Hand Crafted Films, DOCOMOMO Louisiana and the Tulane School of Architecture present: A Plea For Modernism from Evan Mather (U.S.A., 2011, 11:59 [alternate YouTube link]).
The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School served the historic New Orleans African-American neighborhood of Tremé since it opened in 1955. Celebrated worldwide for its innovative, regionally-expressive modern design – the structure had sustained moderate damage during the storms and levee breach of 2005. DOCOMOMO Louisiana (autoplaying video) advocated for its restoration via adaptive reuse (For the Roots of Music). A Plea For Modernism is narrated by actor Wendell Pierce (“The Wire”, “Treme”). [more inside]
posted by infinite intimation on Jun 19, 2011 - 6 comments

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans premieres Thursday, January 29 on PBS. Faubourg Tremé is considered the oldest black neighborhood in America, the origin of the southern civil rights movement and the birthplace of jazz. Trailer for Faubourg Tremé
posted by nola on Dec 27, 2009 - 14 comments

another beautiful guitarist from louisiana Such a wise cat he even could replace t-bone walker in a minute. Well, so he said with his enthralling voice. He was such a beautiful singer. Unique violin player. He disappeared in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. Peace.
posted by nicolin on Sep 1, 2007 - 15 comments

Louis Moreau Gottschalk - an unjustly forgotten American composer of classical music
posted by Gyan on Sep 9, 2006 - 13 comments

"Picasso of keyboard funk" - Professor Longhair would be 84 today if he were still alive. His distinctive meld of boogie woogie, blues, funk and Latin makes for piano that is quintessentially New Orleans...Tipitinas, one of the more famous local music bars, took its name from his signature song. "Fess" was a seminal influence on such musical greats as James Booker, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Art Neville, Doctor John and Marcia Ball, one of my current favorites. You can hear a few Fess samples from Crawfish Fiesta, arguably his best recording, issued just after he died in 1980. He was inducted in the R&R Hall of Fame as an early influencer in 1993. Happy birthday, Professor!
posted by madamjujujive on Dec 19, 2002 - 17 comments

festival international de louisiane - festival international is an incredibly good free, outdoor music festival held in lafayette, louisiana at the end of april. the bands are from all over the globe and generally of some french influence but not always. i make the pilgrimage back home every year, as do many of the people i know. what festival type thingys take place in your part of the world that you think are worth travelling to see? i'm just curious b/c i think this could quite possibly be one of the best overall events going on these days, but... i could be wrong.
posted by ggggarret on Apr 13, 2002 - 4 comments