morning Session: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Afternoon Session: 1-4 p.m.

Before and after care available

NEW ORLEANS GLASSWORKS 727 Magazine St., NOLA neworleansglassworks.com/

FIRST TEE First Tee offers 10 weeks of camp starting May 31 for kids ages 6-12 at the low cost of $250 per child per week. Our Summer Camp teaches the game of golf and life skills in a fun, safe, and empowering environment. In addition to First Tee’s golf curriculum, your child will participate in other summer camp activities like arts and crafts, STEM, financial literacy, and more! Check out our website for more information: firstteenola.org

New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio’s Summer Technical Workshop for Young Adults is a hands-on experience where science meets art!

Students may attend the Three-Week Session, Weekly Sessions, or both to learn Glassblowing, Glass Torchworking/Flameworking, Metal Sculpture & Welding, Printmaking, Screen Printing, Stained Glass, Ceramics, Architectural Sculpture & Float Building, and more! No two weeks are alike, and attending multiple weeks allows students to progress within these disciplines and create custom multimedia projects. Limited to 25 students per week, all students receive individualized instruction to help them find their inspiration and tap into their creativity!

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OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART

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Dates: July 5-8, July 11-15, July 18-22, July 25-29 Tuition: $299/week (July 5-8) and $325/week (July 11-29). Tuition includes t-shirt, registration, and one instrument rental Campers choose eight programs each week: Acting, Piano, Voice, Guitar, Drum, Violin. Jazz Band, Rock Band, Composition, Chorus, Wind, Brass, Musical Theater, Ballet, Hip Hop, Tap.

Call 504-738-3050 or 985-674-2992

EXPLORE  CREATIVE WRITING  FILM  MOTION DESIGN INTERACTIVE DESIGN  FOR MORE INFO: LOYNO.EDU/SCDEXPERIENCE

SUMMER C AMPS•SCHOOL S•ACTIVITES•SERVICES

SPONSORED CONTENT

LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ CAMP The mission of the Louis “Satchmo’’ Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp (LSASJC) is to honor jazz in the place of its birth and to foster greater appreciation of this art form through music education. LSASJC is one of a kind: it’s the only summer program in New Orleans with a comprehensive curriculum that includes instrumental and vocal music, as well as swing dance.

The program includes three weeks of intensive music education classes M-F from 9:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. June 20th through July 8th- and two weeks of swing dance from June 27th through July 8, 2022. LSASJC accepts students ages 10-21 years old, with housing available for students 15-21. Free lunch is provided for all students. Register now! Visit https://louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com/ for more information.

JCC SUMMER CAMPS 3747 W. Esplanade Ave. Metairie, (504) 887-5158 5342 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans (504) 897-0143

THE LE PETIT YOUNG CONSERVATORY ACTOR TRAINING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE The Young Conservatory program at Le Petit provides students from ages 8 to 18 the ability to develop their talents, perform in professional productions, and gain the confidence to succeed—all in a comfortable, creative, and fun environment. Young Conservatory students take classes in Voice and Diction, Clowning and Movement, Stagecraft, Stage Presence, and Ensemble Building. Classes are be led by theatre professionals who have a passion for working with young people.

Our Technical Theater Training Program gives students a look at all the backstage areas that make the show happen!

From carpentry, to lighting, sound, video, and design, students get hands-on experience in a host of technical theatre areas.

nojcc.org/camp The JCC Summer Camps offer eight weeks of fun for children ages 21 months to grade 5 from June 6 to July 29. Summer is a special time for children to change their routine, expand their social circle, and advance swimming skills.

Campers enjoy a myriad of activities including daily swimming or water play, art, music, drama, yoga, cooking, sports, games and more. Special events, dress up days and a camp-wide competition round out the fun.

LOYOLA SCD EXPERIENCE 6363 St Charles Ave. • (504) 865-3430 www.loyno.edu/scdexperience The School of Communication and Design (SCD) will host the 2022 SCD Summer Experience, a week-long comprehensive bootcamp that exposes high school students to careers in filmmaking, motion design, interactive design, and writing.

High school students from across the region are invited to register and learn from topnotch educators and industry experts about the endless professional opportunities. It’s a hands-on workshop designed to challenge and inspire high school students to explore a variety of methods and media, while engaging in a process that is collaborative, thought-provoking, and imaginative. Limited seating. Only 15 students per experience. For more info go to www.loyno.edu/scdexperience.

INSPIRENOLA CHARTER SCHOOLS www.inspirenolacharterschools.org InspireNOLA Charter Schools operates eight public charter schools in New Orleans: Alice Harte, Andrew Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower, 42 Charter, Pierre Capdau, Edna Karr, Eleanor McMain, and McDonogh 35. We’ve built a pipeline of success that offers continuity and stability from preK through twelfth grade. We believe in a positive culture with active parental involvement and celebrating student success. Our mission is to transform and inspire an educational movement, where everyone will fulfill one of the three E’s — enrollment, enlistment, employment. InspireNOLA is one of the highest performing open-admission charter management organization in New Orleans. Visit us at inspirenolacharterschools.org.

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LOVE SWIMMING In 2002, Marshall Love and Kaye Doiron founded Love Swimming with a philosophy and passion to provide the most effective, fun lessons for swimmers of all ages. Students often say their lessons are the high point of their week! Love Swimming features indoor, warm saltwater lessons for all swimmers: from as young as 6 months to adults and those with special needs. With safe, small classes they provide a strong foundation for a lifetime of love and respect for the water. For more information and to enroll, visit https://loveswimming.com/

ARKIDTECTURE CAMP AT BEAUREGARD-KEYES HISTORIC HOUSE & GARDEN 1113 Chartres St., NOLA https://www.bkhouse.org/summer-camp This week-long summer camp will explore the past and present day architecture of New Orleans through a variety of fun and engaging, hands-on activities that include games, art, building, and more!

Camp will take place in the Beauregard-Keyes Historic House, a home that was built almost 200 years ago and serves as an architectural marvel of the 19th century. While learning about the master craftsmen responsible for building this house and others, campers will participate in live demonstrations and take numerous field trips around the French Quarter.

This camp is for students ages 8-13. Before and after care will be available as an add on. There will be three, one week sessions offered: June 27 - July 1, July 11 - July 15, and July 25 - July 29. After registering through Eventbrite, parents will be sent a camper information form.

SCHOOL OF ROCK 1907 Veterans Blvd., Matairie

CHRIST EPISCOPAL SCHOOL 80 Christwood Blvd., Covington, LA Summer at CES includes three options: theater, sports, and/or the traditional summer camp experience, and all are guaranteed to provide weeks of summertime fun!

Summer Drama options include the Lion King Jr. (ages 8-16) and The Addams Family (ages 12-19).

Wildcat Sports camps (ages 7-14) include flag football, boys basketball, boys and girls soccer, and girls volleyball.

Creative Cats is all about fun for children entering Pre-k through 8th grade! Arts, crafts, music, movement, canoeing, science, chess, robotics, and more!

