Down in the Treme just me and my baby.....

Hey all!

Shelby did a great job today.  His presentation was super fun, educational, and overall well put together.  I'm so glad he played some NOLA brass bands in class.  I mean, that stuff is apart of African American history as well as American history and it's important to recognize that.  He got me thinking about this show called Treme, which I mentioned briefly in class.  It is a show about a neighborhood in New Orleans called Treme (apart of the Lafitte Projects) and the people who live there.  The main characters are Batiste, a teacher and freelance trombone player, Davis, a local musician and radio DJ, Albert, carpenter and Indian Chief.  Then there is LaDonna (ex-wife of Batiste) who owns a local bar, Toni, a lawyer, Jannette, a chef, Delmond (Albert's son) freelance trumpet player, Annie who is dealing with the murder of a friend and violin player, Sonny, a fisherman and guitar player, Terry, a cop, Creighton, a jazz enthusiast and teacher (husband to Toni), and Sofia, their teenage daughter.  This show starts off right after hurricane Katrina and follows each of the characters as they recover and try to build back their lives.  The reason I like this show is because it is deeply rooted in music.  To be honest, I sometimes find myself wondering what an episode was about, but the music is always burning!  It spends about half the time with the characters and half the time in some bar with Batiste and his band just making music.  I'm talking long sequences of these bands playing, their musical struggles, and what it is sometimes like to manage a band (in Batiste's case).  There was a particular episode with a funeral procession and it was just like the video Shelby showed today.  That's how it really goes down in NOLA and it's pretty fantastic.  Unfortunately, Treme is only offered to HBO subscribers, but you can buy the first 2 seasons on Amazon if you really wanna get into it.  Check out www.hbo.com and type Treme in the search box.  You can get a better explanation of this fantastic show there.  Check it out--it's worth a peek!


Have a good spring break!!