A New Orleans Entertainer

I received a call today from my friend Banu Gibson, an entertainer down in New Orleans. She has a new CD out, a project that has been in the works for about six years. It's something she's done on and off, when various musicians were available. "Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers" is the theme, some songs known and some forgotten or barely remembered. It's a great disc.

As we chatted, she talked about a cruise she was on with her band (along with a lot of other jazz and Dixieland groups); she just returned and wanted to get back to me. She’s booked for the same type of cruise next October, but I’m not able to make it, nor could I make this one. It would be nice to see her in person.

She and most of her band survived the damages from the hurricane and flood in New Orleans. Most, but not all. How a musician survives a total loss of sheet music and instruments is beyond me, but I hope it’s not beyond them. People are opting out of life at a horrendous rate down there; they have lost hope. Banu and her family were ok, living just high enough above the flooding.

She put together a band a whole bunch of years ago for a one-night engagement. The New Orleans Hot Jazz has been together since then, through thick and thin – not to mention a hefty handful of compact discs. Her own spot in New Orleans has yet to come about, but that might happen some time in the future. What to name it? Maybe something like “Banu’s” would be good enough.

“Hi, y’all. The New Orleans Hot Jazz and I welcome you…”