And new this year, STEM! Visit https://christepiscopalschool.org/summer-camp/

School of Rock music camps give students the opportunity to play in a band together in a safe and fun environment, learning Rock songs in a wide variety of styles. All camps culminate in a LIVE performance!

AGES 6 - 7 (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) June 20 – 24 Rookies AGES 8 - 12 (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) June 6 – 10 Rock 101 July 11 - 15 Rock 101 II AGES 8 - 18 June 13 – 17 June 27 – 30 July 18 - 22 July 25 - 29 Aug 1 – 5

(WITH SOME EXPERIENCE) Pop Legends Songwriting Best of the 90’s Metal Mania Reggae Sunsplash

For camp info call 504-618-ROCK or visit www.schoolofrock.com/locations/ metairie/music-camps

WHO ARE THEY?

CLUES:

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS JUNE 20 - JULY 8, 2022 | 9:00AM - 3:00PM MONDAY - FRIDAY AUDITION DATES: TBA

• • •

In Michael Blube’s Band Is related to Kidd Jordan Luce

• • •

Andrew Baham’s good friend Awarded Rome Prize in 2019 From Kenner, LA

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YO U WISH IF YO U ATTEND THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ CAMP

For More Information Visit The Jazz Camp Website At

W W W. LO U I S A R M ST R O N G JA Z ZC A M P.CO M GREGORY AGID Musician, Bandleader, Educator

JONI REED Talent Consultant

JON BATISTE Musician, composer, bandleader and television personality

SAM WILLIAMS, BIG SAM FUNKY NATION MUSICIAN, BANDLEADER DR. COURTNEY BRYAN Composer, pianist, educator

DR. JODI CHATTERS HARDY MD Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine Physician

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THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ CAMP IS BACK AND IN-PERSON

KELVIN HARRISON JR. Actor, director, writer

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Students must audition, have 2 years of music experience and be between 10 - 21 years old. Sliding Scale Fees Other Sponsors: Gia Maione Prima Foundation, Arts Council of New Orleans, Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, City of New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Rising Oak Foundation, Jeanette Davis-Loeb, Newburns, Mark & Kara Samuels, Michele A. Brierre, Newell Usdin Fund, Ed Robinson- L&R Security Services, Kent & Christine Jordan, Dr. Sidney & Vaughn Fauria, Angela O’Byrne and Perez APC, Marc H. Morial, Sybil Morial, Thomas Rieke, Preservation Hall Foundation, Hon. Marlin and Renee Gusman, New Orleans Paddlewheels, Dr. Michael White, Dr. Ned Shimizu, Jackie Harris, Jacques Morial

Summer Fuwn ith BUILDING GAME CHANGERS by empowering kids and teens through golf 10 weeks of camp starting May 31 for kids ages 6-12

OUR SUMMER CAMP TEACHES:

the game of golf and life skills in a fun, safe, and empowering environment. other summer camp activities like arts and crafts, STEM, financial literacy, & more!

(504) 304-3309 / / / firstteenola.org

250

$

per child

SUMMER C AMPS•SCHOOL S•ACTIVITES•SERVICES

37

SPONSORED CONTENT

607 Heavens Drive Mandeville • 985-845-7111 cedarwoodschool.com Cedarwood’s seven-acre campus is the setting for exploration, creativity, and discovery. Cedarwood Camp will integrate creative arts and drama, robotics, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), music and movement, and aquatics in the Jr. Olympic pool. The discovery that STEAM learning delivers has been proven to benefit and position children for success in the future. Swimming

THE NEW ORLEANS DANCE ACADEMY

lessons are available for campers and non-campers.

Register online at cedarwoodschool.com

www.neworleansdancelessons.com (504) 899-3780 Give your child the gift of dance and register today!

The New Orleans Dance Academy is now offering a free trial class plus free registration for Summer and Fall. Choose from group classes in ballet, tap, and jazz dance- or private lessons. Established in 1990, the New Orleans Dance Academy has had over 30 years of excellence in dance. Students of the New Orleans Dance love the small class sizes and supportive, non-competitive atmosphere. Parents love the accessible staff, complimentary recital tickets, and no-hassle costumes. To enroll or for more information, call (504) 899-3780 or email info@ thenoda.com

ACADEMY OF OUR LADY 5501 Westbank Expressway • Marrero, LA Academy of Our Lady offers a summer filled with excitement and adventure. With a wide variety of activities, such as daily swimming and waterslide, arts and crafts, on-campus field trips and stem activities, we have a camp for all. AOL is a place where campers can explore new things, discover new talents and create lasting friendships. For more information, visit our website at theacademyofourlady.org/summer-camp or email camp@theacademyofourlady.org.

CRESCENT CITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (504) 885-4700 crescentcitychristian.com

LUSHER As an Arts Schools Network Exemplary School, Lusher Charter School offers a renowned arts-integrated academic program at its Uptown campuses.

Lusher’s Summer Arts and Innovation Camp offers three weeks of fun incorporating STEM and the arts for grades 1-8 at its Freret Campus. Elementary school campers participate in ART SPARK! with classes in design, the arts, science and more. For grades 6-8, young artists and explorers are introduced and prepped for conservatory and design-oriented high school programs. Classes have included theatre, music, visual art, media arts, dance, science, robotics, culture, sculpture, karate, coding, and more. For more information, go to: www.lusherartsandinnovation.com

Crescent City Christian School 2022 Summer Camp offers a fun and safe environment for your kids. Activities include weekly field trips, arts and crafts, waterslide, swimming (indoor pool), Stem sessions, Lego club, cooking lessons, and much more. For more information or to sign up visit crescentcitychristian.com or call (504) 885-4700.

Camp runs from May 31 through July 29, Monday through Friday 6:00AM until 6:00PM. Ages: 3-14 (potty-trained required). Camp Cost is $175 per week.

Multi-child and other discounts are available, conveniently located on Crescent City School campus, 4828 Utica St. in Metairie (space is limited)

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CEDARWOOD CAMPS & AQUATICS

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E AT + D R I N K

A welcome cure Coffee, wine and more at a Covington cafe

FORK + CENTER

|

by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

ANNA WATKINS AND AMANDA BIRDSONG OPENED CURED. ON COLUMBIA in

October 2020 and managed to thrive despite the pandemic.

But the pandemic shutdowns weren’t their only concern. Life partners for 12 years, the former Baton Rouge couple wasn’t sure how they’d be welcomed on the Northshore.

“We had some concerns about two lesbians coming into downtown and opening a community-based business,” Watkins says. “We thought it would be a challenge. But we couldn’t ask for a better welcome. Every day we feel that way.

This place is really a no judgement zone, which is the way it should be.”

Birdsong has a background in the medical field, but the selftrained chef is most passionate about food and cooked for regular dinner parties in the couple’s Baton Rouge home before they moved to the Northshore. Watkins has a long history of management in the corporate restaurant world.

Together, they wanted to open the kind of place where they’d want to hang out — relaxed, come as you are. It’s a confluence of the concepts of Magpie, a favorite Baton Rouge coffee shop, and Bacchanal, the wine shop, cafe and yard party in the Bywater. What began as a grab-and-go concept evolved into a relaxed, neighborhood space.

