This is a city of music. More so than most other cities music matters here. Music is part of the very fabric of this city. Slowly music has been coming back to this city since Katrina. First some of the small clubs opened. One of the first performers to come back to the city was Walter "Wolfman" Washington to play at the Maple Leaf. Than some of the bigger clubs opened. Tipitinas, House of Blues, Howling Wolf are all open and hosting music on a weekly basis now.
If anyone that has been reading this blog for any length of time they'll know how important music is to me. I'm one of those idealists that still believe that music can change the world. To me music can bring tears, laughter, just about any emotion that you can imagine. Music can heal the soul.
For a lot of people out there New Orleans has slipped off the nightly news. The hurricane was eight months ago. More than enough time for the city to get itself straightened out right? Things should be back to normal now. Right?
Just drive down I-10 through New Orleans East and you'll get an answer to thost questions very quickly. As many times as I've driven that section of the interstate my heart still sinks a little when I travel it. It's hard not to want to cry when you drive it, the homes are still wrecked, buildings with the roofs collapsed, store signs fallen over into a building, long sections of wooden fences just blown over...I could go on, but you get the point.
This is not something that will be corrected quickly. New Orleans may take years to get better. As much as it important to the soul of the city to continue with events like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest I believe that there is a section of people out there that see these things going on and believe that must mean New Orleans is fixed. Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest are helping to fix New Orleans, they're helping to rebuild the soul of this city, to bring a much needed feeling of normalacy to a battered citizenary.
In its own way its showing that music can change the world.
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