see the whole thing at: Y! Music

1. U2’s The Edge with Dave Matthews Band at the Fairgrounds

I was at the Blues tent watching the inimitable Etta James wrap up her sassy, soulful set, and made it over to the main stage just in time to hear Dave Matthews say the magic words: “'Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a special guest here with me today, please welcome the Edge.” Seeing arguably the best rock guitarist in the world jamming with fiddle master Boyd Tinsley was unforgettable. Sporting his 'Music Rising' shirt, the Edge played his heart out on a new tune about carrying on after disaster strikes. They jammed for at least 15 minutes, and everyone went nuts. The Edge left the stage and Dave finished out his set with an amazing cover of Buffalo Springfield's 'For What it's Worth,’ followed by his own ‘Louisiana Bayou.’

2. Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes at Carrollton Station

Seeing these seven classically-trained musicians create a blend of true New Orleans funk, rock, and jazz in a crowded bar venue is really what the New Orleans scene is all about – great music, lots of energy, unassuming dives, and dedicated fans. Melding a traditional guitar-rock sound with violin and sax, trumpet and solid drums, they started off the set by breaking into a rendition of ‘Funkytown’ and continued through with their original tunes, like the smooth ‘Sweet Chalmette.’ Based in New Orleans, the band has been on tour since Hurricane Katrina, which has clearly influenced their sound. “We got a lot of new meaning out of a lot of our songs,” Johnny Sketch, aka guitarist/vocalist Mark Paradis, said. “Songs that were written about other things suddenly became a lot more meaningful to us.”

3. Stanton Moore’s drum clinic at Tower Records

Somewhere between straight and swung eighth notes, you find the New Orleans beat. Taking onlookers through a short history of how funk and jazz drumming came to be, Galactic’s Stanton Moore told of his experiences playing with the greats and exuded passion for his inspirations, from Led Zeppelin to Count Basie.

I learned more about New Orleans music in an hour from Moore’s in-store drum clinic at Tower Records on Decatur Street than I did in five days of interviewing artists and going to shows. Moore wrapped up the set with a special treat -- his solo from ‘Angel Nemali’– brilliant.

4. Kids’ gospel choir at the fairgrounds’ Gospel Tent

Our first stop at Jazz Fest was the Gospel tent, and the first words we heard from the exuberant children’s choir leader were “Most of the people you see standing here aren't living here.” It was heartening to see the huge crowd come out to support these kids when there were so many acts going on all day at the festival. The choir leader proceeded to ask where everyone in the audience was from, and we found ourselves sitting amongst music lovers from everywhere -- Chicago, New York, Arkansas, even West Africa. There were families in the audience singing along, teenagers with dreads getting into the soulful groove, and tourists snapping their cameras, trying to capture the unstoppable rhythm.

5. Second line parade through the French Quarter with the Algiers Brass Band

Integral to my New Orleans trip was attending the wedding of two friends who met at Jazz Fest several years ago. They decided to keep the celebration planned for this year’s Jazz Fest in New Orleans even after Katrina hit. White handkerchiefs and summer dresses blew through the streets of the French Quarter as the Algiers Brass Band shepherded the wedding guests through the winding streets, following a ceremony filled with New Orleans flavor. More than 160 people came from across the country and the world to celebrate both their wedding and the magic of the city. “More than anything we wanted to contribute to the rebuilding effort, and knew that bringing people and a wedding celebration to NOLA would help, even if only a little,” Gill said.

Yesterday we dragged ourselves out of the Jazz Fest haze and took a ride out of New Orleans, through the hard-hit lower 9th ward, and out to the Mississippi border. I felt a little strange about treating the destruction as a tourist attraction, but I really felt like it was something I needed to see.

As soon as we crossed over onto Claiborne Avenue, the scene was unreal. I don't even know how to describe it - it was like a ghost town. There were blown out windows, blocks and blocks of empty houses, trash piled up everywhere, just nothingness. Most of the houses that were even semi-standing were boarded up and had spray painted messages: 'dog under house 9/6/05' -- messages of desperation, not like the ones Uptown, where there was time to write snide jokes about FEMA and Bush on the sides of those houses.  There are some pictures up on the Flickr page, to give you an idea.

