It is hard to believe that 3 months have passed so quickly, but I am almost done packing, and there are only two days left of shooting in New Orleans. When I first arrived here three months ago it was a different city. Different than what I remembered from my first visit almost ten years ago, and it is different now from even thirteen weeks ago. The piles of garbage and broken streetlights have almost vanished, and the city seems to be waking up again. It was eerie at first. Empty streets at night, buildings surrounded by fencing, and a quiet that you don't normally hear in a city. But now, there is more life. Where once every store had boarded windows on Canal street, now there are some open stores with freshly painted walls inside and people shopping and going about their day. The little reminders still remain though as you drive around town. They are subtle in the daytime; a crooked street light, a one way sign facing the wrong direction, or the all too common X symbol with dates and codes from the search parties. The farther you go from the downtown area and "The Quarter" the more you see, and the dirty line that crosses from building to building where the water and debris had settled often still remains. Below is a picture of a "quilted" series of photos of these markings.



Last week we filmed in St. Bernard's Parish, just down from the Ninth Ward. Being there was just as surreal as when we were in the Lower ninth, just different in that the buildings had not been moved off their foundations or crushed by flowing waters. Instead they had just all been flooded by gentler but still devastating rising flood waters. In the parking lot of our basecamp, a roller rink, was a sign advertising the upcoming band performance for a weekend in early September, still frozen in time reminding everyone about the performance that never happened. All the houses were standing in this area, but what was amazing is that they were only shells. Outside every house, in what used to be front yards, now lies a pile of musty old sheetrock and material that used to make up the inside of each house. If you look in through the open windows and doors, all you can see is the framework of the walls. The streets are busy though. People are on every block, working. Cleaning the insides of the homes, some, though very few, have even finished putting up the new walls.


The eeriest part is the drive home. When it is dark, it is a different world. As we drove home the other day, we went for miles down streets that were still dark. Block after block, house after house, frozen in time and empty. Just a few miles down the road and we were back in the city and I was reminded of the changes that are happening here. I can see the progress, though slow, making its way from the center of the city out. The most amazing thing that I have seen, however is the people. Each and every person that I have met down here has had a different story but they have all ended the same way...they are determined to rebuild, determined to survive and comeback, to thrive once again. It is an incredible energy, a vitality and pride in what is still, and will always be home for them.

And so as our time comes to an end, I want to say thank you to the city and everyone here for their energy and support, and for being a great host. My last days here were capped off with the perfect send off, the French Quarter Festival, the annual celebration of music and art in the French Quarter. I had to be at work in the afternoon, but I got up early and ventured down to Jackson Square through the side streets that had filled with local artist from around the city.


I returned to Cafe Du Monde for a coffee and some beignets and then went into the park where the bands were just starting. Every few blocks and all along the waterfront were stages with jazz bands playing, and booths with foods from just about every restaurant in town. It was yet another celebration and gathering that so greatly represents the soul of this city.


My afternoon ended in Louis Armstrong Park where I had the great opportunity to see jazz great Wynton Marsallis conducting the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Capital Region-based percussion ensemble Odadaa! in the world premiere performance of "Congo Square" an 80 min journey of music from African drums through classic and modern jazz that he co-wrote with Yacub Addy. It was a phenomenal performance and incredible to be in Congo Square watching Wynton Marsallis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra perform the piece written for New Orleans, definitely one that I will not soon forget.


Anyway, I have lost track of time, and I realize that I am rambling a bit. This will likely be my last post from New Orleans, as the next three days are going to be really busy, but I am looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone back at The Casa. Till then, see ya'll soon!

-G