“People can pick a bottle of wine, order a cheese and charcuterie board, sit out back and relax,” Watkins says. The from-scratch menu changes daily with dishes like a smoked chicken and bacon club on sourdough bread with garlic aioli or plant-based choices such as roasted beets with honey goat cheese and beet hummus on a board. The pair fell in love with charcuterie while traveling through Hungary, and they source sausages and cheeses from Central and Western Europe, with options like chorizo from Spain and nduja from Calabria in southern Italy.

Cured. on Columbia is a bright, open space just off Boston Street, Covington’s main drag, and not

Eat like an Egyptian KHALED HEGAZZI HAS KEPT EGYPTIAN HERITAGE CENTRAL IN HIS LIFE since

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

far from the Southern Hotel. Large storefront windows invite in plenty of sunshine, and there’s a back garden with seating at scattered tables with plants and sunshades for cover.

Clean eating inspires most items on the menu, with greens and garnishes sourced from nearby Six Day Acres farm in Mississippi.

A selection of salads include the burrata, a ball of the creamy Italian cheese over spring greens, with tomatoes, bits of truffle and a brown butter slathered crostino.

The Catillac tuna salad, named for their pal Cat, has an Asian flair, with seared tuna, shredded cabbage and spring greens dressed with coconut aminos, ginger aioli and Sriracha. Diners can add a protein to any salad from a list that includes smoked or grilled salmon, seared tuna and egg, tuna or chicken salad.

The charcuterie boards are a house specialty. The trio of hummuses include a traditional version and beet or black bean and is served with grilled naan. The lox plate includes piles of smoked salmon, caper-dill spread, caper

Anna Watkins and chef Amanda Birdsong opened Cured. on Columbia. berries, house-pickled onions, greens and a grilled baguette. For a hungry party, the smorgasbord chef’s charcuterie selection, priced at $62, delivers a feast of meat, cheese and accoutrements.

An occasional Dine to be Different series features multi-course dinners powered by Birdsong’s creative whims and are paired with wines.

Cured also is a coffee shop, and the robust coffee program features a killer Italian Wega espresso machine that produces the base for lattes flavored with honey and lavender, coconut matcha and white chocolate. The wine selection hails mostly from small producers with an emphasis on natural wines.

Van Friendly, the Northshore vegan and gluten-free bakery created by Jiselle Rodriguez and Dylan Beasley supplies baked goods, including fruit doughnuts and cinnamon rolls.

“We think we offer something a little different to the community,” Watkins says. “And they seem to love it.”

?

WHAT

Cured. on Columbia

WHERE

415 N. Columbia St., (985) 893-0355; facebook.com/ curedoncolumbia

WHEN

Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Sat.

HOW

Dine-in and outdoor seating available

CHECK IT OUT

A Northshore coffee shop and cafe

immigrating two decades ago from Alexandria on the Nile delta to New Orleans on the Mississippi delta.

A poet and writer, he owns the Egyptian import shop Pharaoh’s Cave in the French Quarter. More recently he started a pop-up, Sittoo’s Kitchen, based on traditional Egyptian flavors. At home, he is always cooking kofta kebabs and the layered lentil and pasta dish koshary for friends and family.

Now, Hegazzi has a key role in the most important showcase of Egyptian art and history in New Orleans in a generation, and that contribution comes through food.

The New Orleans Museum of Art last week debuted “Queen Nefertari’s Egypt,” which explores life in Egypt some 3,000 years ago through the lens of the wife of pharaoh Ramesses II. The exhibition runs through July 17.

Throughout the exhibition, the restaurant within the museum, Cafe NOMA, serves traditional Egyptian

P H O T O B Y I A N M C N U LT Y / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Khaled Hegazzi, left, and Chris Montero, at Cafe NOMA. dishes on its everyday menu and hosts a variety of special meals, cooking demos, and happy hours focused on Egyptian cuisine.

Hegazzi is part of a team that has been working behind the scenes to offer museum visitors a genuine taste of his home country. The result is a mix of Egyptian home cooking, street food and more elaborate dishes on offer in different ways over the next five months.

“I’m excited to see so much attention to Egyptian culture,” Hegazzi says. “When people come, they’ll see PAGE 39

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FORK & CENTER

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the cultural aspect and then you get to experience it in a different way and really feel it through our food.”

Cafe NOMA is accessible both through the museum and also independent of museum admission, with a separate entrance.

It’s part of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group and is overseen by veteran local chef Chris Montero, who also runs Napoleon House in the French Quarter.

In the past, the cafe has worked some museum programing into its culinary offerings, but Montero said the scale and importance of “Queen Nefertari’s Egypt” augured something more.

The issue of culture authenticity came up from the start.

“The question was, do we want the food we’re doing here to be first and foremost familiar and accessible to people, or do we want it to be authentic?” Montero says.

“The answer without hesitation was it has to be authentic, and so we needed Egyptians to come in and say ‘this is how we really do it.’ ” Montero began working with Dina Daniel, an Egyptian-born chef who runs restaurants under her Fava Pot brand in Washington, D.C. She shared invaluable experience translating Egyptian cuisine to the restaurant format, especially for a multicourse dinner she will host at Cafe NOMA on March 31.

Soon after they began talking about working together, Hegazzi invited Montero to his house in Lakeview for the type of dinner he serves all the time — a traditional spread from dips and cumin-studded flatbread to stuffed grape leaves, falafel and ful, the fava bean stew.

Hegazzi has been a hands-on consultant, working through menu development and training Cafe NOMA staff. He’ll also be working in the kitchen for special events.

Hegazzi has lived here since 2001, and over that time food has been a potent way to connect his New Orleans life and family to his own roots.

His daughter Retiba has grown up cooking with him. In 2017, at age 9, she appeared on the Food Network show “Chopped Junior” and won the competition. She wowed the judges with a pairing of Egyptian and New Orleans flavors — lamb koftas and beignets. Today, as a high school student, she’s in the culinary program at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

During the pandemic, Hegazzi developed the pop-up Sittoo’s Kitchen with Michael Kerwin, a local musician. It combines Egyptian cooking with dishes from Kerwin’s Lebanese heritage.

One reason Hegazzi was eager to join Cafe NOMA’s project is how rarely he finds his homeland’s cuisine in the spotlight. It is commonly lumped in with Middle Eastern food more broadly.

“It’s about time to correct that,” Hegazzi says.

With the Egyptian chefs aboard, Cafe NOMA is showing the nuances and regional traditions, even in dishes that share common names around the Arab world.

Ta’ameya, Egyptian falafel, is made with fava beans, not chickpeas.

Dolmas, or grape leaves, are typically filled with grains, not rice. The hummus has a thicker texture than other regional versions.

The overall goal is presenting food in sync with a limited time exhibition, rather than creating a conventional restaurant menu.

There is a daily “Nefertari Hour,” an exhibition-themed happy hour with sampler platters and Egyptian-style flatbread to pair with cocktails and wine.

The dinner that chef Daniel will host March 31 features five-courses starting with spicy feta dip and ending with kunafa, a dessert of sweet cheese under a crisp crust.

