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Apr122008
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There for Otra |
I didn’t get out to the quarter as early as I could have liked on Saturday but as there were no acts I was especially interested in until three in the afternoon it was no tragedy. The weather was cool and largely overcast, quite pleasant. Dad dropped me to the Algiers ferry landing at two in the afternoon. After getting off the boat I wandered on the riverfront for a little while and stopped to see one of the bands playing at the time. I made it to the old U.S. mint with time to spare before Otra’s performance at three. They are a local afro-cuban jazz band I have probably spoken highly of before in this log. Noticeably absent from the grout today was their regular piano player and Eric Lucero on trumpet, who may not be with the band anymore, I’m not really sure. In any case, they put on a great show as always and there were plenty of people there to see it.After Otra’s set, I took a walk down Royal Street to see what was going on there before stopping inside the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street to see what was going on there. They have a small stage set up in the “Mystick Bar.” I was interested in seeing “Opera on Tap – Featuring Some of New Orleans Best Young Emerging Singers.” I assume the performance was closely related to the New Orleans Opera Association. The performance featured five or six young opera singers taking turns singing arias and such. While I’m not a fan of this sort of music I do have an appreciation for the skill required to do it right. It was easy to appreciate their talents as it was a very small venue and no amplification equipment was used. I stayed there until their performance ended at six. After that I walked back to the Riverfront, mostly to get something to eat. I got some jambalaya and bread pudding and took a seat near the aquarium as the Soul Rebels Brass Band played. I tried with no particular success to get some pictures of them. There was a big crowd at the stage and I didn’t want any photos bad enough to fight my way in. Shortly after seven I caught a cab home from the Hilton hotel.Later that evening I spent about an hour culling the pictures I took today. I also watched some of the Tulane game which they won tonight. I also finished watching the movie Big.