When you leave the 9th, you head to the edge of St. Bernard Parish, the blue collar area where they were ordered 'shoot to kill' the alleged looters heading out of the 9th ward. Things there are in bad shape, as well, but there is a little life. We crossed over Lake Ponchatrain and through Slidell, into Mississippi and followed Route 90 through the Gulf a little ways. Over there, we just saw the remnants of small-town bridges, boats overturned on the banks of tributaries, and posters everywhere for assistance centers and ads for construction help. It was really unbelievable and I can't stress enough how glad I am that I went and saw it for myself.

The rest of the city - the best analogy I've come up with is that the French Quarter and other parts look like a book that got wet and when it dried the pages were crinkled. Readable, but not perfect. The lower 9th though, well, I get why people I've talked to down here don't think it will ever come back.

White handkerchiefs and summer dresses blew through the streets of the French Quarter last night, heralding the marriage of my friends, Gillian and Grant. Their religion is music and love, and those were present tenfold as the Algiers Brass Band shepherded the wedding guests through the Quarter, following a ceremony filled with New Orleans flavor.

More than 160 people came from across the country and the world to celebrate both their wedding and the magic of New Orleans together.

“When we started discussing the wedding, Grant and I instantly knew we wanted to be married in New Orleans,” Gill wrote to me last week. “The music, the food, the people, and the soul of New Orleans exuded the romance and spirit of how we would want to celebrate our wedding with our families and friends.”

But Katrina struck literally days after the save-the-date cards came in the mail. Last night, there was a lot of discussion about how they decided to keep the wedding here – Gill said that as late as December they still had no idea where the wedding would be.

“We, along with countless others, were horrified at the devastation, and so deeply saddened by the tragedy that unfolded. But despite the horror and the destruction, we decided to follow the situation and committed to keeping the wedding in New Orleans,” Gill said.

On a trip to the city in January, they found the charming courtyard at the Maison Dupuy in the French Quarter – dried out after the storm, and open for business.

“More than anything we wanted to contribute to the rebuilding effort, and knew that bringing people and a wedding celebration to NOLA would help, even if only a little,” she said. Everyone who spoke at the wedding last night mentioned the way a room lights up when Gill and Grant come in. Seeing the faces of onlookers as we paraded with the brass band, they have certainly added their spark when New Orleans needed it most.

I spent my morning (well, afternoon as morning) yesterday wandering around the French Quarter and Frenchmen's Street, just shopping and listening. While I've certainly started several conversations wtih travelers, fest-goers, and shop owners, nearly every time I walked into a store, someone is telling their Katrina stories. It feels a lot like Washington and New York after September 11, where everyone is just telling their stories, trying to find a way to connect, and the people who live here are trying to show that they are surviving and value the tourism and the visitors that make the Quarter more vibrant. 

And they are all so different. I heard the incense-laden shop owner tell someone that the city was 'so beautiful' the morning after the hurricane hit. I heard people talk about being stranded on the roof, about leaving aunts and uncles behind when they evacuated, about stores that have just reopened after months in limbo in Houston or Baton Rouge, and about others that never will.

Maybeth and I struck up a quick conversation in her store yesterday afternoon, in my search for my very own 'Make Levees Not War' t-shirt.  Learning quickly that New Orleans is a very small place (and only getting smaller), it turns out the shirt's designer is Geb Rault's sister, the musician we met at the Dr. John show on Friday.  Maybeth is a  self-proclaimed 'Quarter Rat,' and lived in the French Quarter through the storm. 'They'd have to drag me out of here,' she told me. We started talking about the shows we'd seen this week, and especially over the surprise Edge sightings around town, and all the big musicians' commitments to helping artists this week and since Katrina in general.

Another important stop for me yesterday was artist George Rodrigue's gallery. Famous for his 'Blue Dog' paintings, Rodrigue wrote about his experiences during Katrina for the Yahoo! Relief Workers' blog last fall. He wasn't in town this week, but I spoke with the gallery manager about Rodrigue's new works, which are pretty angry, pretty controversial. One of the ones on display has the Blue Dog looking submerged, with the American flag blurry in the background. Another has the stark words over the dog: 'To Stay Alive, We Need Levee 5.'