Craig Giesecke
Last week I had the chance to go out to Tulane to watch a showing of “Nine Lives,” the Paul Sanchez musical production of a Dan Baum book dealing with our part of the world and a particular view of how things were from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 to Katrina, 40 years later. It’s a delightful show, and here’s hoping it is successful as a would-be Broadway production in the coming year or so.
As is often the case when I go see local music (not nearly as often as I’d like), I get to thinking about how much in common our local restaurant operators have with our local musicians. We’re in a city known mainly as a food and art mecca, and we’ve produced a series of folks known worldwide for their expertise and innovation in both arenas. But while such international stars (Lagasse and Neville, Prudhomme and Armstrong, etc.) have their draws, the attraction remains the smaller venues and Who’s Next — who might be doing world-class work in some dive or tiny place.
The comparisons are endless. Food and music can both be dead-end careers and the monetary rewards, while potentially great, do not come to most. “Overnight” success is usually the result of year upon year as an unknown, barely making rent, having a series of bad relationships and often taking in too much booze and/or drugs. Success can often be by accident — a right place/right time thing that can astonish and anger co-workers who often have more talent and experience but never get their shot for whatever reason. For every shining star, there are a hundred or more burnouts.
Similarly, musicians and chefs face the choice of sticking with the “safe” route or putting themselves Out There. Some choose to make po-boys/jambalaya and play in a cover band. It’s dependable and there’s always a call in this city for those who can do them well. But the very idea of doing so makes others itch and, at some point, they have to put their own creations on stage and be willing to fail over and over until The Right Thing happens and they‘re on their way. Or not. But at least they can say they did it their way (thank you Paul Anka).
Many in both creative genres become regional stars with the occasional pop onto the national charts. Or they find a niche different from performing/cooking and find greater success as a producer/writer/food wholesaler/pitchman. Some handle the shift very well, while others never recover.
But I think the most common thing shared by real musicians and real chefs has nothing to do with bank accounts or anything else that define “success” in so many minds. It has to do with the dual focus of doing what one is driven to do and trying to improve it to one’s own satisfaction. It’s great if people like it and it’s appreciated if the bills get a little easier to pay. But, basically, we’re being paid (if we are) for something we’d be doing anyway.
Of course, the bills have to be paid and most of us who engage in either music or cooking for a living sometimes wonder if we really should have gone to law school like Mom wanted us to. I’m my own double dumbass for spending over 30 years in the high-pay world of professional journalism, only to chuck it all for an encore career in the even higher-paying world of a commercial kitchen.
But I’ve got some absolutely tremendous stories I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I can’t think of any musician or any chef who doesn’t — stories about the legends they’ve been lucky enough to work with and the jerks and shysters they’ve been unfortunate enough to get to know only too well.
It’s glorious to be where we need to be. Particularly here and particularly now.
Craig Giesecke has been a broadcaster and journalist for over 30 years, including nearly two decades at the AP and UPI covering news, sports, politics, food and travel. He has been the owner of J’anita’s for five years, serving well-reviewed upscale bar food and other dishes. Comments are encouraged and welcomed.
Art Mecca? Nobody travels to New Orleans specifically to look at the paintings… nor has anybody come to meet our writers since Williams and Capote died. At least as many people know the city for its music as for the food. I’d say many more because equating our chefs and their poorly produced cooking shows and ghost written cookbooks with out and out world class geniuses & renowned figures like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Wynton Marsalis, Pete Fountain, Dr. John, and on and on, doesn’t ring true.