MONTANA HIGH

Took my New Orleans Legacy Band to Great Falls, Montana on Saturday, September 10, for a sellout show in the historic Ozark Club. The crowd was wonderfully receptive to our traditional jazz sound, even thoughMontana is a long way from the French Quarter. The show included some readings from my memoir, Song for My Fathers, and a hard-driving musical program featuring tunes like "Original Dixieland One-Step," "Panama," "Weary Blues," "Somebody Stole My Gal," "West End Blues," and "That's a Plenty," among others, many of which are featured on our recent CD, City of a Million Dreams. (Featured in the band photo, from left to right: Richard Moten, bass; Clive Wilson, trumpet; yours truly, clarinet; Lars Edegran, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Ronell Johnson, trombone and vocal. Photo courtesy of Paul Snyder.)

After the gig, we all went out for Buffalo burgers (no kidding) and checked out a funky old nightclub, the Sip n' Dip Lounge, which features a variety of fresh fruit cocktails and a fish tank behind the bar in which two live mermaids swim underwater and wave at the patrons while blowing bubbles and performing various aquatic maneuvers. Add the seriously retro music of Piano Patty on the keyboards and you get a nightclub experience that you're not likely to encounter anywhere else on the globe.

The next day, which happened to be 9/11, we did some Montana

sightseeing with my old Harvard classmate Phil Aaberg as our guide. Phil, a world class concert pianist, played several numbers with us at the Ozark Club and, on Sunday, took us to see a Buffalo Jump (cliffs that Indians–sorry "first persons"—used to drive Buffalo off of in order to skin them and collect their meat) and a breathtaking view of the Missouri River near the site of a Lewis and Clark portage. Sunday afternoon, just before heading out to

the airport, Phil and I found time to rehearse a few numbers for the performance we have been asked to give at our 40th (sic!) class reunion in Cambridge, MA later this month. The band left Great Falls with heavy hearts and hopes to return. It was a great weekend for us and, hopefully, for the folks who turned out to hear our music.

DSK: OFF THE HOOK BUT STILL IN THE DOGHOUSE?

As I predicted some time back, Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr., on Monday dropped all charges against former IMF director and ex-French presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of raping a housekeeper at the New York Sofitel last May.

The alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, was judged an unreliable witness by Vance because she was found to have lied on numerous points ranging from her refugee status to the mysterious sums of money in her bank account to the precise circumstances surrounding the May 14 encounter in Strauss-Kahn's room.

But if Strauss-Kahn is out from under the legal cloud that has hovered over him for the past three months, he has hardly gotten off scott free: his career and reputation are ruined, his presidential hopes dashed, and let's just see what becomes of his marriage to multimillionaire former TV journalist Anne Sinclair once he gets back to France.

Sinclair footed the bills for his lawyers, luxury lodgings and $600 pasta dinners at fancy restaurants while he was obliged to remain in the U.S., but now that he is free she no longer has to pose for the cameras holding his hand and putting up a good front as a loyal and supportive wife. One can just imagine the kind of pillow talk they have had since the news first broke.

As has become evident during the course of this lamentable episode, Strauss-Kahn is a serial sex predator who has been groping and harrassing women for decades. As long as his appalling behavior remained behind closed doors, Sinclair apparently turned a blind eye to it. But now she might well start singing the old Fats Waller tune: "How Can you Face Me?"

( http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/strauss-kahn-accuser-and-lawyer-meet-with-prosecutors/?emc=na)

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

One of my all-time favorite restaurants in Paris has always been Chez Polidor, located in the Latin Quarter near the Luxemberg Gardens. I have been going there since my student days in the 1970s and have been returning ever since. The place was founded in 1828 and looks like it still has its original décor of pitted mirrors, framed prints, antique posters, high ceilings with elaborate moldings. On one wall, there are little drawers for the regulars to keep their personal napkins in. It has red and white checkerd tablecloths, long communal tables and a menu written on a big chalkboard. This is not a nouvelle cuisine or world food place; it features traditonal Parisian bistro fare—snails, beef bourguignon, onion soup, rabbit stew—at reasonable prices.

My wife always begged me not to tell any of my "foreign" friends about the place because it was a little-known treasure frequented almost exclusively by locals. Well I pretty much kept my word on that, but unfortunately Woody Allen did not. He (rightly) considered this place central casting's idea of an old-fashioned Parisian bistro and filmed a scene from his recent "Midnight in Paris" at Polidor. (This is the scene where the time-traveling American hero meets Ernest Hemingway over a bottle of red wine.) Since then, the place has gotten into all the guides, features a photo of Woody in the front window, and has been overrun by tourists. I tried to go there last night and was astounded to see a line outside consisting of whole American families in shorts and sandals, with kids no less, couples pushing baby carriages, Japanese tour groups with guidebooks in hand. I stuck my head in and heard no French being spoken. Call me a snob, elitist, misanthrope, whatever, but I won't be going back there. Thanks a lot, Woody! Oh well, I'm headed home soon anyway after a wonderful summer.

HAPPY 100th LIONEL!

New Orleans trumpeter Lionel Ferbos celebrated his 100th birthday at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe last Sunday (July 17, 2011). An incredible landmark by any measure, and another proof that jazz keeps you young. Congratulations, Lionel, and thanks for all the great music you have given us over nine decades!

STRAUSS-KAHN EXONERATED?

My Vanity Fair blog post last month on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape case examined the hypothesis that his accuser, a Guinean-born maid at the Sofitel in New York, may have been lying about the nature of their encounter.

