23 (D-39) Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong.  That mouth.  Those eyes.  Those teeth.  Those lips.  That smile.  That voice.  That trumpet.  That sound.  Unique.  

   

   

Louis Armstrong was New Orleans' most famous son.  He had several nicknames:  Satchmo*, Pops, Dipper.  His influence on jazz music and the city of New Orleans cannot be overestimated. He was born on July 4, 1900** in New Orleans.  He grew up poor in the French Quarter, in an area called Storyville (which has its story too, but for later).  At age 11, he was sent to a boys' home (Colored Waifs' Home) because he fired a gun on New Year's Eve on the street.  He had to stay there for 18 months and during that time he learned to play the cornet.  He played for several years with his mentor and teacher Joe "King" Oliver,  and he also played his horn on the Mississippi riverboats.  He switched from the cornet to the trumpet. Everyone knows his music. 

VOA English has a nice biography, but unfortunately there is no recording, so you can only read the text and not listen this time.  But do take a look:  
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/a-23-a-2004-04-10-1-1-83122482/123341.html


But you can listen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JFiwbzplis  Mr Jazz

If you want to work very hard, to learn English like the Japanese, go to this webpage.   
http://voaeveryday.net/04das/louis-armstrong1.html   
You click on the sentence, listen and repeat!

OR more music, from the 1947 film, New Orleans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYn6tPv0Slw  "Where the Blues Were Born in New Orleans"

*Why Satchmo?

If you don't know, why don't you ask google?

** That's the date that Louis Armstrong gave as his birthday, but researchers discovered that he was in fact born on August 4, 1901.

Jane

___________________

waif = un enfant abandonné, un enfant malheureux

22 (D-40) Jazz and Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall was established in 1961 to preserve, perpetuate and protect traditional New Orleans Jazz.
Situated in the heart of the French Quarter at 726 St. Peter Street, Preservation Hall presents intimate acoustic New Orleans jazz concerts nightly, but you will need to arrive early and stand in line (queue up) to enter. The touring Preservation Hall Jazz Band presents the music of New Orleans worldwide with over 100 tour dates annually. 

http://www.preservationhalljazzband.com/

When Preservation Hall first opened in 1961, New Orleans was a racially segregated community under Jim Crow laws.  Preservation Hall was among the few venues in New Orleans that welcomed both Caucasian and African-American musicians.

You can read a few opinions concerning Preservation Hall...in French(!) here -->   
http://www.tripadvisor.fr/Attraction_Review-g60864-d106413-Reviews-Preservation_Hall-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html

"Preservation Hall.  Now that's where you'll find all of the greats." Louis Armstrong.

Louis tomorrow. 

Jane
_______________________
nightly = tous les soirs
stand in line = American English; in British English, "queue up"
worldwide = dans le monde entier
Jim Crow laws = Jim Crow laws were racial segregation state and local laws created after the Reconstruction period (after The Civil War 1861-1865) in Southern United States that continued to be enforced until 1965.   These laws mandated racial segregation in all public facilities (établissements) in Southern U.S. states (of the former Confederacy), starting in 1890 with a "separate but equal" status for African Americans.
Now =  Here "now" means "alors" or "bon"  as in " Now be good." "Bon, sois sage"  or "Alors, sois sage."

21 (D-41) Mahalia Jackson

Music and people.  You know Louis Armstrong, of course.  But first, do you know Mahalia Jackson, also from New Orleans?  She takes us to gospel music.

Born on October 26, 1911, in New Orleans, Mahalia Jackson started singing at Mount Moriah Baptist Church.   She became one of the most revered gospel figures in the U.S.  Her recording of "Move On Up a Little Higher" was a major hit and she subsequently became an international figure for music lovers.  She worked with artists like Duke Ellington and Thomas A. Dorsey and also sang at the 1963 March on Washington at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  You can see her portrayed in the new film, Selma.

She died on January 27, 1972, near Chicago. 

The Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts is a historic arts venue in the famous Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans.  The Mahalia Jackson Theater hosts a diverse variety of performance and musical events, including concerts, operas, plays, ballet and other dance shows, and Broadway shows.

You can listen and read the lyrics (words):

Choose one, choose some, choose all.  Just click on these web pages.

ENJOY!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xk2PqFDYQI  MOVE ON UP A LITTLE HIGHER

http://www.songlyrics.com/mahalia-jackson/move-on-up-a-little-higher-lyrics/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgqcADtkSwY  MOVE ON UP A LITTLE HIGHER  again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5hz5KnSdc Steal Away (to Jesus) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2vVPV_ZTQ  SUMMERTIME / MOTHERLESS CHILD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QGj2xgnN8A  A Christmas song that you know

Mahalia Jackson was to gospel as the trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong was to jazz; both legends became ambassadors of New Orleans and its rich musical heritage.

Jane 

Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel

______________________________________________________________________
figure = a person, especially a well-known one
subsequently = ensuite, par la suite
revered =  http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/revered  for translation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xImaKKUnhE  for pronunciation
request = http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/anglais-francais/request/607278  for translation and prononciation
portrayed = http://www.thefreedictionary.com/portray
venue =  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venue

20 (D-42) Sounds = Accents...and MUSIC! So much MUSIC in Louisiana!

New Orleans is MUSIC!  It is an impossible job to cover all the kinds of music that are a part of Louisiana.  Negro spirituals, Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Cajun music, Zydeco, soul music and more.  And all the famous musicians and famous places.   I'm not at all an authority on music, but just a surfer on the internet, who likes New Orleans music.  Here I'll try to give you some general information.  
Negro spirituals are the songs which were sung by the black slaves in the United States in the 18th and 19th century.  Many Negro spirituals have Christian themes.  We don't know who wrote them.  They combine the traditional West African musical style with the style of Christian hymns from Europe.  Slavery was of course present in Louisiana.  We'll return to slavery later on the blog.

The African influence on New Orleans music can trace its roots also back to Congo Square in New Orleans in 1835, when slaves would congregate there to play music and dance on Sundays.  The practice seems to have stopped more than a decade before the end of slavery with the American Civil War.  In the late 19th century, the square again became a famous musical venue, this time for a series of brass band concerts by orchestras of the area's "Creoles of color" community. Congo Square has continued to be an important venue for music festivals.  

Congo Square

Gospel began in the 1920s.  It was in fact born in the black churches of the northern United States cities.  Each Gospel song has a composer.  Gospel mixes musical elements of Negro spirituals with those of blues and are open to improvising on the piano, the guitar and other instruments. 

And there is Dixieland, a term that comes from Dan Emmit's song "Dixie's Land" (1859).  (Why "Dixie"?  I'll tell you that later.)  The song became the anthem of the Confederate Army (the South) during The Civil War.   Then music took that term as a general description of any form of jazz that is derived from early New Orleans jazz.  King Oliver was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong.

The term "jazz" (in the beginning it was spelled "jass") did not become popular until the mid and late 1910s when New Orleans musicians became well-known in other parts of the USA and consequently the New Orleans style needed a new name to differentiate it from the nationally popular "ragtime".  Before that time, the New Orleans style was frequently simply called "ragtime".

Negro spirituals, 
Gospel, 
Blues,
Dixieland, 
Jazz/jass, 
Ragtime, 
New Orleans jazz!!!!

That's a lot of information, but very condensed and little confusing!  I'm sorry for making this so long.  
But it all SOUNDS so good!
Would you like to LISTEN to a little music after all this English work?

Negro Spiritual
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=zEtMhIB9oIg&list=PLJ3X0XM_SmvPutsT59kVxNHE1Y9B8kcR-&index=29
What do all of God's children ("chillun") have ("got") when the go ("get") to heaven ("heab'en")?
Dixieland Jazz
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2F567765A7BC948   many examples, you choose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEF9QeHxrYw    King Oliver
The New Orleans style of jazz, Part 1 -- 1914 to 1935
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE7k9D5I5a0


Gospel music is for tomorrow.  I hope you will come back tomorrow.

