About This Event:
We're celebrating "Fete National" known to English-speakers as "Bastille Day!" ...But other stuff too. ...Like "National Jello Day."
Of course, we don't need a theme or an excuse at all. Fact is, New Orleans is cautiously making it possible for us to perform publically. So, we are partnering with whomever wants to help make it happen.
For this "block-party" we will have a full band: The duo plus Kevin Louis, Matt Perrine and Stanton Moore (who lives down the street)!
Food and margaritas from Espiritu and some other surprises. Our requisite security detail will be there to keep everyone safe and ensure that attendees are respecting social-distancing and mask-wearing protocols.
Our first set of music at 6:30 will be broadcast live. We are asking a $20 donation for attendees and anyone who wants to help out.
WHEN:
Sunday, July 12, 2020
5:30-8:30pm CDT
WHERE:
NEW ORLEANS AND ONLINE
THE BLOCK PART WILL BE UPTOWN AT CHESTNUT AND 3rd STREET IN THE HISTORIC GARDEN DISTRICT
WHO:
Evan Christopher, clarinet
David Torkanowsky, piano
SPECIAL GUESTS
Kevin Louis, trumpet
Matt Perine, sousaphone
Stanton Moore, drums
Map:
TICKET INFO:
Donations to support the event are welcome and appreciated.
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![To be precise: No, I never “won” a Grammy. It’s a misunderstanding that I suppose I should correct when it appears in marketing such as this weekend's Charlotte shows.
What actually occurred? The year was 2006... [cue harp sweeps with whole-tone scale]
I was exiled in Paris after Federal Levees failed and flooded New Orleans in August, 2005. My first return home was a show with a New Orleans-based big band as their clarinet soloist. I appeared with them often through 2011, and also played alto saxophone in the ensemble. In the group at that time, there were many stellar musicians whose camaraderie I enjoyed including Edward Peterson, Derek Douget, David Pulphus and Victor Atkins.
Anyway… For a 2006 tour, the group’s leader conceived a clarinet feature for me and presented his idea in a rehearsal at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He had mapped out a chord progression for a funky minor section that went into a sort of shout-chorus in major. On a subway en route to the second rehearsal, I scrawled actual melodies for the two sections. My arrangement re-worked harmonies of his original sketch and incorporated his shout-riff with some small rhythmic improvements.
In 2009, the band recorded its debut CD in New Orleans in the cafeteria of Warren Easton High School. My clarinet feature was included, and the year the CD was released, 2010, it received the Grammy award from NARAS for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album”. Somewhere, I still have a certificate acknowledging my participation.
Did it annoy me that I wasn’t credited? Not much. The composer/arranger credit would have only been for that one song. And the arrangement, like the tune itself, was naively simple and, frankly, rather unremarkable. However… It had its place in the group's program and I was always proud to showcase the New Orleans clarinet tradition in a contemporary context. Performances included a now infamous Carnegie Hall concert in 2012, as pictured here.
[Photo credit unknown. Ashlin? And, no, I haven’t a clue what I am doing in this pic. 80's shuffle? Or perhaps I had just played the solo?]](https://www.clarinetroad.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