Street food staples will be on the daily cafe menu, including koshary and hawawshi, a meat-stuffed bread, and flatbreads topped with eggplant and crumbled lamb koftas. Egyptian falafel, hummus and dolmas stuffed with freekeh will be served daily too.

“When people leave here, I want them to feel they had a cultural experience in the exhibition and a spiritual experience with our food,” Hegazzi says. — IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Final lists THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION RELEASED THE LISTS OF FINALISTS

for its annual culinary awards. The foundation will name the winners at an event in Chicago on June 13.

Brennan’s is nominated for Outstanding Restaurant. Serigne Mbaye of DakarNOLA is nominated for top Emerging Chef in the nation. New Orleans chefs hold three of the five spots among the finalists for Best Chef: South. Isaac Toups has been nominated multiple times before, and he’s joined

by Melissa M. Martin of Mosquito Supper Club and Saint-Germain’s Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith, who share a nomination.

There were no Beard awards distributed in 2020 or 2021. The 2020 awards were canceled due to concerns about the lack of diversity, according to reporting by the New York Times. — WILL COVIELLO

Spr g Spring

DINING GUIDE

ISSUE DATE

MARCH 29

CALL NOW!

Contact Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

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WINE OF THE

WEEK

3 COURSE INTERVIEW

Zander White Pizza-maker

by Will Coviello ZANDER WHITE HAS ALWAYS LOVED PIZZA. He made it at home with

his father while growing up, and while he was in college at Loyola University New Orleans, he started making his own dough. He’s made pizza at home for family and friends ever since. During the pandemic, he started the pop-up Zee’s Pizzeria, and now he’s getting ready to leave a career in the TV and film industry to open a permanent Zee’s location in Uptown. Visit zeespizzeria.com for information.

Why did you start making pizza?

Beringer Bros.

Cabernet Sauvignon Bourbon Barrel Aged

Aged for 60 days in American Oak Bourbon barrels, this wine is bursting with aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate, and vanilla cream. The palate is lush with ripe tannins and integrated acidity, showcasing toasted hazelnuts, toffee, and black cherry preserves on the finish.

DISTRIBUTED BY

ZANDER WHITE: Growing up here and working in a bunch of pizza joints, there wasn’t thincrust New England-style pizza.

Usually I don’t say New York style, because for the most part I grew up eating the best pizza in Connecticut, New Haven — Boston has a lot of good pizza.

And New York of course. But we wanted to make the pizza we missed. We were using home ovens with stones and all kinds of techniques to make your home oven hotter. When I say we, I just mean me and my friends, but it was all me. They were just eating it. But we were just doing it to make something we couldn’t get here.

We tried different Italian tomatoes, domestic tomatoes, fancy cheeses, cheap cheeses. That was a problem, because we didn’t have access to the cheeses restaurants do. I borrowed a Restaurant Depot card from a friend, and things got interesting. We got access to a lot of things.

How did the pop-up get started?

W: When the pandemic hit, I was looking for something to do.

Camera work and TV was totally shut down. We just had a baby.

Everyone had something they did during lockdown, and mine was make pizza. I would have people come and get it out of our side door. I would just leave it on the hood of my truck. I was making maybe 10 a day multiple times a week. Then a couple of them put a bug in my ear, “You really got to get this out there.”

I knew it was good, but there was a question of what’s the point? I have a job.

Then we did a pop-up out of my house and sold maybe 35 pizzas. We had a guy in a mask run it out to them in their car. No contact delivery. We did that twice and I realized it wasn’t doable. The neighbors would have hated me.

I am good friends with the guys who run Bub’s Burgers, and I looked at what they were doing. I reached out to some of the breweries where they were popping up. I talked to Adam Ritter at Zony Mash. He really just rolled out the red carpet.

He said come on down and do what you do.

He had some equipment that we didn’t expect to get our hands on, so we grew really fast. Our first pop-up at Zony was August 2020.

We’ve operated since.

There are two pizzas that stick out. One is our parlor trick, the Buffalo chicken, people love it. It’s sort of a three-headed monster.

Pepperoni pizza is standard. If you own a pizza joint, people are going to buy it. One thing we do in town that not a lot of people do is we have cupping pepperoni. It’s a high-quality pepperoni. It forms a little cup (when it cooks). Some people like it when it lays flat.

We’re team cup.

If people ask me what they should get, I say pepperoni or a red top. A red top is a way of saying upside down. The red sauce goes on top of the cheese. It’s common in places like Detroit. In New York, they say upside down.

It’s dough, then our home-made garlic butter. We put down shredded mozzarella and then fresh mozzarella. Then we sauce it and cook it, and at the end we throw on basil. It’s basically a margherita, but I call it a red top margherita.

Because the sauce is on top, it keeps the crust extra crispy. If the cheese is there to protect the dough, you get a different texture.

PHOTO BY JASMINE HOLZENTHAL

What are your plans for the restaurant?

W: Our (pop-up) menu is limited in that we can only do so much in our little trailer. We have slices and whole pies. We have our basic topping menu and then one weekly special. When we get into the restaurant, we have a full, developed salad menu that we’ll debut. We’ll add garlic knots, which is a staple at every pizza joint. And we’ll rotate more specials in daily. We’ll have an entire slice menu and whole pie menu. We’ll have two or three special pizzas on the board, and two or three salads on the board, rotating.

We will add vegan cheese, which is something we don’t currently do.

I don’t have enough refrigeration outside at the pop-up. But I have a nice vegan cheese on hold with our distributor.

We’ll have beer and wine — not liquor for now, because I haven’t built out a holding bar yet. We’re going to serve Zony Mash beer on tap and have a can selection, bottles, wine and sodas.

The space is great. It’s a historic restoration of the Fine Arts Theatre at Constantinople and Baronne (streets). It’s been a banquet hall for years. Our neighbors are going to be Lucy Boone Ice Cream. Pizza and ice cream are two great things that go together.

41

O U T T O E AT

Out To 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.

7th Ward Nonno’s Cajun Cuisine and Pastries — 2025 N. Claiborne Ave., (504) 354-1364; nonnoscajuncuisineandpastries.com — The menu includes home-style Cajun and Creole dishes with some vegan options. Shrimp is sauteed with onion and bell pepper, topped with cheese and served with two eggs and toast.

Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

CBD Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; juansflyingburrito. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description.

Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab.

Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola.com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese, and a lobster tail or fried catfish fillet are optional additions.

The menu also includes wings, quesadillas, burgers, sandwiches, salads, seafood pasta and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart. com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. Lunch and dinner daily. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Char-grilled oysters are topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter. Reservations recommended.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; theospizza.com — There is a wide

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up

variety of specialty pies and toppings to build your own pizza. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches.

Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 2842898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood and more. Basin barbecue shrimp and grits features eight jumbo shrimp over creamy cheese grits and a cheese biscuit. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan. Takeout and delivery available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce.

Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 8352022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter comes with fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and crab balls and is accompanied by fries and choice of side. There are several types of gumbo on the menu. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available.

Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Martin Wine Cellar — 714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7350; martinwine. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. No reservations.

Lunch daily. $$ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — Chef Frank Catalanotto is the namesake “nephew” who ran the kitchen at his late uncle Tony Angello’s restaurant. The CreoleItalian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana, and Mama’s Eggplant with red gravy and Romano cheese. Reservations required.

Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 885-4572; shortstoppoboysno.com — The

menu includes more than 30 po-boys along with other Louisiana staples.

Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles.

No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Frey Smoked Meat Co. — 4141 Bienville St., Suite 110, (504) 488-7427; freysmokedmeat.com — The barbecue restaurant serves pulled pork, St. Louis ribs, brisket, sausages and more. Pork belly poppers are fried cubes of pork belly tossed in pepper jelly glaze. No reservations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; juansflyingburrito.com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — The neighborhood pizza joint serves New York-style pies, plus calzones, sandwiches and salads. Signature shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onion on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows. com — The menu includes New Orleans favorites such as red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as grilled or fried seafood plates, po-boys, raw or char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

NORTHSHORE The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; thebluecrabnola.com — See Lakeview section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch Fri.Sat., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

UPTOWN Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — The menu includes fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and red beans and rice.

Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 5538 Magazine St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes grilled steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar-jack cheese, black beans, yellow rice, salsa la fonda, guacamole and sour cream.

The menu also has tacos, quesadillas, nachos and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Martin Wine Cellar — 3827 Baronne St., (504) 894-7444; martinwine.com — The deli at the wine and spirit shop serves sandwiches, salads and more. The Sena salad includes pulled roasted chicken, golden raisins, blue cheese, pecans and field greens tossed with Tobasco pepperjelly vinaigrette. No reservations.

Lunch daily. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more. Takeout available. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes a version of the traditional dish lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes.

Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required.

Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ The Mill — 1051 Annunciation St., (504) 582-9544; themillnola.com — Short ribs are braised with red wine and served with risotto. Reservations accepted.

Dinner Thu.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

WEST BANK Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Curbside pickup available. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$

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C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S A T W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M

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42 A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

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Freret Street starting at Napoleon Avenue. The music lineup includes Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Erica Falls, Hash Cabbage, The Marc Stone 3, Valerie Sassyfras and more. The street will be lined with food and craft vendors and more.

The festival is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26.

Visit freretstreetfestival.org for information.

Marc Broussard and Little Freddie King THE WEDNESDAY AT THE SQUARE FREE CONCERT SERIES CONTINUES with

singer-songwriter Marc Broussard and bluesman Little Freddie King. There’s also an art market and food and drink vendors in Lafayette Square from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 23. Visit ylcwats.com for details.

Shell-A-Bration SINCE 2014, THE COALITION TO RESTORE COASTAL LOUISIANA has been collect-

ing oyster shells from New Orleans restaurants for reuse in rebuilding oyster reefs and habitats along Louisiana’s coast. CRCL says it has collected more than 10 million pounds of shells from more than 30 restaurants. CRCL hosts Shell-ABration, a festival to raise awareness and funds for the oyster shell program, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, March 25, at Crescent Park. The night will be headlined by the Lost Bayou Ramblers and will feature local restaurants serving oysters and other dishes, beer and a silent auction. Tickets are $45 at crcl.org/ shell-a-bration.

Gates Fest POP BAND X AMBASSADORS HEADLINES GATES FEST, the one-day

music and arts festival thrown by Metairie’s Congregation Gates of Prayer synagogue. The lineup also includes Jon Cleary & The Absolutely Monster Gentlemen, Sweet Crude, John Boutte, Big Sam’s Funky Nation and more.

There also is an artist village, and a beer garden will donate proceeds to the Team Gleason Foundation.

Gates Fest opens at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, March 27, at 4000 W. Esplanade Ave., Metairie. Tickets are $54 at gatesfest.org.

Saints & Sinners HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS & NEW ORLEANS

Literary Festival, Saints & Sinners

highlights LGTBQ writers and literature in readings, panel discussions, interviews and more.

The lineup includes Jericho Brown, Robert W. Fieseler, Mary Gauthier, David Pevsner, Lisa Doral, Eric Nguyen, Greg Herren, Alicia P. Long, Frank Perez and more. The festival runs Thursday, March 24, to Sunday, March 27, with many events at the Monteleone Hotel.

Visit sasfest.org for schedule and tickets.

Chew ATLANTA PSYCH-ROCK BAND CHEW RETURNS TO NEW ORLEANS for a show

with Loudness War and Secret Cowboy at 9 p.m. Friday, March 25, at Saturn Bar. Tickets are $10 at the door. Facebook.com/ thesaturnbar.

Musicians from Marlboro THE ACCLAIMED MARLBORO MUSIC PROGRAM, BASED IN MARLBORO, VERMONT, develops young tal-

ent by providing mentoring by master musicians. This chamber music presentation features works

by Benjamin Britten and Franz Schubert. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, at Tulane University’s Dixon Hall. Find tickets via friendsofmusic.org.

Mahmoud Chouki’s New World Ensemble MOROCCAN COMPOSER, GUITARIST AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST MAHMOUD CHOUKI marks his fifth year anni-

versary in New Orleans. The New World Ensemble includes saxophonists Khris Royal and Brad Walker, pianist Oscar Rossignoli, drummer Pegro Segundo and more. There are shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at Snug Harbor. Tickets $35 at snugjazz.com.

Little Feat LITTLE FEAT IS ON TOUR CELEBRATING THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY of

its first live album, “Waiting for Columbus.” The recording included some of the band’s more popular songs, such as “Dixie Chicken,” “Spanish Moon” and “Fat Man in the Bathtub.” Amy Helm, daughter of Levon Helm, also performs.

At 8 p.m. Friday, March 25, at Saenger Theatre. Find tickets via saegnernola.com.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY FA IR GROUND S R ACE COURSE & SLOTS

Louisiana Derby RACING SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE AT THE FAIR GROUNDS RACE COURSE and Slots

on Sunday, March 27. The highlight of the weekend is the Louisiana Derby, with its $1 million purse, on Saturday, March 26. Other big races on Saturday include the Fair Grounds Oaks and New Orleans Classic. Post time is noon Saturday.

For more information, go to fairgroundsracecourse.com.

Fabulously Funny Comedy Festival MIKE EPPS HEADLINES A COMEDY BILL along with Sommore, Lavell

Crawford, Gary Owen and Tony Rock at UNO Lakefront Arena. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 25. Find tickets via arena.uno.edu.

Art in Bloom THE ANNUAL SHOW OF FLOWER AND PLANT DESIGNS inspired by works of

art features installations throughout the New Orleans Museum of Art. The expo runs Thursday, March 24, through Sunday, March 27. Visit noma.org for tickets and details.

Ministry THE INDUSTRIAL METAL BAND MINISTRY TOPS A BILL OF HEAVY ROCK STALWARTS, including Washington

sludge metalists Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24, at The Fillmore. Find tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Leif Vollebekk CANADIAN INDIE FOLK SINGER LEIF VOLLEBEKK released his first live

album in February, “New Waves (Live Recordings ’19-’21).” He’s joined by multi-instrumental Dosh at Gasa Gasa at 8 p.m.

