BV Entertainment Newswire April 28

Keeping Hope Alive

This weekend, the 37th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival gets underway and is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans to a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

And while artists such as Etta James, Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band, Ani DeFranco, Herbie Hancock, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., Allen Toussaint with Elvis Costello, Yolanda Adams, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Keb’ Mo’, Hugh Masekela, Lionel Richie and many others descend on New Orleans for the two weekend festival, local Gulf Coast artists are still hitting the ground, raising awareness and funds to rebuild communities.

Rapper David Banner, from Jackson, Mississippi, raised over $50,000 through his Heal the Hood foundation. The socially conscious rapper hosted a celebrity filled concert --featuring Nelly, Lil' Jon, OutKast's Big Boi, Young Jeezy and T.I.-- last September at Atlanta's Philips Arena, in the wake of Katrina.

"I make sure that it went to places where people actually got the money," Banner told Black Voices. "Even right now, I'm in the process of getting other companies to come in and help match the money and do things that are really going to affect people."

"See, the thing is that this is a billion dollar situation that is so much bigger than what musicians can actually do," he added. "But the ocean was built from a drop of rain, so it does matter, but the thing is, it's going to take a corporate push and a government's push for it to really do something that matters. This is a nine, ten year recovery situation."

World renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis and multi-talented entertainer Harry Connick, Jr., both natives of New Orleans, conceived Musicians' Village in the city's historic Upper Ninth Ward -- recognized as the first large scale building effort in the aftermath of the hurricane.

"With all the focus on relocation, not enough attention has been paid to long-term solutions," Marsalis said. "Many of the musicians in New Orleans did not have places that their families could truly call their own. The Musicians' Village will provide them with that opportunity."

The Village, which will be surrounded by 300 additional New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH)-built single-family homes, has already acquired eight acres of vacant land and will include 75 single-family homes, six elder-friendly duplexes and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, named in honor of the famed pianist, educator and father of Wynton Marsalis and Branford.

"We were concerned that the tradition of `passing it on’ was wearing thin, at least since the time of our youth," Connick said. "The lack of progress with hurricane relief, and the overwhelming amount of work to be done, left us frustrated when we looked at what was needed in New Orleans. Since music is what we know, we felt that we could be most effective by helping musicians. As we hammered out the philosophy, the Village began to take shape, with the music school as a centerpiece."

Once the homes are built, they will be made available for families, and then purchased with zero-interest financing. "Our catchphrase is 'We don’t build homes, we build communities,'" noted NOAHH Executive Director Jim Pate, "and the Musicians’ Village is among the best examples to date of what we mean. The need to revitalize neighborhoods where we build has taken on a different meaning in the wake of Katrina, and without this project it is unclear whether this particular neighborhood would have recovered."

While other musicians are still making noteworthy philanthropic gestures, a grand effort for tourism is still a clear priority for the New Orleans area. According to its website, The Jazz Fest and Foundation, Inc. is the non-profit institution that oversees the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and uses proceeds from the Festival to develop and support special projects designed to preserve and perpetuate the area’s rich music and cultural heritage.

As previously reported in Black Voices, music projects such as the jazz artists centered 'Higher Ground: Hurricane Benefit Relief Concert,’ and the hip-hop flavored 'Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now,' respectively, bring popular artists together to help raise funds via CD sales. The most recently released 'Sing Me Back Home' album features a parade of Crescent City musicians including Dr. John, Marcia Ball, members of The Neville Brothers and the unrivaled ‘Soul Queen of New Orleans’ Irma Thomas. The Leo Sacks and Ray Bardani-produced project was recorded in Austin, TX six weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

While platinum-selling New Orleans-bred rap icon Juvenile has been confirmed to perform at this year's Jazz Fest, he is the lone hip-hop personality on the bill -- even though albums by rappers such as Lil' Wayne, B.G., Banner and others continue to percolate as the new voice of the region. Juvenile, born Terius Gray, released his Atlantic Records debut 'Reality Check' March 7. According to a spokesperson, the CD has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"He's a voice and at least we have somebody," Banner said. "There have been times when nobody was. So I look at it as that Juvie is going to be one of the people that really hold it down, but we gotta make sure that we let people know that it's other people out there that could be represented also. But the fact that [he] is the one, that makes me happy."