Honoring New Orleans Music Today

New Orleans is an extraordinary town. I unintentionally moved there a few years ago and wound up spending nine months living just outside the French Quarter. As a fan, collector and performer of roots and traditional song, I found New Orleans to be like an oasis of musical inspiration. From jazz to zydeco, the blues and country, the city eats, sleeps and breathes music. There's a rhythm that bridges the gap between the Carribbean and Appalaichia, that pervades so much of New Orleans' native music.

Walk down any street in town, and you're sure to pass by a number of musicians, whose styles and traditions are as deeply rooted as their family names. Music is an institution in New Orleans, an identity, a native language.

It was two years ago today that the city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Not the first or the last time a hurricane would rip at the city, threatening its residents and foundation. But the mere fact that there's still music on Bourbon Street is reassuring. I haven't been back since I left, but friends who have visited have returned with mixed reviews, heartbreaking photos and assessments of the damage.

One way to commemmorate this day in history, to honor the music and musicians native to New Orleans, is to donate to one of the many organizations helping the city return to its former glory. Tipitina's Foundation helps provide school kids with musical instruments, but since the hurricane has also provided office and storage space to local artists trying to maintain their livelihoods on tour. Harry Connick, Jr., and Branford Marsalis have teamed up to build a neighborhood for working musicians. You can donate or volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to help them out. The New Orleans Musician Relief Fund helps out displaced NOLA musicians. Or, if you see a band or artist from New Orleans is playing in your town, go check out their show and buy a CD.