Donna’s Bar and Grill-New Orleans fits into the narrative of New Orleans music by its almost eighteen-year immersion as a part of the unique black cultural traditions of New Orleans. It adds a perspective to the current historical literature that is not only different in its approach but imminently personal in its delivery. When Donna’s began its journey through the jazz landscape of New Orleans in 1993, brass bands were at a low point and straight-ahead jazz in the city was almost non-existent. Black Masking Indians aka Mardi Gras Indians practiced and performed only within their neighborhoods with the exception of a few such as Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias. Charlie and I decided to document these events that happened in Donna’s Bar and Grill to keep this musical culture and its roots—as well as the missing history piece when the brass bands and Black Masking Indians of the nineties started breaking new ground and finding new audiences—from disappearing. Accompanied by photos of both musicians and patrons, our book is an historical record of brass band musicians based on traditional jazz, native to the culture of New Orleans, branching out into modern jazz and even straight ahead (bebop), as well as the “new” sound of brass hop and eventually rap.
