By Greg Dardagan
New Orleans - Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo… that’s the opening line of the chorus of the American country song, Jambalaya.
During my days as a struggling full-time musician in the late 1960s, it was a number we played often because it was lively, simple – only two chords – and was ideal to use for jamming (improvising on a theme of sorts) late in the evenings or early mornings when audiences often dwindled to a few boozy hangers-on.
It never entered my mind to explore what the lyrics were all about. We just played the song.
Three days in New Orleans gobbling up music enlightened me. Jambalaya is a native Cajun dish of seafood and meat stewed with tomatoes and rice, while fillet gumbo is a spice used to thicken gumbo, a soup-like stew or fricassee using browned flour in oil as a base.
It took me a lifetime to find that out and sample both dishes. The jambalaya was good but gumbo… well, let’s just say it’s an acquired taste.
My wife Colleen and I were on the final leg of our American music exploration tour which had already taken in New York, Memphis and Nashville.
Now we were in the Big Easy or Crescent City as New Orleans is sometimes called because the original town, the Vieux Carr – now known as the French Quarter – was built at a sharp bend in the Mississippi River.
It was Halloween weekend. The place was packed and the party in the French Quarter on the Friday night was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it before and probably never will again.
There was action and attractions galore, but the core of festivities was in the renowned Bourbon Street. Revellers were dancing in the streets and music was everywhere – some of the bands on the pavements were better, I thought, than those playing in the pubs and clubs.
Booze was flowing freely, lascivious-looking women and men were outside dives tempting passers-by in, weirdos abounded, street performers were doing their thing for appreciative onlookers and generally there was an atmosphere of anything goes. Ghoulish Halloween costumes and decorations on buildings added to the rave-on atmosphere.
It was one helluva experience but somewhat over the top for us at times; nevertheless we danced, sang and people watched till early in the morn. I had my jambalaya and gumbo while my vegetarian wife struggled to find a sufficient dish without fish or meat in it.
And just to add to the jol, two weddings spilled out into the streets with the brides and grooms boogieing their way Dixie style, umbrellas in hand, through the masses with a uniformed brass band in tow blowing out rich ragtime sounds.
When we awoke late the next morning, the party hadn’t stopped – folks were still swinging, singing and swigging.
Krewe of Boo, billed as a “spooktacular” Halloween parade, was taking place through the streets that evening and crowds swelled even further with the arrival of fans for a gridiron football game between local heroes, New Orleans Saints, and underdogs, the Buffalo Bills.
Excitement reached fever pitch after the Saints won and their jubilant supporters, bottles in hand, poured back into the French district determined to rave the weekend away.
We were in New Orleans in the state of Louisiana for three days with a full agenda. The train journey from our previous stopover in Memphis, Tennessee, had been an exciting yet relaxing experience with the 600km journey taking from 7am to around 3.30pm. The double-storey coaches were spacious and comfortable plus there were observation coaches on the train allowing excellent views of the surrounding countryside and a dining car offering full breakfast and lunch.
We joined a hop-on hop-off double decker bus tour in New Orleans to check the lie of the land. The ride costing $29 (R290) went through the historic French Quarter, the World War II Museum, the Garden district, the Mardi Gras factory, swanky St Charles Avenue and alongside the Mississippi River, among other sites. The ticket is valid for a full day or there’s a $39 option valid for seven days.
There was still evidence of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina which devastated the city over eight years ago, the levies unable to hold back the water. The tour guide told us the population of New Orleans had reduced dramatically after the storm because of residents packing up and leaving, fearing another similar catastrophe in the future.
A highlight was a jazz cruise up the Mississippi River aboard the Natchez steamboat. We enjoyed the sights of New Orleans from the upper deck before going inside for a Creole buffet lunch, later settling down in the lounge to listen to the Steamboat Stompers quartet playing old-time swing and jazz numbers. People danced and sang… more great fun.
On our second night we pushed and shoved our way through the Mardi Gras throngs to Preservation Hall and enjoyed three hours of quality jazz while silently sucking on bourbons and crushed ice.
Our final day was taken up by an alfresco breakfast listening to jazz, shopping in Magazine Street including a sidewalk café lunch featuring more jazz and, in the evening, exploring Frenchmen Street with its multitude of live music venues. The place we finally decided on was fully booked and only had seats for the 11.30pm session so we ventured further discovering a venue with an18-piece band.
We had an absolute ball as the brass heavy group – most of them reading from sheet music – gave a performance that lived with me long after we left. Yet another night of fun carried on until the early hours.
Shopping experiences during the day were fun but it was disappointing that so much of the stuff is made in China – even souvenirs.
When the Halloween parties were over it was coincidentally also time for us to go and we flew out of Louis Armstrong International, crammed into the back seats of an uncomfortable Delta Air Lines flight to New York.
But good times were in store for us. We were able to enjoy the splendid facilities of the British Airways Galleries lounge at JFK International as well as all the onboard comforts in Club World (business class), including the oh-so-comfortable seat/beds, top class chow and fine wines on the trans-Atlantic flight to London.
There was a 10-hour stopover at Heathrow and I hoped to persuade British border officials to allow us to visit London for the day on the strength of our USA visas but no luck there. However, the time flew by as we relaxed in the BA lounge and later enjoyed more special comforts on the flight back to South Africa.
Our magical musical tour was over, but the sounds were still ringing in our ears with thewords of one song – It’s only rock ‘n’ roll but I like it – appropriate for me. - Sunday Tribune
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