(http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/05/strauss-kahn-predator-or-plot-victim.html)

My post also raised the question of whether the charges might be the result of a set-up arranged by DSK's political enemies. The post got a lot of attention, culling 724 "likes" and 38 comments. Most of the comments were favorable, but a few were scathing, accusing the author of being an anti-feminist, a racist and, worse of all, pro-French ("You have to live in France to believe such a thing is possible.")

I hate to say I told you so, but today's New York Times reports that the case is falling apart because the supposed victim has lied repeatedly to investivators, maintains relations with a network of criminals and drug dealers, and has mysteriously received deposits of $100,000 into her bank account. None of which proves a political plot, but all of which stinks. With even the prosecutor now concluding that his witness is not credible, the case is likely to be dropped in the next few days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/strauss-kahn-case-seen-as-in-jeopardy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

SUMMERING IN PARIS—GIGLIST SUSPENDED

No New Orleans gigs till August: we're in Paris for the summer. Planning to eat some great food, read the papers on my chaise longue [sic], stroll through the city, write a novel, practice the clarinet, and see a lot of films. That may be what I miss most about living in New Orleans: the absence of a decent movie house (except the Prytania) and the limited choice of good films. Here there are real cinemas all over the place and about 400 films on offer at any given time. The one we saw the other night was a winner: Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," a thoroughly entertaining fantasy about an incurable francophile romantic wandering through time in this magical city. Now that's a story I can identify with.

Stay tuned for more musings from Paris.

TOMMY SANCTON GIGLIST THROUGH NOVEMBER, 2011

Wednesday, October 5: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman.

Sunday, October 9: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Lars Edegran band.

Wednesday, October 12: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman.

Sunday, October 16: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Tommy Sancton's New Orleans Legacy Band

Wednesday, October 19: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman.

Sunday, October 23: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Lars Edegran's New Orleans All Stars.

Wednesday, October 26: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman.

Sunday, October 30: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Tommy Sancton's New Orleans Legacy Band.

Saturday, November 5: Norwegian Seamen's Church, Prytania Street, 2 - 6 pm. With Lars Edegran trio.

Sunday, November 6: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Lars Edegran's New Orleans All Stars.

Saturday, November 12: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street 7 - 10 pm With Lars Edegran All Stars.

Sunday, November 13: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Tommy Sancton's New Orleans Legacy Band.

Wednesday, November 16: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman.

Sunday, November 20: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Lars Edegran's New Orleans All Stars.

Sunday, November 27: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, 8 - 11 pm. With Tommy Sancton's New Orleans Legacy Band.

Wednesday, November 30: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur Street. With Lars Edegran All Stars featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman

STRAUSS-KAHN'S DISGRACE: MELTDOWN OR SETUP?

How the mighty have fallen! Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, the director of the International Monetary Fund and, until this week, front-runner in France's 2012 presidential election, now sits in a jail cell on Rikers Island, accused of attempted rape, sexual aggressions and unlawful imprisonment allegedly committed against a New York hotel maid last Saturday. This incredible, improbable scenario has thrown the French political landscape into chaos, with the unpopular incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy rubbing his hands over his suddenly improved chances, far-right leader Marine Le Pen gloating over Strauss-Kahn's "pathological" behavior, and the defendant's Socialist Party colleagues scrambling to see who will replace him as their standard bearer--all the while preaching an innocent-till-proven-guilty line. It all sounds like the plot of an international thriller. And what if it is all a fiction?

Read my commentary on this point on Vanity Fair's website:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/05/strauss-kahn-predator-or-plot-victim.html

SONG FOR MY FATHERS @ CHAT NOIR

For those of you who missed the "world premiere" at Tulane's Dixon Hall one year ago, Le Chat Noir theater is presenting a reprise of the stage show based on "Song For My Fathers." The multimedia show features readings and narration by yours truly; music by the Preservation Hall All-Stars; and projections of rare archival photos and videos depicting the legendary jazz players—George Lewis, Sweet Emma Barrett, Punch Miller and many others—who taught me about their music and their humanity nearly a half century ago. Show dates: May 13-15; 21, 22

Check the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_si5OXylZs

Online reservations on the Chat Noir site:

http://www.cabaretlechatnoir.com/index.php?id=298

"SONG" AT THE CHAT NOIR -- READY TO ROLL!

On Tuesday, Director Ron Rona ran us smoothly through a full rehearsal of our "Song For My Fathers" stage show at the Chat Noir. Those who saw the premiere at Tulane's Dixon Hall last spring should enjoy it even more in the intimate setting of this well-known cabaret theater in downtown New Orleans. The front tables practically touch the edge of the compact stage. At one point, the band weaves through the tables in a second-line parade that brings the audience right into the action. As in the original show, I am seated on a stool stage right, narrating the story of a young boy's magical apprenticeship with clarinetist George Lewis the other jazz greats at Preservation Hall. The Preservation Hall All-Stars band occupies center stage and delivers musical interludes that bring my memories to life. On a screen mounted at right of the stage, vintage videos and still pictures from the 1950s and 60s present dramatic images of the unforgettable people and places described in the narrative. One touch that I find particularly

intriguing is the young man who plays me circa 1963: journalist and clarinetist Zach Young. Watching "myself" sit in with George Lewis at the Hall for the first time is, for me, an eerie and strangely moving experience. But you have to see it for yourself. Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., May 13, 14, 15, 21, 22; 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 6 pm on Sundays.

Check Offbeat's preview: http://offbeat.com/2011/05/01/tom-sancton-meet-tom-sancton/

The Gambit's blurb: http://m.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/song-for-my-fathers/Content?oid=1726761

My interview with Susan Larson on WWNO: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wwno/news.newsmain/article/8008/0/1800984/The.Reading.Life/The.Reading.Life..5311

For tickets and reservations: http://www.cabaretlechatnoir.com/index.php?id=298