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Music and entertainment in New Orleans

March 2, 2011 By


There have been many famous people from New Orleans who are in the entertainment industry, such as Louise Armstrong, John Goodman, Reese Witherspoon and Ellen DeGeneres.  There are many more, and perhaps most famously New Orleans is known for its Jazz roots.  It is considered to be the birthplace of this genre of music.  The earliest form of Jazz was called Dixieland, and this is also known as the traditional Jazz and New Orleans Jazz.


Early Jazz can be traced back to Congo Square in the city in 1835.  Every Sunday the slaves would gather in the square and play music and dance.  The type of music at this time was described as African music.  The music was born from these events and is why Jazz is associated with the expression of freedom as the slaves were for once allowed to express themselves in spite of oppression.  In 1885 the local authorities attempted to outlaw this in Congo Square, but this was short lived.  In 1890 the first Jazz bands started to form.  At this time, in the United States, ragtime music was becoming popular and a number of New Orleans musicians started to integrate their music with an up tempo beat.  Buddy Bolden is considered to be the first prominent Jazz musician and musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet all say he influenced the direction of New Orleans music.


It’s not just Jazz music that new Orleans is associated with, it is also the prominent centre of funk music and is home to early funk band the meters.  It is also considered to be the place where sludge metal was born.  The city is known for the Louisiana sound which was established by Exhorder.  They were the first band to merge doom metal and up tempo beats through thrash metal and that is how New Orleans sludge metal was founded.  New Orleans was also the birthplace of Master P who was the first mainstream rapper from the city.

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Mardi Gras

February 24, 2011 By
Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras


This annual festival occurs 47 days before Easter and can occur on any Tuesday between the 3rd February and the 9th march.  It has been celebrated since 1699 here and is celebrated in cities all over the world.  It came to North America from Paris.  This was when the French explorer, Iberville explored the Mississippi.  They set up camp 60 miles south of the present day New Orleans on the west bank of the river.  Mardi Gras was being celebrated that day in France and so the men christened the site the point du Mardi Gras.


In the early 19th century the carnival consisted of maskers on horseback and on carriages.  In 1837 there was violence at the carnival and some revellers in costume walked the first parade.  Throughout the next twenty years the press called for an end to Mardi Gras because of the violence however it was saved in 1857 by a group of six people from New Orleans. 


They improved the carnival to include a themed parade with floats, costumed maskers and they even staged a tableau ball.  Mardi Gras was so popular it even survived the prohibition of the 1920’s and the great depression of the 1930’s.  1941 saw the first women’s parade and later in 1949 Louise Armstrong rode as king of the Zulu.  The carnival even attracted royalty in the 1950’s.  in 1969 the carnival had a bit of a re-vamp and this year they presented the largest floats in carnival history and had a Hollywood celebrity ride as it king. 


By 1989 the Mardi gras would attract over 600,000 people each year and it attracts visitors and the media from around the world.  The official colours of the carnival are purple (to represent justice) green (to represent faith) and gold 9to represent power).  There is no set theme to the carnival but each parade represents and specific subject.

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Places to go in New Orleans

February 22, 2011 By


There are many amazing tourist sites to visit in New Orleans, to get a real feel for the city and its culture I have selected a few for you;

The French Quarter


This is the oldest part of the city of New Orleans.  Bourbon Street is famous in the area.  The French quarter is also known as ‘Vieux Carre’.  It has influences from both the French and the Spanish eras in the city.  This part of the city fell into bad shape by 1850 and it was eventually saved by Baroness Michaela Pontalba, the daughter of the Spanish official Almonaster.  She is responsible for the two apartment buildings which line the main square.  These buildings are still standing today and are actually the oldest apartment buildings in the United States of America.  Unfortunately though, by the end of the 19th century the area went down again and it was home to the poorest immigrants.


The most well known area of the French quarter is the entertainment sector which is home to famous hotels, bars and restaurants.  On Bourbon Street you can find many Jazz clubs such as Preservation Hall, the House of Blues.


The heart of the French quarter is Jackson square.  You will find the Saint Louis cathedral here.  If you venture down Royal Street you will come across many shops, art galleries and antique shops.  You will find the old French market on Decatur Street; this is where the Indians used to trade.  To escape the hustle and bustle you can go to Woldenberg Park, which is a large open green space.  Here you can watch the steamboats and cruise ships on the busy river.

The Garden District


Here you will find beautiful mansions and amazing magnolia trees.  These were built by the Americans when they moved to New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase.  This district of the city is only ten minutes from the French quarter.

 

Warehouse and arts district


This is where you will find the many museums, art galleries and restaurants in the city.  These are situated on Julia Street and the most famous ones are the Contemporary Arts Centre and the Le Mieux Galleries.

Audubon Institute Parks


This is considered as one of the places you must see whilst in New Orleans.  It is in uptown New Orleans and you can get access to it on the Saint Charles avenue streetcar.  There are lagoons, oak trees, golf courses and running course.  You can find Audubon insectariums on Canal Street and only a short walk away is the aquarium of the Americas on the Mississippi river.

City Park


City Park is a 1300 acre park which is situated in the heart of New Orleans.  Within the park you will find an antique carousel and miniature train.  There is also a natural bayou which runs through the park.  Within the park you can also experience the Bestoff sculpture garden, botanical gardens and one of the largest stands of oak trees in the world.  The New Orleans museum is also situated here so this is definitely a place to visit during your stay in the city.

New Orleans cemeteries


These really are considered a must see when you are visiting the city.  They are called the ‘cities of the dead’ and host fantastic architecture and tranquil tree lined streets.  In 1789 the first cemetery in the area was established to have raised tombs.  This was the St Louis cemetery.  They had to do this as the city was prone to heavy rainfall, ground burials became displaced and so they couldn’t continue with this method of burial.  November 1st is All Saints day and on this day the people of New Orleans pay special attention to their graveyards.  The relatives and friends of the dead will turn out en masse, decorating, cleaning the tombs, and paying their respects to the dead.  The city provides tours of the cemeteries.

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New Orleans Bulidings

February 9, 2011 By


Surrounded by water, New Orleans which was once a quiet small French settlement and is named after Philippe d’ Orléans, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France, well known for its French Creole architecture. North and West of the famous Mississippi River is the New Orleans Central Business District, this part of New Orleans include Lafayette Square. Most streets in the city pan out from the central point, the main streets of New Orleans are Canal Street, Poydras Street, Tulane Avenue and Loyola Ave. The division of the downtown and the uptown area is at Canal Street.


With amazing views and a beautiful culture New Orleans is famous worldwide for its architectural style. New Orleans has many different fascinating housing styles, one of them being the shotgun house; this is a small and rectangular house. Creole townhouses pack out the French Quarter, with they’re famous intricate iron balconies and huge courtyards. Plenty of different styles of mansions are spread out around New Orleans, these all beautiful buildings.


The skyline of New Orleans consists of just low and mid rise structures. World Trade Center New Orleans and Plaza tower were built on New Orleans soils and stood firm in the 1960’s. Canal Street is the holding place for most of the big builds in New Orleans but the biggest in the City was built in 1972, this is the One Shell Square which stands at 212.45m high with 51 floors.

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