Friday, March 25. Tickets $15 on ticketweb.com.

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MUSIC

To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com Note: Due to COVID-19, events may have certain restrictions or may be postponed; we recommend checking out a venues social media sites or call before you go for the most up to dateinformation.

TUESDAY 22 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Roots of Music Fundraiser, 7 pm DOS JEFES — Tom Hook, Wendell Brunious, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Liam Kazar and Minor Moon, 6 pm; Lee Bains and the Glory Fires with Nana Gizol, Linqua Franqa, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Kitchen Table Cafe Trio, 7 pm

WEDNESDAY 23 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm BOURREE — Miles Butler, 6 pm CAFE NEGRIL — Colin Davis and Night People, 10:30 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tin Men, 6 pm; Lespecial with Mike Dillon + Zoomts, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm; Virginia Man with Arts Fishing Club, 9 pm LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK — Marc Broussard and Little Freddie King, 5 pm MADAME VIC'S — Matt Andrews and the Sheepshead Serenaders, 8 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, 2 pm ONE EYED JACKS — Egg Drop Soup with Midriff & Secret Cowboy, 8 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Palm Court Jazz Band with Lars Edegran, 7:30 pm PORTSIDE LOUNGE — Brad Walker's New Trio, 8 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation All-Stars, 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm SANTOS — Russell Welch Swamp Moves Trio , 8 pm ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL — Arkansas Diamond Choir in Concert, 2 pm THE HARBOR CENTER — T'Monde, 7 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin' It Up with Big Sam !!, 7:30 pm THE SANDBAR — Jazzmeia Horn, 7 pm

THURSDAY 24 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Where Y'at Brass Band, 7 pm BOURREE — Thomas Andes, 5 pm CAFE NEGRIL — Sierra Green and the Soul Machine, 10 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Michael Pearce and Thomas Walker, 6 pm CARROLLTON STATION — Cast Iron Cactus, 6 pm CIVIC THEATRE — Chapo Trap House, 8 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — The Quickening, 10 pm DOS JEFES — Mark Coleman Trio, 8:30 pm

FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 12:30 pm; Doyle Cooper Trio, 2:30 pm; John Saavedra Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Soft Kill, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Dr. Mark St. Cyr Traditional Jazz Band, 7 pm MADAME VIC'S — Walter "Wolfman" Washington, 8 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Ukulele Jake, 9 pm ORPHEUM THEATER — Stravinsky's "The Firebird", 7:30 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Mark Braud and the Crescent City Joymakers with Tom Sancton, 7:30 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da Lovebirds with Robin Barnes and Pat Casey , 8 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Ron & Tina's Acoustic Jam, 5 & 7 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious, 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, 8 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Jazzmeia Horn, 8 & 10 pm ST. ANNA'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — Tanya Boutte and Friends, 7 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm

FRIDAY 25 ANTIEAU GALLERY — Hele Gillet, 6 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 8 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers, 7 pm; Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, 11 pm BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — Brass Flavor, 10 pm BOURREE — Jay Dufour, 6 pm BROTHERS THREE LOUNGE — HG Breland, 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Jamie Vessels Band, 6 pm; Glasshealer/Dana Ives/ Sympathy Wizard/Cult Wife, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — The Fish Fridays Six, 5 pm; Mark Stone Birthday Bash & CD Release with John Mooney, Marilyn Barbarin, Papa Mali, Meschiya Lake, Sunpie, Reggie Scanlan, Bryan Evans & Will Brown, 9 pm DERBES MANSION — T Marie and Bayou Juju Dance Party + Dance Lesson , 7 pm DOS JEFES — Vivaz!, 9 pm FILLMORE NEW ORLEANS — Kaleo, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Sam Friend Trio, 2:30 pm; Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — Lief Vollebekk, 9 pm GEORGE AND JOYCE WEIN JAZZ & HERITAGE CENTER — John Boutté and Family ft. special guests Tanya Boutté & Arséne DeLay, 8 pm HOUSE OF BLUES — Between the Buried and Me, 6 pm KRAZY KORNER — DayWalkers feat.

Waylon Thibodeaux, 1 pm

MADAME VIC'S — T Marie and Bayou Juju, 8 pm MANDEVILLE TRAILHEAD — B Street Benny, 6:30 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Donate Your Friends, 7:30 pm ORPHEUM THEATER — BUKU LATE: Liquid Stranger, 11 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Kevin Louis & Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Oak Avenue & Special Guest, 8 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation All-Stars feat. Mark Braud, 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — BUKU Late: TroyBoi, 11 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Mixed Nuts, 8:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Jason Marsalis, 8 & 10 pm THE HIDEAWAY DEN & ARCADE — Shawn Williams Band, 9 pm THE SAENGER THEATRE — Little Feat, 8 pm THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER RECITAL HALL — Musical Excusions - Catalyst Quartet, 7 pm THREE KEYS (ACE HOTEL) — Water Seed's Wild Nights, 9 pm TIPITINA'S — Pollo Asado Tribute To Ween feat. Marc Paradis, Mike Doussan, Michael Fouquier, Andre Bohren & Dave Pomerleau, 9 pm

SATURDAY 26 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Jordan Anderson, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, 6 pm; Soul Brass Band, 10 pm BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — The Marigny Street Brass Band, 10 pm BOURREE — Eren Demirer, 12 pm; Gordon Towell, 3 pm; Jeremy Joyce, 6 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tuba Skinny, 6 pm; Little Freddie King, 10 pm DEUTSCHES HAUS — Vince Vance 50th Anniversary Concert, 7 pm DOS JEFES — Sunpie & The Louisiana Sunspots, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; John Saavadra Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 9 pm JOY THEATER — BUKU Late: SVDDEN DEATH b2b SULLIVAN KING, Mersiv, GØ PNIK, Wander, 11 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Bad Penny Pleasuremakers, 7 pm KRAZY KORNER — DayWalkers feat.

Waylon Thibodeaux, 1 pm MADAME VIC'S — Margie Perez and Her Trio Latino, 8 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Supercalifragilisticexpialodousous Art Show, 7:30 pm ORPHEUM THEATER — BUKU LATE x Lab Group, 11 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Will Smith with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm PIROGUE’S WHISKEY BAYOU — T Marie and Bayou Juju, 8 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Shawn Williams Band, 8 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious, 2:30 & 3:45 pm; Preservation All-Stars feat.