Jane
______________________________________________
brass band = "fanfare"  Traditionally, New Orleans brass ("des cuivres") bands could have various instrumentations, often including trumpets, trombones, clarinets, saxophones, sousaphones and percussion.  A well-know use of these bands is for the New Orleans jazz funeral.
anthem = "hymne national"
ragtime = http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/ragtime/66220  Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
__________________________________________
Or more reading about Congo Square, if you like.  Here is a 2012 article from the New Orleans newspaper, The Times Picayune.  
http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2012/02/congo_square_the_times-picayun.html

19 (D-43) People and accents = faces and voices

New Orleans is places,  New Orleans is people of today too.

Fifty People, One Question  
Take a look at New Orleans faces, and listen to their New Orleans accent.  What's the "One question" they are asked?  Can you understand some of these people from New Orleans?  It's a difficult job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Chrq17zKI


A variety of New Orleans accents.    This video is a little long, but you can listen to a part of it to see if you can understand a little bit.  The people come from different wards (different parts) of New Orleans.  Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpFDNTo4DNg 

If you are courageous, here are two more.  The two girls, one white and one black, pronounce different words and they answer questions about Louisiana vocabulary.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7vlfaMTBWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juFxMpqquzk

But don't worry, I won't use this accent or this vocabulary in class!!

Jane

18 (D-44) Again places and people: Degas

Did you know that Edgar Degas' mother was a Creole from Louisiana?  Degas traveled to New Orleans during the autumn of 1872 to spend a few months visiting the considerable American branch of his family.  His visit is something of a legend in this city.  Some people from New Orleans may ignore historical accuracy, but many French people don't even know that Degas is linked to New Orleans.
He arrived in New Orleans when he was having difficulties professionally, but he left the city with a sense of direction and determination.  He also took with him, in his portfolio and in his mind, several unforgettable images of New Orleans life.  Degas was the only major French painter of the Impressionist generation to travel to the United States and paint what he saw there.

Degas liked to call himself a "fils de Louisiane".  His mother, Celestine Musson Degas, had been born in New Orleans into a prominent Creole family.  Over the centuries, "Creole" has meant many different things.  For the Degas-Musson family it meant that Celestine was descended from some of the original French and Spanish settlers of New Orleans.

Degas' house in New Orleans

Three of Edgar Degas' New Orleans paintings:

A Cotton Office in New Orleans  1873

Cotton Merchants in New Orleans  1873

Portrait of Estelle 1873
Mme René De Gas, born Estelle Musson, Edgar Degas' sister-in-law
At NOMA, New Orleans Museum of Art

Jane

_________

traveled or travelled???  =  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/british-and-american-spelling

prominent = http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/anglais-francais/prominent/604385 

something of a  =  http://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/dictionnaire/britannique/be-something-of-a-sth

accuracy = http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/accuracy

linked to =  lié à

over the centuries = au cours des siècles, au fils des siècles

17 (D-45) Other places to visit in New Orleans

There are so many other places to visit in New Orleans.  Here are just a few for now. 

The Cabildo
The Cabildo is one of the most historically significant buildings in America.  Built between 1795 and 1799 to replace a structure that burned in the 1794 fire, the Cabildo served as the seat of government in New Orleans during the Spanish colonial period and it is the place where the Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803.


1850 House
Faithfully furnished with domestic goods, decorative arts and art of the period, the 1850 House depicts middle class family life during the most prosperous period in New Orleans' history.


The Ursuline Convent
It is the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley.  Completed in 1752 it is the oldest surviving example of the French colonial period in the United States.  The Ursulines have a long history in the city of New Orleans.  As early as 1726, King Louis XV of France decided that three Ursuline nuns from Rouen should go to New Orleans to establish a hospital for poor sick people and to provide education for young girls of wealthy families.  But the nuns understood that it was their mission to save the souls of the native young girls too.  Fourteen nuns took part in the long five-month journey to New Orleans, arriving in July 1727.
Our journey won't be so long; there will be 27 of us; we'll arrive on May 9, 2015;  and we won't be going there with the same objectives!!



