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

GIG #59 - The Smell of Twelve Shofars

GIG #59 @ Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Patagonia - Ward-Bergeman
Tekiyah - Golijov
Ayre - Golijov

GIG #58 - Spaceship Chandelier

GIG #58 @ Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Youth Without Youth Suite - Golijov
Agonia - Golijov
Azul - Golijov

GIG #57 - Choir Girls

GIG #57 @Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Youth Without Youth Suite - Golijov
Agonia - Golijov
Azul - Golijov

GIG #56 - Reconnecting with Joey

GIG #56 @Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Youth Without Youth Suite - Golijov
Agonia - Golijov
Azul - Golijov

GIG #55 - Temp Trax

GIG #55 @ Cine Dore, Madrid, Spain. Pre-show for screening of Francis Ford Coppola's TETRO. Select repertoire:
Cherogape - Barboza
Federal - Ward-Bergeman

GIG #54 - Two Chords and Great Energy

GIG #54 @ Hospital del Nino Jesus, Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Hey Good Lookin' - Williams
Come Back - Ward-Bergeman
Feira de Mangaio - Sivuca

GIG #53 - The Lungs of Madrid

GIG #53 @ El Retiro "The Lungs of Madrid", Madrid, Spain. Select repertoire:
Jeanette - Viseur
Federal - Ward-Bergeman
Besame Mucho - Velasquez

GIG #52 - Seven Seas

GIG #52 @ Seven Seas Restaurant, Milford, CT. Select repertoire:
The Wind Cries Mary - Hendrix
Train Take My Pain Away - Ward-Bergeman
Strange Loop Improvisations

GIG #51 - The Surreal Forest

GIG #51: John Luther Adam's Inuksuit @ Park Avenue Armory, NYC, New York.