Saturday ended with us saying goodnight to Ken, who had to walk back across the French Quarter to his hotel, and with us—Dondrea, Donna, and me—heading to our rooms at Le Richelieu Hotel. With my alarm set, I soon fell asleep and slept better despite all the noise. Saturday Night is loud in the French Quarter, though quieter here near Marigny, where the hotel stands.
Chuck Redd Vibes Quartet was at Snug Harbor off of Frenchman Street in Marigny, not the Quarter, and we had tickets for four. Before this, we had a chaotic dinner at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, but the food was excellent. I had fried oyasters with, of all things, a usual baked potato with the usual fixings. Ken had three bowls of their local flavors: Jambalaya, gumbo, and estouffée. Dondrea and Donna, still stuffed from brunch, split a burger with a baked potato. Donna and Dondrea finished first and headed out to the stage to get us our table. Ken and I followed after we finished and paid the bill.
The Quartet was excellent, and again, we are amazed to find even better-performed jazz. It is like New Orleans ups the challenge to be better for us each night. While a vibraphone is not something I would pick as a jazz instrument, Chuck Redd owned it. The band members, all assembled for this play, were excellent (I don’t remember the names), and some were well known, according to what I was told. From the crowd, a legendary drummer took over for a few songs, and he seemed to challenge the band with his playing. I saw Chuck Redd smile or nod when the drummer did something tricky to the sound and then responded on the vibraphone with some matching play, add something, and then looked at the drummer with a ‘so top that’ look. The bass player and gitar player also had their chance. It was a night of jazz challenges called and answered.
Chuck’s wife we learned was in the front row and was clapping, smiling, and call out through the show. The last song was her’s, named for her (sorry, again I forgot the name), and there was a pause, ever so slight, and there was a single clap from her seemly built into the song, and a big smile on Chuck as he then flew across his instrument and produced a melody that seemed to caress her. It was wonderful to see this and hear her laugh as he surprised her with little changes.
Before this, we found seats at The Maison, and I had some chicken wings from a basket that Ken ordered; he flew in today, and we had music and caught up. Next, we stopped by the same art show, Dondrea and I both got notebooks for only $5 (I then lost mine at Snug Harbor–setting it down somewhere and forgetting to get it). Before this, we met at the hotel as Ken walked 25 minutes from the other side, where the Hyatt is.
We went shopping before Ken arrived, and this included multiple used book stores with one overflowing and a tight squeeze between things. I picked out a few things at each and had them shipped home to Oregon. We also stopped by some mask shops and the cooking school to get a few items (again, Dondrea and Donna had that shipped home).
We then stopped by Muriel’s Jackson Square and sat for a while to enjoy some drinks from the bar and their Séance Lounge upstairs and past the ghost table. The table is set to calm the previous owner who took his life after, according to what I read, losing his home, now Muriel’s, in a poker game. While we did not see any ghosts or anything strange, we did meet quite a few folks and chatted while enjoying our drinks.
We also stopped by the marvelous New Orleans History Museum, which covered the area’s history and the Civil Rights movement in NOLA. It was a good introduction and I liked it. We met some folks who tried the voter test, a voter suppression technique before it became illegal, but they failed on the math section.
(One of my chess hero’s set)
Brunch, with its lines of food, banging of plates, and often average food, is not my usual scene. The Court of the Two Sisters is rightfully known for its brunch on Saturday and Sunday. We made no reservation, but arrived before 9, when the tourist swarm seems to hit, and got in without waiting.
I tried little bits of everything I thought was good. The food, staff, and music were terrific. The turtle soup was good, and it was only my second time having that. I was smoky and good.
Running out of time this morning…I will say I had written the blog the night before…slept in to 7ish and wrote some postcards, and then waited, then met Donna and Dondrea to head to brunch. Thanks for reading!
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