Wonderful music

Outer

Otis Redding

            BBKing’s Blues Club is here in front of me. There is a man standing out front who is trying to get people to come inside. There is a band inside playing some great music. We have a break between classes, and the music sounds good. We decide to go in and have a drink and something small to eat. To the right of us there is a bar. Big enough to sit maybe 8-10 people. We are handed menus by the bartender. I am sitting at the very end and just feel uncomfortable. The girls that I am with decide to that we should get a table and sit, so we do. At the table I am sitting on the end facing the stage. There stand 3 gentlemen, and then a drummer. Two of the gentlemen sing. They play old school blues music and it sounds amazing. On a wall across the room there is a large cartoon painting of Otis Redding. All the walls have some form of painting or pictures. As we sit there longer more people start trickling in. Two of the ladies I am with are celebrating their birthday’s today. One is 23 and the other the dirty 30. We happen to tell the band that it is their birthday and then they call the girls up to the stage to sing happy birthday. One of the girls was handed a cow bell and the other a tambourine. They sang a few more songs after that and then took a break. We then proceeded to pay our bills and head to our next destination.

Inner

Cathedral

            Music is all around the streets. They play instruments, buckets, speakers connected to phones, and voice.  Music clubs surround the French Quarter. Frenchmen Street has a lot of good music as well. I have never experienced such a fascinating place. One of my all-time favorite experiences was sitting down by the river and two men were playing instruments. One a guitar and the other a brass instrument. I do not remember the song they played but it was definitely a familiar tune. I had not been so touched by a tune the whole time I have been here until this. Most of the musicians out here sound really good, but others do not. Some of the different clubs that I have been have had bands that are not the greatest. Most of the time the street players are better than those that do play in clubs. Another instance of touching music was on Sunday. As I walked up to the St. Louis Cathedral there was a lady in an electric wheel chair who was screaming the National Anthem. It was amazing to say the least. The only thing missing from the performance was some bag pipes. This lady could have been one to sing on TV. One who would have sang it better than the ones they do have sing it. It is so hard to stand and watch and listen to these musicians without tipping them money like they want and need. If I were to tip the musicians money, I would be broke because there are so many great musicians.