Shannon Powell, 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — BUKU Late: Alison Wonderland, 11 pm

ROCK 'N' BOWL — The Chee Weez, 8:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Mahmoud Chouki New World Ensemble, 8 & 10 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — Partners N Crime - NOLA Block Party Experience, 9 pm TIPITINA'S — "You Need To Calm Down," A Taylor Swift Inspired Dance Party, 11 pm

SUNDAY 27 BOURREE — Jennifer Jeffers, 2 pm; Tucker Godbold, 5 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — The Sleazeball Orchestra, 6 pm; RamBull Rompers 4th Sunday Spotlight, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 5 pm; Treme Brass Band, 9 pm FAVELA CHIC — Valerie Sassyfras, 6 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Hunter Burgamy Trio, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; Marla Dixon Trio, 6 pm GASA GASA — Computer with Mangnata, Glass Bug, Sertularae, 9 pm MADAME VIC'S — Little Coquette Jazz Band, 7 pm MARIGNY BRASSERIE — The Nanci Zee Trio, 2 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Tennessee Williams Drummers and Smoke, 11 am; Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters, 7:30 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Jelani Bauman , 11 am POUR HOUSE SALOON — HG Breland, 5 pm; Jamey St Pierre with open Blues jam , 7 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation Legacy Band feat. Will Smith, 2:30, 3:45 & 5 pm; Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford, 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Junior Lacrosse & Summit Sneaky, 4:30 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL & BAR — Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band, 7 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — DarkLounge Ministries, 6 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Germaine Bazzle 90th Birthday Celebration with Larry Sieberth Trio, Herlin Riley, 8 & 10 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Shannon Powell, 7:30 pm THE MAISON RESTAURANT AND MUSIC CLUB — Tom Saunders and the Tomcats, 4 pm THE MAX — Bobby Cure and the Poppa Stoppas, 5 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Sonic Boom Music Festival ft. Bon Bon Vivant and More!, 12 pm

MONDAY 28 D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Meschiya & the Machetes, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Secret Six , 6 pm DOS JEFES — John Fohl, 8:30 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Twisty River Band, 8 pm PRESERVATION HALL — Preservation Brass , 5, 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — Sepultura - Quadra Tour, 6 pm

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F O R C O M P L E T E M U S I C L I S T I N G S A N D M O R E E V E N T S TA K I N G P L AC E I N T H E N E W O R L E A N S A R E A , V I S I T C A L E N D A R . G A M B I T W E E K LY. C O M

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New Orleans

HOME + STYLE + DESIGN

DON’T MISS THE APRIL ISSUE

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Rates begin at $150 Contact Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

44 A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T PAGE 5

building. That was the creative and passion portion of what drove us to create BUKU.” Winter Circle Productions also saw an opportunity in the New Orleans festival market for an event combining electronic music and hip-hop, Price says. “Back then you didn’t see those types of acts headlining the major festivals like you do now,” he adds.

“We were pretty early in terms of putting electronic music and rap music on the same stages, and that was something we felt just made sense.”

Winter Circle Productions in 2014 was acquired by AEG Live — one of the world’s largest concert promoters, which has partnered with Jazz Fest since 2004. Being part of the larger company helped Winter Circle and BUKU weather the last two years and be able to retain employees, Price says.

Planning a festival takes months of preparation, and the pandemic only made things more challenging when the situation could change virtually overnight. BUKU had planned Planet B, a two-night festival at Mardi Gras World, for October 22-23, 2021, but the Delta variant swept through New Orleans, and festivals were forced to cancel.

While planning BUKU’s spring return, Winter Circle “stayed in touch with the city throughout this whole process and they provided as much help and clarity as they can in a very unclear world,” Price says. “And we’re part of a larger company that had festivals going on around the country and the world, so we were certainly learning from within the company and other festival producers.”

There were challenges to producing the festival coming out of the pandemic shutdowns, Price adds, including labor shortage issues, availability of heavy equipment and trailers and other assets needed to host a festival.

“Same thing on the artist side, [with] buses, trucks and drivers and those kinds of things,” he says.

“There was a lot of information sharing within the industry and amongst teams in terms of what to expect and what challenges everybody was facing.”

After the first BUKU, Price and DiPasquale co-founded the music education program Upbeat Academy with its first director Matthew Zarba. Price says they were looking for a way to serve New Orleans and honor two friends they had recently lost, Jeff Milne and Patrick Edwards.

Upbeat focuses on teaching the

techniques, production and tools used in hip-hop, R&B, electronic dance and other popular music genres. And along with helping fund Upbeat through a portion of proceeds, BUKU has given Upbeat students chances to perform.

This year, several Upbeat alumni have been independently booked on the lineup, like Ziggmonster, BluShakurX and Odd the Artist.

Members of the glbl wrmng collective also have been associated with Upbeat over the years.

“It’s kind of like a graduation of sorts for these artists,” says Upbeat Program Director Charles Corpening. “They started out performing at Gasa Gasa at student showcases and at the BUKU showcases, and then they’re getting their feet in the fire.”

Upbeat currently works with close to 60 students in school programs across New Orleans, Corpening says. And this year, they’re piloting a program to place Upbeat students into paid internship roles with Winter Circle Productions and other festival organizers to have an opportunity to learn other parts of the music industry outside.

“There’s not a lot of minority, Black, Brown representation in these leadership roles, in the people who fill these events,” Corpening says. “They’ve been really focused on how to provide our students with meaningful opportunities in the industry, out of just artist performance. Being able to shadow event coordinators, the lawyer in the office, to get a full understanding of these events.”

This spring, New Orleanians can find Legatron Prime holding down Primetime, her regular Saturday

PHOTO PROVIDED BY L E G AT R O N P R I M E

New Orleans’ Legatron Prime performs at BUKU at 4 p.m. Saturday. night set at the Dragon’s Den, and during Where My Girls At? with DJ Jess. The party, which recently marked its second anniversary, celebrates women in music and works to advocate for women — especially Black women — DJs. “When I came in, there were very few of us,” Edgerson says. “I didn’t get the opportunity to bond with the ones who were around right then. But I felt like since I started DJing, people took a natural interest towards me, so I use that to say, ‘You see me. Well, look at her.’ ” Edgerson grew up in a musical household — in a home right around the corner from where she now lives in the 7th Ward — and just before her sophomore year at Southern University in Baton Rouge, she decided to try DJing. A friend taught her how to chop and screw tracks, and Edgerson began making her own mixes.

From there, her artistry grew, and she began performing live and hosting parties. Her latest Legatron Prime release, “PYNK Tape” is available on Soundcloud.

“The women DJs in New Orleans, they really killing it and we’ve been killing it for a long time,” Edgerson adds. “I use that to spread the love, spread the spotlight, because we can all shine together.”

Find more about Legatron Prime at linktr.ee/legatronprime. For more information about BUKU Music + Art Project and to buy single-day ($120-$130) and two-day ($239$249) general admission tickets, go to thebukuproject.com.

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Has your doctor talked to you about non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)?

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G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > M A R C H 2 2 - 2 8 > 2 0 2 2

Set in Stone

by Will Coviello FROM PLAYING SHOWS, BOOKING MUSIC EVENTS AND HOSTING HIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON SHOW, “Soul Serenade,”

on WWOZ 90.7 FM, guitarist Marc Stone knows a lot of New Orleans musicians. That comes in handy when recording an album, and it helps explain the roster of contributors on his new album, “Shining Like a Diamond.”

“I take a paint-by-numbers approach to making records,” Stone says. “You close your eyes and say, ‘Who’s going to sound right on this?’ People around here are gracious and cool and supportive. I had prior relationships with almost everyone on the record.”

