the ghosts of new orleans
I have never lived in New Orleans, only visited it, so this album is dedicated more to a New Orleans of my imagination than any real place (see Italo Calvino’s takes on Venice in his novel ‘Invisible Cities’). So, if anyone says, “This isn’t remotely the New Orleans sound,” that is definitely true. It is what the sights and stories around New Orleans conjure up in me: the slavery; the mayhem; the partying in the face of profound struggle; the oppressive steam bath heat in summer; the fact that, pinched between the Pontchatrain lake and the Mississippi river, water is an essential element of the city.
Most ports are a law unto themselves – it’s something to do with their hard-scrabble lives – and New Orleans is unique in its pride, its beauty, and without doubt its throwing off the shackles during steamy summer days.
Most ports are a law unto themselves – it’s something to do with their hard-scrabble lives – and New Orleans is unique in its pride, its beauty, and without doubt its throwing off the shackles during steamy summer days.
01 Funeral march
One of the experiences that has particularly struck me about New Orleans is to observe that curious delayed step march of the funeral cortege as it navigates the streets.
My New Orleans funeral march music includes a grand piano and an organ, which might prove to be a little tricky under the circumstances, but feel free to substitute instruments at will and to taste.
My New Orleans funeral march music includes a grand piano and an organ, which might prove to be a little tricky under the circumstances, but feel free to substitute instruments at will and to taste.
02 River Demon
A song about the effects of working on the water while living on the land.
The River Demon gets you; it demands your attention.
The River Demon gets you; it demands your attention.
03 In all their summer finery
This title is a joke. While there was indeed much finery in the Quadroon and Octoroon Balls of yore, to be dressed in modern day New Orleans during the summer months is to be over-dressed.
Song on YouTube - here
04 st. charles
As many will know, St. Charles Avenue is the stately road that leads through the Garden District with all its portico-ed and veranda-ed mansions, toward the French Quarter. It also passes the very fine and much-storied Pontchartrain Hotel.
05 mary
If you try to attach the words to ‘Hail Mary, full of grace’ to this music, I think you’ll find they fit.
However, I am not attempting the serenity and beauty typically associated with ‘Ave Maria.’ For me, ‘Hail Mary’ is a prayer full of terror and despair at the grinding horrors of life and the imminence of death. It is also often recited as a punishment, several times. So my version is much darker and more ominous.
However, I am not attempting the serenity and beauty typically associated with ‘Ave Maria.’ For me, ‘Hail Mary’ is a prayer full of terror and despair at the grinding horrors of life and the imminence of death. It is also often recited as a punishment, several times. So my version is much darker and more ominous.
06 the ghosts of new orleans
Given that the population of New Orleans was heavily swelled by French slave owners and slaves fleeing the slave uprisings in the French Caribbean islands at the turn of the nineteenth century, it surely has its share of ghosts. Several of the mansions in the Lower Garden District still have their slave quarters.
And then there is the Lauralie Mansion which, like many sinister things and people, looks totally bland and harmless from the outside, while Mme. Lauralie was torturing and dismembering slaves in the basement.
And then there is the Lauralie Mansion which, like many sinister things and people, looks totally bland and harmless from the outside, while Mme. Lauralie was torturing and dismembering slaves in the basement.
07 reflections on water
Watching, and pondering upon, the flowing water of the Mississippi.
08 Lafayette No.2
Many places have been named after that famous eighteenth century French soldier, General Lafayette, and this one is a cemetery – a rather dramatic one – which is a compliment, I suppose. The bodies are buried in streets of mausoleums, and for more on this, and on much else about New Orleans, read Anne Rice’s ‘Mayfair Witches’ trilogy.
09 Let's get loaded
Yep, New Orleans is a legendary party city.
Song on YouTube - here
10 slave mansions of the mississippi
There are many fine ante-bellum mansions lining the Mississippi up-river from New Orleans.
11 lost generations
For Europeans, the ‘lost generation’ was that which fought the First World War.
But slavery saw many, many lost generations, and its effects are still all around us in the US today.
But slavery saw many, many lost generations, and its effects are still all around us in the US today.
12 A sad little story
Surely, but I’ve not worked out which one yet. The music sounds like it should accompany a sad story – not a monumentally sad story, just a little one.
13 we're witches, bitches
In tribute to Anne Rice’s writings about New Orleans (see above).
14 French Quarter
The Old Town / French Quarter of New Orleans is one of the US’ liveliest localities – although relatively quiet in November when I visited it. I am told that in the summer it rains there every day and you are pleased to get drenched. And, for all its modern-day exuberance, the quarter has a dark history (see ‘The Ghosts of New Orleans,’ above).
Instruments used during the recording of ‘The ghosts of new orleans’
BG Guitars Viper
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Shop Special
ESP Ouija (Kirk Hammett signature)
Fender Stratocaster (Mexican-built)
Gretsch Streamliner
Ibanez Gio
H. Jimenez Quinto acoustic/electric
Savannah acoustic
Washburn Lyon
Bass:
Sterling SUB
Keyboards:
Yamaha P-115
Hamzer 61-Key (terrible, terrible sampling – not a single note sounds remotely like any instrument it is supposed to be sampling, but it does have some interesting random sounds, used in ‘River Demon’ and ‘The ghosts of New Orleans.’ And it cost me $25 in a consignment store in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.)
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Shop Special
ESP Ouija (Kirk Hammett signature)
Fender Stratocaster (Mexican-built)
Gretsch Streamliner
Ibanez Gio
H. Jimenez Quinto acoustic/electric
Savannah acoustic
Washburn Lyon
Bass:
Sterling SUB
Keyboards:
Yamaha P-115
Hamzer 61-Key (terrible, terrible sampling – not a single note sounds remotely like any instrument it is supposed to be sampling, but it does have some interesting random sounds, used in ‘River Demon’ and ‘The ghosts of New Orleans.’ And it cost me $25 in a consignment store in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.)