Street Band Tuba Players...

After a brief interlude of writing about the lake, swimming and grandchildren here we are back to the giant Mardi Gras float in the room and that's the discussion of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, tubas, banjos, why anyone would go see the Eagles or music where you can't feel the clave. 

Clave, a rhythm brought to the New World by sub Saharan people who ended up on these shores even though they really did not want to be and is the Spanish word for code and that might seem like what we are using  here, a code to throw the less than hip off the trail. In fact in addition to talking code I am on a kind of trail, a shining path if you will and that's to make a photo of as many tuba players as possible.

On trips to New Orleans I think I have photographed as many as 40 tuba players in a single trip. I don't think I did quite that well this time only seeing about 20. This has turned into what looks like a life's work as I have a big facebook photo album that I post them to. As this has gone on for years now through a few computer crashes the online version of some of these photos are the only ones that exist.

Today I'll post photos of the underdogs, not the big time dudes on stage in front of hundreds or maybe thousands but the street bands that were stationed up and down the neighborhoods around the fairgrounds playing for tips. From the looks of the tip jars they were doing ok.

There may be a handsome dude on lead guitar but you know all the butts are shaking to the bass guitar. In this case the tuba causing the shaking. 

A man after my own heart. Guy was too good not to take several photos. 

Something going on here drawing a crowd and it's tuba. 

Must not be playing jazz. There's girls there. In fact there are a lot of girls at a brass band show. 

No tuba players were harmed in the taking of these photos. All bands compensated in the tip jar for non profit use of photos.