do, re, me

Only being in the city for a week showed me two things:

1.     Music is a positive thing

2.     Everyone is New Orleans love music

I loved walking down the street and hearing all kinds of music. New Orleans is known for their music and jazz is the most predominant music I heard with instruments like trumpets, trombones, saxophones, clarinet, drums, and tubas. On Frenchmen street we went into Vaso, which was a really cool jazz bar with an awesome band; I love how the venues have different bands and singers every night. We sat at the bar and listened to them for an hour or so. The band didn’t sing, it was just instruments, but the brass instruments, such as trumpets and trombones were so loud and commanding; it was probably the first time I was able to stay attentive to just an instrumental band. My favorite kind of music I heard was the street performers. I Something really interesting I noticed though was there were two different kinds of street performers; the performers in Jackson square were more put together and better musicians, in my opinion, and they were also more of the tradition New Orleans jazz type of music. The street performers that played on the outskirts of the square, or on Bourbon Street for example, during the day seemed less experienced and presented themselves in a different way. They were dressed down and seemed less professional. I wondered to myself if they were not allowed to perform close to Jackson Square or just didn’t want to. I’m thinking if I were them, I would perform right on the square because that is where the majority of the tourists spend their day and where most of the tips would come from. I preferred the tradition jazz street music to any other kind. Walking by it was loud and caught my attention immediately. The musicians seemed to be having a great time with each other and the audience, sometimes people performed alone though. Today, we went to Jackson Square for the last time and I saw a man playing the clarinet on a bench all by himself; he was very good and drawing a crowd in.

This was a band of musicians play jazz music on the street, along the French Quarter

            The city used music to celebrate everything; life and death are both considered celebrations in New Orleans and music is always playing. I noticed by walking on the streets that even people in their cars had the radio blasted listening to their favorite kind of music. Everyone in the city enjoyed dancing and singing, which are two of my favorite things so I was happy to see that. One of my favorite famous people is Harry Connick Jr. and he was born and raised in New Orleans and we got to see the club he was performing at when he was only six years old. I said in an earlier post that I really wanted to see him; I didn’t get to so that’s a little disappointing but oh well, maybe another time.

            Music is something that speaks to me. I personally love the music cranked up as loud as possible; I’m surprised I haven’t gone deaf yet. As soon as I wake up in the mornings to get ready, I put music on my Bluetooth speaker. It always puts me in a better mood and lifts my spirits. If I’m frustrated or sad I get in my car and blast the music as I take a cruise and that’s the best way to distract myself from whatever is going on in my life and bothering me. Music brings people together and the way people are so proud of New Orleans being the home of jazz music brings the entire city together; it is such a beautiful thing. We were fortunate enough to witness two different wedding parades with brass bands following the bride and groom through the streets of the city. It was so fun and exciting to see the celebration of love through traditional New Orleans style music. The city speaks through music by playing it loud enough for everyone to hear. The locals were willing to play and perform anything for us because they were so eager to spread their gift to the outside world. No other city in the world is like this one because of so many different things, but music is one of the specific differences between New Orleans and another big city. It is one big party down there, but that doesn’t mean its all booze and Bourbon Street; you can just see that the locals choose to live their lives in a positive way. We all have a choice every day: we can make it a bad or good day. The residents of New Orleans choose to bounce back after any tragedy strikes and choose to have a happy life; I loved that they were willing to pass on their positivity to us. This city speaks through everything it does and visitors can choose to listen. I listened through every opportunity I got, but the upbeat music is something that cant be ignored or unheard. It demands your attention and makes you listen, then think, and then smile. I have never really listened to or been a fan of jazz music due to my age I have never taken the chance to listen to it. I’m thankful I learned so much from the culture and music from the city; I’m going home much more knowledgeable about a lot of things, not just music, than when I arrived here. That’s another thing, the music of New Orleans is such a big deal it is almost its own category, it is a culture of its own, and I respect the fact that the locals think so highly of it. As an outsider, I realized how important music was to the city and that it has helped them through so many hardships and even today is still helping individuals through everyday life struggles, such as poverty or daily frustrations.