historic preservation

Endangered places: As the Buddy Bolden house continues to deteriorate, PJ Morton ‘has a plan for it’

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Graffiti is scrawled across the side of the Central City shotgun that was once the home of jazz legend Buddy Bolden, and siding that received a fresh coat of paint a few years ago has begun falling off. In front of the house at 2309-11 First Street, near Simon Bolivar Avenue, trash has been piling up around the abandoned remains of past roadwork. Like many plans, those for the home of the musical innovator have been frozen in time for the past two years as Covid-19 disrupted every aspect of life here and abroad. But now that the coronavirus numbers are declining and people are starting to awaken from their forced slumber, questions have arisen about what exactly is going on in the 2300 block of First Street and when might work may be proceeding with the rehabilitation of Bolden’s former residence at 2309 First St. 

No apparent progress has been made since the house appeared on the Louisiana Landmarks Society’s list of New Orleans Nine Most Endangered Sites for the second time in November 2020. The society said that, despite celebrated restoration plans, the building owned by the Greater St.

Ursuline Academy announces Fall Festival with lawn concert on Nov. 14 (sponsored)

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The concert on the lawn at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans will feature three performances: The Hundreds Brass Band — The Original Pinettes — Charmaine Neville. Here in New Orleans, festivals play an essential role in celebrating our unique culture. After a year of virtual concerts and drive-by events, fall 2021 is finally gearing up for the return of live gatherings. 

Ursuline Academy is joining in the revelry with a Fall Festival on State Street featuring music, food and fun. Ursuline will kick off its inaugural Fall Festival on Sunday, Nov. 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. with a musical celebration featuring live performances from three of New Orleans’ most beloved bands.

fundraisers

NOLA Vet Fest on Saturday features James Andrews and John Papa Gros

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The New Orleans Veterans of Foreign Wars is hosting NOLA Vet Fest, a block party fundraiser, Saturday (Oct. 23) to support its services for veterans and their families. The event will take place on Lyons Street between Annunciation and Tchoupitoulas from 1 until 6 p.m.

Tickets are $20 and include beer from Urban South Brewery and music from celebrated artists John Papa Gros and New Orleans’ favorite trumpeter James Andrews. Food from Taco Loceaux, Hanson’s Sno-Bliz and Zee’s Pizzeria will be for sale, with restaurants donating their proceeds to the VFW. The VA’s Mobile Vet Center will be onsite with free Covid and flu vaccinations.

Halloween

Punny skeleton krewe is back on St. Charles Avenue

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The Skeleton House at 6000 St. Charles Avenue, at State Street, has become a fixture on the New Orleans Halloween scene. In the front yard – and spilling over onto the sidewalk and up into the trees — are more than 100 skeletons wearing costumes with wonderfully punny labels. The plays on words satirize politicians (Darth Vitter, Bobby Dwindle), celebrities (Dead Astaire, Marrow-Lyn Monroe), well-known local personalities (Scarry Connick Jr., Morris Bat) and these days, the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gov. John Bel Edwards are a duo.

arts, books and music

They’re back: The dancing denizens of Ghost Manor to haunt Magazine Street again

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Ghost Manor, the animated light show that allows ghosts, ghouls, witches, skeletons and zombies to show off their dancing skills, is back for a limited engagement this year at 2502 Magazine St. The animated display took a break last year due to Covid and was scheduled for another break this year, but owner David Gentry decided to set the ghosts free for their annual romp. “The ghoulish denizens of Ghost Manor are taking over once again,” a statement on Facebook reads. “Although the human inhabitants are still dealing with significant damage from Hurricane Ida, the ghosts and ghouls were not content to remain silent this year. We tried.

music

Tipitina’s expansion moves forward with City Council approval

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It’s been a tough slog for the city’s live-music industry since the pandemic hit, but one classic Uptown venue is looking to the future with plans to expand. Tipitina’s music club received approval from the City Council on Thursday to open a new club next door. The new venue will be a café and restaurant by day and a bar with live music at night. “With Covid and all that has been shut down, this is an exciting thing to watch, that Tipitina’s is actually expanding,” said District B Councilman Jay H. Banks. “Anything we can do to let our culture bearers, the backbone of our economy, to have more opportunities to work, is a good thing.”

music

NOLAxNOLA brings live local music to Uptown venues

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A citywide event known as NOLAxNOLA (in a nod to SXSW music and film festivals in Austin, Texas) opens Thursday (Oct. 7). To help fill in the void created by the cancellation of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, it is presenting 251 concerts — maybe more, check this link — around town during the 10 days that would have been filled with Jazz Fest and performances galore in clubs and other venues. Of the more than two dozen local venues, five are located Uptown. Gasa Gasa, the Maple Leaf, NOLA Brewery, Rock ‘n’ Bowl and Tipitina’s will hold a combined 29 shows over the 10 days.

business

Tipitina’s to open coffee shop and bar with live music next door on Tchoupitoulas

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Legendary local music venue Tipitina’s plans to expand by opening up a coffee shop next door that will also serve as a bar and live entertainment venue at night. 

The City Planning Commission approved the plans in a unanimous vote on Tuesday (July 27), with the provision that all music must be indoors with windows and doors closed. The coffee shop will be on 4331 Tchoupitoulas St., in a building previously used as a commercial short-term rental space known as Tchoup House. The venue has a rear patio and upstairs deck. 

In comparison to the bopping music club next door, the new entertainment venue will be low-key, focusing more on piano and acoustic performances. 

“The live music that we are envisioning would be akin to a piano bar: small scale, a piano man, or perhaps a jazz or funk trio,” according to a project description the club submitted. “An intimate vibe, nowhere on the level of size or production that the artists who play inside Tipitina’s require.” This expansion represents a hopeful new chapter for Tipitina’s, which like all music venues has struggled mightily to survive the pandemic.

‘A Century on Harmony Street’ to honor the Kohlmaier cabinet makers in the Irish Channel

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Furniture maker Ruppert Kohlmaier Jr. was just 6 years old when he started working in his father’s shop on Harmony Street in the Irish Channel. Almost 80 years later, he still works there every single day. His long career has been blessed, he said, by having a legion of New Orleanians as clients, whom he considers to be his extended family. Select pieces from his clients’ collections will be on view at the Louisiana State Museum’s Cabildo beginning Nov. 4 in the exhibition “A Century on Harmony Street: The Kohlmaier Cabinet Makers of New Orleans.” Curated by gallery owner Cybèle Gontar, the retrospective honors both father and son Kohlmaier and will be accompanied by a catalog.