GIG #89 - Accordionist Rides Storm in NOLA back to the Streets

GIG #89 @ Frenchmen and Decatur Streets, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
I'll Fly Away - Brumley
Down by the Riverside - Trad. Gospel
La Vie en Rose - Piaf/Gugliemi

GIG #88 - Hump the Sky

GIG #88 @ New Orleans City Park/1225 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Strange Roots Improvisations
Take Five - Desmond
Prelude II , Book I, WTC - Bach
Strange Cajun/Zydeco Improvisations

New Orleans City Park: Performance in a live oak, courtesy of arborist Rob Crawford of Gulf Coast Urban Forestry.

The Park is home to the largest collection of mature live oaks in the world, some several hundred years old. There are several traits that make the live oak unique among oaks. It is evergreen, or almost so, because the old leaves drop about the same time as the new leaves appear in the spring. Thus, the name "live" oak. It has a distinctive low spread and form, almost sculptural. It is common to see mature trees with lateral limbs that reach the ground. Many old trees have a branch spread which is twice the height of the tree.

GIG #87 - Let's Fly Down

GIG #87 @ Corner of Frenchmen and Chartres Streets, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
When the Saints Go Marching In - Trad. American Folk/Gospel/Spiritual
Cluck Old Hen - Trad. Appalachian American
Sassy Mae - Memphis Slim

GIG #86 - Whisky River

GIG #86 @ Boudin Shop and Country Store, Breaux Bridge, LA. Select repertoire:
Wa Habibi - Trad. Lebanese
Hey Good Lookin' - Williams
Strange Zydeco/Cajun Improvisations

GIG #85 - Put Away Your Umbrella

GIG #85 corner of Royal and Frenchmen Streets, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Go to the Mardi Gras - Longhair
Flambee Montalbanaise - Viseur
Strange Zydeco Improvisations

GIG #84 - Session on Royal

GIG #84 @ corner of Conti and Royal Street, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Dan Tucker - Trad. American Folk
Down by the Riverside - Trad. Gospel
Strange Zydeco/Cajun Improvisations

GIG #83 - Dressed in Red Shoes

GIG #83 @ Corner of Dumaine and Dauphine Streets, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Los Suenos - Piazzolla
I'll Fly Away - Brumley
Jeanette - Viseur
Libertango - Piazzolla

GIG #82 - The Happening Part of Bourbon

GIG #82 @ Bourbon & St Philip Street, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
I'll Fly Away - Brumley
When the Saints Go Marching In - Trad. Gospel
Prelude II Book I, WTC - Bach
Go to the Mardi Gras - Longhair

GIG #81 - Playing for Peanuts

GIG #81 @ A & M Peanut Shop, Mobile, AL. Select repertoire:
Sweet Georgia Brown - Bernie/Pinkard/Casey
Chamame Parisien - Barboza
St. James Infirmary - Trad.

GIG #80 - To Light A New Fire

GIG #80 @ Tacachale, Gainesville, FL. Select repertoire:
Strange Groove Improvisations

Jovano, Jovanke

Traditional Macedonian Folk Song Jovano, Jovanke performed at University Auditorium, University of Florida, Gainesville, March 20, 2011. GIG 365 GIG #79.
Vocal arrangement by Yulene Velasquez.
Vocalists (r to l):
Hali Hutchison
Analisse Reyes
Austin Smithson
Shara Lunon
Shanelle Woods
Yulene Velasquez

GIG #79 - Connections

GIG #79 @ University Auditorium, University of Florida, Gainesville w/vocal ensemble from the school of music. Select repertoire:
Jovano Jovanke - Traditional folk song from Macedonia region
Lulina - Ward-Bergeman

GIG #78 - Earthman

GIG #78 @ Cinema Verde Environmental Film and Arts Festival, Gainesville, FL w/vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Summertime - Gershwin
Dan Tucker - Trad.
Y Tu Que Has Hecho - Delfin

GIG #77 - "Music is Irrelevant"

GIG #77 @ The Fat Tuscan Cafe, Gainesville, FL w/ vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
When You're Smiling - Shay/Fisher/Goodwin
M-O-T-H-E-R - Morse/Johnson
You Made Me Love You - Monaco/McCarthy
Trenzinho do Caipira - Villa Lobos

GIG #76 - No Bones

GIG #76 @ Raymond's Barber Shop, Grand Bay, Alabama. Select repertoire:
Cotton Fields Back Home - Leadbelly
Last Call - Ward-Bergeman
Wham Bam- Ward-Bergeman/Seznec

GIG #75 - Haven for Lost Musicians

GIG #75 @ Jeff's Haven for Lost Musicians, Breaux Bridge, LA. Select repertoire:
Feira de Mangaio - Sivuca
Must Be Time - Ward-Bergeman
Zydeco Improvisations

GIG #74 - Yay for Beignet!

GIG #74 @ Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, Saint Martinville, LA. Select repertoire:
Last Call - Ward-Bergeman
St. James Infirmary - Traditional
Strange Loop Improvisations

GIG #73 - It All Comes to Rest Here

GIG #73 @ Old Amys Henderson Express, Henderson, LA. Select repertoire:
Flambee Montalbanaise - Viseur
Chamame Parisien - Barboza
Strange Groove Improvisations

GIG #72 - Do You Know What It Means?