On the album, Stone shines on guitar and lap steel, and he’s joined by longtime band members Keiko Komaki on keyboards and Terry Scott Jr. on drums. There also are members of Stone’s New Soul Finders — vocalist Marilyn Barbarin, longtime Radiator Reggie Scanlon and Papa Mali. Guests include George Porter Jr. and members of his trio, Leo Nocentelli, James Singleton, Mike Dillon, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Meschiya Lake and more. There’s also a contribution from percussionist Alfred “Uganda” Roberts, who died in 2020.

Many of the contributors will be at the release party Friday, March 25, at d.b.a. “Shining Like a Diamond” will be available on Bandcamp and CD. There will be another release party for the vinyl edition when it’s available in fall.

Most of the album’s eight tracks were recorded during the pandemic, with the help of a Threadhead Cultural Foundation grant in 2020.

The title song is a reworking of a tune from Stone’s 2010 album.

Stone had turned to Alizah Starr for some vocal arrangements, thinking she’d add choruses and echo the lead vocals, he says, but when he heard what she had in mind for the whole song, he decided to rework it.

The tune is still built on the original guitar riff, but he’s added new solos and built out the track.

The track “Digitized” also was previously released, as an acoustic tune about the complications of the online world. Stone takes the lead on his National Steel guitar, and Leo Nocentelli adds an energizing guitar part. Alvin “Youngblood” Hart contributes harmonica and vocals, Richard Moten plays upright bass and the song swells with vocal harmonies.

P H O T O B Y L A D Y WA L K E R

“I wanted it to have that swampy kind of feel, and with Richard Moten’s beautiful liquid sounding upright bass and that big vocal sound, something like Terry Evans, Bobby King or Benny Turner on his albums — the great blues bass player who came out of late ’50s and ’60s gospel circuit.”

Stone sometimes focuses on the blues, but stretches across genres, incorporating a blend of classic R&B, soul, gospel quartet singing and more.

Meschiya Lake sings on two tracks, and “When We Were Cheating” is a standout duet channeling soulful, retro country sounds with a dose of cello from Daniel Lelchuk of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Stone also enlisted musicians he hadn’t worked with before. He asked George Porter Jr. to play on “Love is Everything,” and he got Porter’s trio. Porter shares vocal duties and keyboardist Michael Lemmler and drummer Terrence Houston give the song a soft funk.

While putting together the album necessitated staying distant in the studio and remotely recorded contributions, the release party is a big gathering. It’s also Stone’s birthday party.

“We’re going to play tunes from the record,” Stone says. “Then I am going to turn the mic over to Sunpie and (John) Mooney and Marilyn (Barbarin) and maybe Papa Mali, and the boys from Bakey’s Brew, who do an amazing instrumental psychedelic thing — Will Brown and Bryan Evans are going to come, and we’re going to do some three-guitar madness.”

The album release party is at 10 p.m.

Friday, March 25, at d.b.a. Tickets are $10 in advance on Eventbrite.com.

Admission is $15 at the door.

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S TA G E

Saved by the belle

by Will Coviello BLANCHE DUBOIS’ OVERTURES TO A PAPER BOY DON’T GET VERY FAR, but it’s a tipoff to

what’s caused her indefinite visit to sister Stella and Stanley Kowalski’s New Orleans apartment in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

In “Desire, Desire, Desire,” Christopher Durang’s parody of Tennessee Williams’ classic, Blanche is similarly direct with a young census taker who comes knocking. She even spells it out for Stanley, who’s been chugging beer and shouting for Stella to come home.

“Yes, a woman can notice a young man’s figure sometimes,” Blanche says. “When she’s feeling desperate and wanting to escape from her dreadful life by indulging in a few moments, or a few hours, of … desire.”

The comedy features a couple of Williams’ most sexually frustrated characters and the difficult men they encounter on stage. It puts some of Williams’ poetic writing in a different light, and many characters are much more blunt about what they really want, especially Blanche and Maggie from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

“Desire, Desire, Desire” is one of three parodies that open the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans’ 2022 season. The trio also includes Durang’s “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls” and Roberto AguirreSacasa’s “Swamp Gothic.” The show opens in conjunction with the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival this week and runs March 24 through April 9 at Loyola University of New Orleans’ Lower Depths Theatre.

“Desire, Desire, Desire” is over the top and exploits characters’ most obvious obsessions. Besides Stanley’s drinking and hollering, and Blanche and Maggie’s frustrations, Big Daddy rambles around looking for peanut brittle, and the clueless census taker can’t figure out how many people live in the apartment. But the comedy also references a host of luminary playwrights, from David Mamet to Samuel Beckett. Blanche might as well be waiting for Godot.

“It’s commentary on what we consider to be high drama and high art and subverting it and showing how fine the line is between drama and melodrama,” says director Augustin Correro, who is the co-artistic director of the company. “We always try

PHOTO BY JAMES KELLE Y

to rein ourselves in and not make Tennessee Williams silly and not make David Mamet silly, or Mary Chase silly. Durang says, ‘What if we did make them silly?’ ” Beyond making fun of overwrought treatments of Williams, Durang also adds slapstick.

“For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls” is a more focused comedy that re-imagines “The Glass Menagerie.” But instead of Amanda Wingfield trying to find a suitor for her introverted daughter Laura, Amanda Wingvalley can’t wait to push her son Lawrence out of the nest, so she can enjoy her life. She’s not particularly kind or nurturing, and Lawrence is sort of prattling and pathetic. The woman Tom brings home from the warehouse could not be a worse match for Lawrence, but she’s kind. For a variety of reasons, no-one communicates particularly well, and as in the original, Amanda is vivacious and charming, though persistent.

The final piece has elements of noir and comics-style horror.

Aguirre-Sacasa is a comics artist, has written for TV, and developed the series “Riverdale.” Though one of the young people in “Swamp Gothic” is a Tulane student, the characters’ names come from DC Comics’ “Swamp Thing.” The young trio puzzle through a mystery in a story echoing the psychodrama of Williams’ “Suddenly, Last Summer.”

During the Tennessee Williams festival, the company also presents a staged reading of University of New Orleans professor Justin Maxwell’s adaptation of Williams’ erotic novel, “Moise and the World of Reason.” The reading is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at the Hotel Monteleone.

For tickets to “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls,” visit twtheatrenola.com. For information about the festival, visit tennesseewilliams.net.

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE STORYBOOK SENTIMENT

By Frank A. Longo

directed by Peter Jackson 38 Composer — Sebastian Bach 40 Hamilton/Burr confrontation 41 Era upon era 42 Turndowns 43 Stati — (America, in Italian) 44 Stage design 47 La — Tar Pits 49 Gp. opposed to leather 51 Made a habit of taking risks 54 Actress Cuthbert 57 French for “summers” 58 Bible book after Micah

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ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 2

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 Auxiliary professor 8 Nickname for baseball great Ruth 15 Cultural value system 20 High-fashion clothing 21 Knows someone at the company, say 22 Reluctant (to) 23 “Wait, my rant isn’t finished ...”

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