BILLIE PIERCE'S JAZZ FUNERAL
By Lee Meitzen Grue
Billie Pierce used to
sing to me
when it was hot, when
I couldn't get sleep.
She sang Algiers Hoodoo
Blues
and Nobody Knows You
When You're Down and Out.
A gold cornet curved
around those long hard blues.
Yesterday, I second-lined
her to the St. Louis cemetery
with a bunch of school
children
holding hands for Billie
dead.
The Olympia Brass Band
played
slow, beautiful,
a bright skinned man
stiff-armed a derby hat,
gimp-legged, but moving
fine for Billie dead.
There were people taking
pictures,
as if you could,
too many cars underfoot,
and in a long car, Billie
dead.
It was a long way there
and sad,
the music crying and
us crying,
children needing a bathroom
bad
so we went while the
music was down.
I never got to hear them
bringing it back happy
for Billie dead
so I'm still grieving.
- - -
The Big Easy
is exactly what the name implies:
an historic environment
of great laid-back charm and beauty,
with a timeless patina of
style and creativity, a tolerance born of ethnic diversity,
and a population noted for
its ability to withstand the ravaging of horrific disasters.
Residents of the French Quarter
of New Orleans had little recourse against the
many decades of unrelenting
disasters and ills visited upon its natural environment.
Hurricanes, floods, fires
and plagues seemed to follow each other in devastating
fashion with each one leaving
its distinctive mark on the city and the inhabitants.
Add in the oppressing, sweltering
subtropical heat and humidity and you have the recipe for misfortune.
Yet each tragedy helped
shape this 6 x13 block area into one of the most unique and colorful places
in the world.
The Vieux Carre has survived
its turbulent history and savage weather in style.
Ruled first by the French,
then by the Spanish, both architectural influences are fused into one style,
just as a chef would blend
ingredients together for a bowl of hot gumbo or spicy jambalaya.
Every door and window is
different and unique.
Intricate ironwork wraps
around doorways and balconies.
Barbed wire, rusty nails
or rows of broken bottles protect each entryway from rambunctious
partiers and locks on rusty
iron gates keep lush tropical courtyards just out of sight.
Everything looks old.
Everything IS old.
Because of the heat and humidity
(and the beauty all around them, possibly,)
everyone and everything
(including time) moves slower in New Orleans.
Sitting below sea level is
both a blessing and a curse for the Crescent City.
The Port of New Orleans
has been at the epicenter of American history
since the first French explorer
set foot on the riverbank in 1682.
The War of 1812 was fought
over it.
Louisiana was purchased
for it.
Yet, the Port of New Orleans
remains one of America's most modern and popular general cargo ports.
On the other hand, on a
perfectly dry day, the city's 22 pumping stations pump out seventeen million
gallons of water.
In addition to that, at
full strength, they can handle two inches of rain an hour; anything beyond
that produces instant flood.
Being a popular port destination
for world trade helped fuel epidemics of yellow fever, malaria, and smallpox.
Mix diseased sailors from
ships throughout the world with inadequate sewage systems, poor, stagnant
water
and the unsanitary conditions
of the area in the 18th and 19th centuries and you end up with tragedy.
The dead could not be buried
in the ground below sea level
(they would simply pop back
up to the surface with the first hard rain.)
Cemeteries (called “Cities
of the Dead”) were built above the ground to hold the remains of the dead.
Many families still own
crypts in which generations of dead occupy the same above-ground grave.
As the deceased is slid
through the entrance of a vault, the remains of the previous occupant
were pushed off down the
back shelf into a collection area inside the vault.
The extreme heat and humidity
acts like an oven to cremate the body in short order.
Score another one for the
inventiveness and efficiency of the Vieux Carre!
The oldest cemetery in New
Orleans is St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery, which was founded in 1789
and is filled with generations
that did not survive the early terrors of French Quarter life.
“[St. Louis 1] is the
mother cemetery ...
the Vieux Carré
of the dead;
as confused and closely
packed a quarter as the living metropolis...”
-Grace King, 1895
When one survives waves of
historical devastation and calamity, one deserves to party!
New Orleans is known for
many passions, but food tops the list.
Then comes drink.
Another infatuation involves
music - making it and experiencing it.
Live Jazz, blues, Dixieland,
ragtime and Cajun music creates a pulse in every bar,
club and restaurant, as
well as on every street corner.
Bourbon Street combines
all these elements into one slightly naughty strip,
but the remainder of the
Vieux Carre is more genteel.
Mardi Gras is the party
to beat all parties - a party on wheels!
The unofficial motto of ‘laissez
les bons temps rouler’,
which means let the
good times roll,
is a good indicator of what
kind of atmosphere you can expect in New Orleans.
It has also been called
by many, ‘The City That Care Forgot.’
After a couple centuries
of hell, one can understand why the Vieux Carre revels in having fun any
time it can.