djgriff
09-25-2008, 10:53 AM
Interesting article from the Weekly Beat quoting the Times Picayune:
Last Friday the Times-Picayune ran a piece on the North Rampart Street "Renaissance."
You know, given the current state of the economy in New Orleans-which is not so hot-I wonder how the folks with the idea that residential and "mixed use commercial" (that excludes live entertainment) will improve the North Rampart Street corridor and the sadly dilapidated and under-used Armstrong Park. There have been at least three people I know of who wanted to open live music venues on North Rampart Street. At one time, it was rumored that the famed Blue Note was looking for a location on North Rampart. I guess the fact that they wouldn't be able to obtain a live music permit kind of squashed that proposal. Chamaine Neville had investors who wanted to set her up in a club of her own on North Rampart. But they couldn't get a live music permit. The long-lamented Funky Butt was totally neglected by the building owner and had begun to deteriorate badly; so badly, in fact, that Sammie Williams and his wife Shanekah, who managed the Funky Butt, had to move out because the building was in such poor condition. When Pat Ritter tried to reopen the Funky Butt as a music venue post- Katrina, he was denied a music permit. There is something really wrong, and in the words of legendary New Orleans music producer Cosimo Matassa, "anti-historical," about not allowing music on North Rampart Street.
On the other side of the coin, there are the residents who live near North Rampart Street who don't want it to become another Bourbon Street. Totally understandable.
So what's a city to do? A city that's known as the cradle of jazz? Should the select few who live in the Quarter near Rampart-who apparently have no appreciation for the historical significance and the part that music plays in the culture of the city-have control over funding and planning for North Rampart?
Shouldn't they talk a broader view of what's good and beautiful about this city, other than their need to control their surroundings, and basically keep all those nasty musicians and music clubs and the riff- raff who listen to live music out of their domain? I mean, if you live in the French Quarter, and especially on a four-lane commercial street adjacent to an historical park and you'r worried about noise, you might want to consider moving to a place that's off the beaten track and away from the Quarter--like the suburbs? Seriously. Move away or don't get in the way of what should be on North Rampart: live jazz, live New Orleans music. I don't mean like the blaring crap that rolls out of the doors of a lot of Bourbon Street establishments. I mean JAZZ. Speaking of Bourbon Street and jazz, Fritzel's Jazz Club has reopened with new management on Bourbon Street and features real local live jazz musicians every night. Ironic that Bourbon now has another real traditional jazz venue!
Last Friday the Times-Picayune ran a piece on the North Rampart Street "Renaissance."
You know, given the current state of the economy in New Orleans-which is not so hot-I wonder how the folks with the idea that residential and "mixed use commercial" (that excludes live entertainment) will improve the North Rampart Street corridor and the sadly dilapidated and under-used Armstrong Park. There have been at least three people I know of who wanted to open live music venues on North Rampart Street. At one time, it was rumored that the famed Blue Note was looking for a location on North Rampart. I guess the fact that they wouldn't be able to obtain a live music permit kind of squashed that proposal. Chamaine Neville had investors who wanted to set her up in a club of her own on North Rampart. But they couldn't get a live music permit. The long-lamented Funky Butt was totally neglected by the building owner and had begun to deteriorate badly; so badly, in fact, that Sammie Williams and his wife Shanekah, who managed the Funky Butt, had to move out because the building was in such poor condition. When Pat Ritter tried to reopen the Funky Butt as a music venue post- Katrina, he was denied a music permit. There is something really wrong, and in the words of legendary New Orleans music producer Cosimo Matassa, "anti-historical," about not allowing music on North Rampart Street.
On the other side of the coin, there are the residents who live near North Rampart Street who don't want it to become another Bourbon Street. Totally understandable.
So what's a city to do? A city that's known as the cradle of jazz? Should the select few who live in the Quarter near Rampart-who apparently have no appreciation for the historical significance and the part that music plays in the culture of the city-have control over funding and planning for North Rampart?
Shouldn't they talk a broader view of what's good and beautiful about this city, other than their need to control their surroundings, and basically keep all those nasty musicians and music clubs and the riff- raff who listen to live music out of their domain? I mean, if you live in the French Quarter, and especially on a four-lane commercial street adjacent to an historical park and you'r worried about noise, you might want to consider moving to a place that's off the beaten track and away from the Quarter--like the suburbs? Seriously. Move away or don't get in the way of what should be on North Rampart: live jazz, live New Orleans music. I don't mean like the blaring crap that rolls out of the doors of a lot of Bourbon Street establishments. I mean JAZZ. Speaking of Bourbon Street and jazz, Fritzel's Jazz Club has reopened with new management on Bourbon Street and features real local live jazz musicians every night. Ironic that Bourbon now has another real traditional jazz venue!