You can usually tell where you’re going by the people on your plane. Sure enough, French Creole speakers, Jazz Fest t-shirts and guitars in overhead bins signaled loud and clear: this JetBlue Airbus was headed to the Big Easy.Most of us were flying in for last month’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, including my seatmate Nicole Brown, a young singer-songwriter who’d recently moved to New Orleans, searching for a place to play. Freely, she offered a prelude: “People really honor music here. When I sing, nobody’s on their phones, planning where to go next. They’re listening.” It’s no secret that New Orleans is deeply rooted in music, a historic stomping ground for blues and jazz legends like Fats Domino, Earl King, and Buddy Guy. But today, the tough, raw, resilient energy of the music in this city, just over a decade after Hurricane Katrina, is nothing short of amazing. It seems to pour out onto every sidewalk, rattle every rooftop, and drip right down into your steaming bowl of crawfish gumbo.In short, music is the story here. BLOUIN ARTINFO went backstage with three Louisiana born and bred musicians to hear their take. We sat down with members of the band CC Adcock & the Lafayette Marquis, who performed during Jazz Fest 2016 at the Ace Hotel New Orleans’ new Three Keys concert venue. CC AdcockLead singer, songwriter from Lafayette, LouisianaOn breaking into musicI started my band in the early 90s. I was making demos, trying to get gigs as a guitar player. I got to play with the great Buckwheat Zydeco….. It was just a fantastical time. It’s great to see him here at Jazz Fest. He was my mentor.On New OrleansI keep a place in the French Quarter. I love New Orleans. This city — you can spend a lifetime here. You get inside of it, and it gets inside of you real quick.On Hurricane KatrinaThe music was the first thing to come back to the French Quarter, because it didn’t flood; it’s on higher ground. But the town was just completely turned upside down. Nothing was open. Out in Lafayette, we were taking people in. As soon as the electricity came back on in the French Quarter, which was quick because it’s on a grid, we were here making records…. After a storm, you know it’s over when you hear the birds coming back. It was like that. You’d hear a trumpet down the road, or you’d hear somebody playing drums, or you’d get a gig at a club that had a generator. After Katrina, music was the first thing to come back, and to this day it rules and runs the city.Curley TaylorSinger, accordion player, and drummer from Grand Coteau, LouisianaOn zydeco musicA generation before me started zydeco. It was a bunch of blues and jazz music played on an accordion, with a rub-board. And the guys would sing in French, because down here in Louisiana, there’s a bunch of Creole speakers. So zydeco is regional, Creole music. As times are changing, with a younger generation coming in, we’re starting to incorporate more R&B music and even hip-hop into it. But it’s still played with an accordion, and a rub-board.On inspirationJames Brown is my inspiration, and I’ll tell you why. My uncle played based guitar with Clifton Chenier, the father of Zydeco music. Well, we were riding in his car one night — I was about 11 years old — and a James Brown song came on, and I was singing. He said, “Is that you? Did you know you could sing?” And that’s when the light turned on, and I thought, “I might be able to be a singer after all!” I’ve listened to James Brown ever since.On styleFor me, zydeco and blues is always gonna come out. I hope people around the world will just accept it. If you sound regional, people want to put you in a box. But even if you don’t like zydeco, after you hear my band, I want you to say, “Something about that band made me like it.” I’m trying to make music that’s actually going to break those borders.Jason BurnsUpright base player from Minden, LouisianaOn New OrleansThe city’s changed a lot since Katrina. They’re resilient people down here — you can’t keep ’em down. They bounce back. It’s always cool to play here because of that.On styleOur band is more on the rock side of blues, with some zydeco thrown in. New Orleans has its whole jazzy thing. But I’ve always loved zydeco, because it’s country. Some bands move it forward; some preserve its traditional sounds. I think we’re moving it forward.In New Orleans, labeling music with rigid definitions is a fruitless exercise. It takes on a life of its own, and that’s a great thing. To truly take part, just listen. Click on the video above featuring CC Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis to get started.
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