GIG #72 @ Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, Saint Martinville, LA. Select repertoire:
Strange Breath Improvisations

GIG #71 - You're A Bad Man With That Thing!

GIG #71 @ corner of Royal and Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Federal - Ward-Bergeman
Mississippi Mishap - Brown/Ward-Bergeman
Prelude II, Book I, WTC - Bach
Strange Groove Improvisations

GIG #70 - The Southernmost Point

GIG #70 @ corner of Decatur and Barracks Street, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
Summertime - Gershwin
Chamame Parisien - Barboza
Strange Groove Improvisations

GIG #69 - Nothing's For Free

GIG #69 @ Katrina House/The Moonwalk, New Orleans, LA. Select repertoire:
St. James Infirmary - Trad.
Libertango - Piazzolla
Mississippi Improvisation
From Sheldon H. Laskin's New Orleans: Lament for a Royal City

David Fountain has an infectious laugh. When he smiles, the wrinkles on his 65-year-old face smile with him. A retired dock worker, he lives off a pension.
I stop to take pictures of the gaudily decorated display in Mr. Fountain’s front yard. Musical instruments, mannequins, a boat -- named, of course, Katrina -- gaily painted and decked out with beads fill the yard. Mr. Fountain is inside the house, entertaining two friends with generous helpings of whiskey. He invites me in.
The water line in Mr. Fountain’s house is at 5 feet, 5 inches. After Katrina, Mr. Fountain returned to a house reeking with mold. He slept on the roof while he gutted the house. The four modest rooms are now surprisingly clean, although, with the exception of the front room, the house has the look and feel of an unfinished basement.
But that front room. It is outfitted with Mr. Fountain’s computer, scanner and fax machine. That, plus his wireless connection and cell phone, keep him connected to the outside world. And Mr. Fountain needs to be connected now, because of the museum.
After he returned, Mr. Fountain started to comb through debris piles, looking for musical instruments, sheet music, posters of local musical celebrities and other paraphernalia of the musical legacy of his neighborhood. Over the past sixteen months, he has accumulated a roomful of exhibits; a trombone, a clarinet and a piano are the mainstays of his little museum. Mr. Fountain politely declines my offer of a contribution, although he proudly shows off the blowup of the $300 check he received from a donor who was wise enough not to offer cash.
I ask to take Mr. Fountain’s picture. He asks to have his wife included. I am puzzled. Wife? I went through the entire house; there’s no one else here. “Oh, yes.” Mr. Fountain insists. “She’s on the roof. I’ll get her.”
So I snap a few pictures outside, waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Fountain. I copy the names off the door lintel -- David and Katrina Fountain -- so I can mail them the photographs.
Mr. Fountain calls from the roof. There he is, in full Mardi Gras regalia, his arm around a gaudily attired female mannequin -- the lifelong bachelor’s wife, Katrina. Mr. Fountain laughs long and loud over what I come to learn from an article in the Harvard Crimson he proudly hands me, is a running joke he’s pulled, yet again, on an innocent rube from the North.

Harvard Crimson Article:
Meet My Wife, Katrina

GIG #68 - Get Under a Work Bench

GIG #68 @ Jackson Square, New Orleans, LA with fiddle player Joseph McGinty. Select repertoire:
Dan Tucker - American Folk Trad.
Mardi Gras Song - Cajun Trad.
Little Buds (Mugur, Mugurel) - Roma Gypsy Trad.

GIG #67 - Firehouse

GIG #67 @ South Walton Fire District Station #2, Seagrove, FL w/ vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Wham Bam - Ward-Bergeman/Seznec
Onde Estao os Tamborins - Caetano
Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee - McGhee

GIG #66 - Squeaky Wheels

GIG #66 @ The Fat Tuscan Cafe, Gainesville, FL w/ vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Y Tu Que Has Hecho - Delfin
No Buts, No Maybes - Longhair
Carreta Gui - Barboza

GIG #65 - Crossing by the Backdoor

GIG #65 @ Backdoor Cafe, Micro, North Carolina. Select repertoire:
New York State of Mind - Joel
Train Take My Pain Away - Ward-Bergeman
St. James Infirmary - Trad.

GIG #64 - The Crickets are Loud

GIG #64 @ Books Cafe, St. Luke's Chapel, Queenstown, MD. Select repertoire:
Sonatina in C, 1st Movement - Clementi
Prelude II, Book I, WTC - Bach
Precious Lord - Dorsey/Allen

GIG #63 - Dropping Off

GIG #63 @ Borders, Fairfield, CT. Select repertoire:
Libertango - Piazzolla
Flambee Montalbanaise - Viseur
Cotton Fields Back Home - Leadbelly

GIG #62 - Bringing the House Down

GIG #62 @ Concertzalen, Copenhagen, Denmark w/Alisa Weilerstein. Select repertoire:
Azul - Golijov
Trenzinho do Caipira - Villa Lobos

GIG #61 - Studenterhuset

GIG #61 @ Studenterhuset, Copenhagen, Denmark w/ Cyro Baptista and Jamey Haddad. Select repertoire:
Ama/Terezinha de Jesus - Villa Lobos/Baptista
Strange Groove Improvisations

GIG #60 - Mmmalbec

GIG #60 @ Malbeck, Copenhagen, Denmark w/ Jamey Haddad. Select repertoire:
Cherogape - Barboza
Lena - Ward-Bergeman
Feira de Mangaio - Sivuca