A moveable feast

By Jeff Roedel

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The week before the Grammys was one of firsts for Lil Wayne. Louisiana’s 26-year-old superstar rapper went bowling with Katie Couric and talked candidly about his marijuana use and absentee father with “Miss Katie” on CBS Evening News. More than promoting his mega-selling album Tha Carter III, the segment turned the attention of the nation to New Orleans for 11 minutes of network television.

Even better were the six-and-a-half dynamic minutes Wayne kicked off during the Grammy telecast when he rapped the lyrics “And if you come from under that water, then there’s fresh air/ Just breathe, baby, God’s got a blessing to spare/ Yes, I know the process is so much stress, but it’s the progress that feels the best.” Then he introduced composer Allen Toussaint, who tickled the ivories for Crescent City classic “Big Chief” and rocked with trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band as poignant New Orleans imagery flashed across STAPLES Center screens and out into 19 million homes.

Hundreds of industry insiders and musicians filled the Gold Room at the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles for Louisiana’s pre-Grammy economic development luncheon.

What a cultural coup that was for an awards show otherwise dominated by artists from England, with big winners Coldplay, Adele, Duffy, Radiohead and Robert Plant, and a crowd-pleasing performance from Paul McCartney. All that, and ours was the only place communally honored during the telecast.

Respect.

Orchestrated by Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich and Jazz Fest director Quint Davis, the segment ended with Wayne chanting “Say ‘New Orleans!’” and many in the audience following orders. In that moment the broadcast became a public centerpiece for what Louisiana Economic Development and the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism have been working for with renewed verve.

Johnny Palazzotto (left) with Jon Hornyak and Reid Wick of the Recording Academy, Paul Arrigo, and Gerald Breaux, executive director of the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission

“The exposure from that showcase was incredible, and it was no accident,” says Sherri McConnell, LED entertainment industry director. “We wanted to counter the common perception and show how strong Louisiana has been after Katrina, that it’s really been driven by creative forces.”

The day before the Grammys, LED and CRT partnered for a luncheon at the legendary Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to network with music supervisors, producers and members of the Recording Academy and promote the state as a major player in the entertainment industry.

Variety was there. Neil Young’s publicist was there. Dozens of Louisiana’s best Zydeco and jazz musicians were there.

Rick Clark, a grey-haired Ric Ocasek type from Santa Monica, was there, too. His card reads, “Music Supervisor, Producer, Music Geek.” So, what was his connection to Louisiana? “Other than loving it?” he asked. “I have some friends down there, and I co-produced a record with Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown.” That release, Los Super Seven’s Heard It on the X, is a genuine fusion of R&B and Latin border songs, and not unlike this event, Deep South meets Los Angeles.

Shreveport native and blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd with LED’s Sherri McConnell Soul Queen Irma Thomas brought the house down with her gospel gems.

It is the Rick Clarks of California who were meant to be there, eating our shrimp and oyster gumbo and our flaming bananas Foster—and listening to our music. “I wouldn’t want it to be a room full of Louisianans,” McConnell said later that evening during the Louisiana nominees’ concert at Café Fais Do Do. “That’s not the point.” The point, illustrated in a passionate luncheon speech by Terence Blanchard, was this: “New Orleans isn’t coming back,” he said. “We are back.”

Among the luncheon guests were Jon Hornyak and Reid Wick, both senior officials with the Recording Academy. Hornyak and his team are largely responsible for more than 3,000 Louisiana musicians receiving financial aid in the last three years. “Following Katrina was a very turbulent time,” Hornyak told 225 at the luncheon. “For many of the musicians, the Recording Academy was the only place to turn. And it felt good to pitch in, to get the cash flowing quickly.”

Shreveport native and blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd with LED’s Sherri McConnell

The hundreds inside the Biltmore’s Gold Room rose to their feet for stellar performances by Irma Thomas and David Egan and by The Blind Boys of Alabama with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. CRT even rolled out its new slate of “This Is My Louisiana” commercials starring Blanchard, actress Faith Ford and politico James Carville, a frequent CNN contributor. In his clip, Carville espouses the magic of Creole tomatoes and Louisiana crabmeat and jokes that if you don’t like fun, don’t come to Mardi Gras. “Everything here massages the imagination,” he says.

“When people recognize or are introduced to a Baton Rouge or Louisiana icon, that gives them a reason to want to see it for themselves and to visit,” says Paul Arrigo, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “That’s why we believe something good will come out of all of this.”

Allen Toussaint touted the virtues of New Orleans’ music and its people during the pre-Grammy luncheon.

Arrigo could be right. Just a few hours after the luncheon, Variety associate editor Phil Gallo blogged that it had celebrated “the greatness and enduring nature of the culture” and “might well be responsible for a spike in airfare sales to New Orleans out of LAX.” Meanwhile Baton Rouge Blues Foundation chief Johnny Palazzotto’s industry guests were online downloading music by Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys and Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole.

“Obviously this means income for the artists and will translate into future bookings,” Palazzotto says. “Café Fais Do Do is interested in bringing Pine Leaf Boys, Cedric Watson and Steve Riley back. That’s real economic development—creating jobs through showcasing our artists in markets they haven’t been seen or heard in yet.”

Though this event proved successful, McConnell says her office will wait to decide whether to produce a third luncheon next February. In its second year, this pre-Grammy push remains a radical approach for state officials.

Two-time Grammy-nominated Pine Leaf Boys got the luncheon off to a lively start.

“When we won our first Grammy in 1998, few people in the state looked at it in terms of economic stimulus,” says Michael Doucet, founder of BeauSoleil, the 2009 Grammy winner for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album. “It’s about time they recognized the creative power in the state. It’s weird what they are doing, because the music I play is not pop music, but it’s being taken into a commercial realm, and I love that.”

The next step after the Grammys is integrating critically acclaimed music like Doucet’s into popular feature films. Last December Pine Leaf Boys took a step in the right direction by signing with Lionsgate Records, a division of the film company.

“We are trying to brand Louisiana music and entertainment, and people in Los Angeles value our contributions to those industries,” McConnell says. “They want to come here, and that is a beautiful thing.”

Read about Louisiana’s music at the 2009 Grammys here.