Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Fat Tuesday

New Orleans is one of my favorite places. I've only been there three times. Once in the Springtime for a college road trip and twice in the muggy heat of July. Each time has been a blast. No other location has the same combination of music, drinking, history, character, and spirit. But I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Maybe one of these years...

In the spirit of the day, here are some New Orleans tunes to enjoy with your chicory coffee (or Hurricanes):

Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras In New Orleans (buy album).

Louis Armstrong - Basin Street Blues (buy album).

The Wild Tchoupitoulas - Hey Hey (Indians Comin') (buy album).

Beausoleil - Zydeco Gris Gris (buy album).

Professor Longhair - Jambalaya (buy album).


Louis Armstrong - When The Saints Go Marching In (buy album).



(If you happen to be stuck in Detroit instead of New Orleans, at least you can still enjoy a delicious paczki.)

4 comments:

Yellow Dog said...

How I miss New Orleans. I grew up a couple hundred miles east and I spent a lot of time there once I hit the tender age of 14. I don't get there much anymore, but I certainly get nostalgic when I hear New Orleans jazz & Louisiana zydeco.

Just an aside: Fat Tuesday was an actual holiday for schools and most businesses when I was growing up. Good times.

Anonymous said...

Mardi gras...
Here in France school boys and school girls wear disguises for mardi gras
i've never been to New Orleans but I love its music (from Lonnie Johnson to the Neville brothers) and literature (the great James Lee Burke)
My favorite songs from or about New Orleans :
- House of the Rising Sun (Animals version)
- Jambalaya (Hank's version)
- Blueberry Hill by Antoine "Fats" Domino
- Tipitina by Profesor Longhair

Paul said...

Hey guys, thanks for checking in. There's definitely a lot of love out there for New Orleans.

(I Detroit the children wear disguises on the eve of All Saints Day and stuff themselves with fattening donuts on Fat Tuesday, making the name particularly appropriate. School only closes here if it snows...a lot.)

Ramone666 said...

I´ve only been to NoLa once and that was more than 15 years ago, but I can still taste those Po´Boy sandwiches. Not to mention the Mint Juleps. Great town.