The Presbytere
Here you find an elaborate and exquisite collection of Mardi Gras artifacts and memorabilia.  The story of New Orleans' extraordinary Mardi Gras tradition can be discovered in the permanent exhibition called "Mardi Gras: It's Carnival Time in Louisiana."  The exhibit traces the celebration from its ancient origins to the 19th century emergence of New Orleans parades and balls to the present-day celebration that attracts millions of visitors each year.

Jane 
______________ 
seat of government = siège du gouvernement
furnished = meublée
domestic goods  = things of or relating to the home, the household (the people of a house collectively; a family including its servants) or the family
to depict = http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/depict
nuns = http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/nun
to save the souls =   sauver les âmes
memorabilia = http://www.linguee.fr/anglais-francais/traduction/memorabilia.html

.

16 (D-46) Recipes and a Restaurant

Three recipes:  
JAMBALAYA --> Rice cooked with ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish, herbs, spices and vegetables, especially tomatoes, and the "holy trinity."
http://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/jambalaya-comme-a-la-nouvelle-orleans-17251.aspx

GUMBO --> "Start by making a roux."  A soup thickened with okra pods or filé and containing meat or seafoods and usually vegetables.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jlzbwe-mvs

SHRIMP or CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE -->  Etouffée or etouffee is a dish found in both Cajun and Creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice.  http://www.acuisiner.com/#recettes/other/9_1527361225/shrimp-etouffee.html 

And a famous New Orleans restaurant: 
ANTOINE'S

Antoine's is a Louisiana Creole cuisine restaurant on St. Louis Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  It has the distinction of being the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States, having been established in 1840 by Antoine Alciatore.  A New Orleans institution, it is known for having created several famous dishes such as Oysters Rockefeller and Eggs Sardou*!

Oysters Rockefeller consists of oysters on the half-shell topped with a rich sauce (made with green vegetables) and bread crumbs and then baked in the oven.  This dish was a way of replacing French snails with oysters!

Antoine's is also known for Café Brulot**, a drink made from coffee, orange liqueur, cinnamon stick, sugar, cloves and lemon peels.   At Antoine's the coffee is flamed when it is served as part of a dessert course.

We'll come back to Jambalaya and Gumbo and Etouffée when we go to Cajun country.

Jane
__________________________________________                        family-run =  http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/run_3
bread crumbs  = de la chapelure

*  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggs_Sardou
**  http://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/cafe-brulot-30495.aspx

15 (D-47) French Market, Café du Monde = Food

French market, Café du Monde...Food and people

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana. It blends French, West African, Amerindian, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian influences, as well as general Southern cuisine.  The Cajuns largely assimilated and adopted Creole cuisine for their own cuisine.  There are two types of Creole cuisine: Urban Creole and Rural Creole.  Urban Creole cuisine is observed and prepared for mainly tourists of New Orleans.  Rural Creole cuisine is usually hidden in the bayous and swamps of the Old Creole Parishes/Acadiana or Creole Country.  Some people say "Creole cuisine" and "Cajun cuisine."

You'll taste these ingredients:  
Spices:    cumin, red pepper, tabasco sauce, black pepper, to name a few
"The holy trinity": onions, green pepper and celery
Seafood: shrimp, soft shell crab, crawfish, fish (catfish), oysters....

There's also okra  (African in origin) 

filé powder (Amerindian in origin), 

boudin (a spicy Cajun sausage!). 
And there is grits (ground corn, Native American in origin), cornbread, muffuletta (a big sandwich with ham, salami, Swiss cheese, provolone and olive spread, Italian in origin)...

I have to stop here for now.  There's so much more but all this is making my mouth water!

More tomorrow!
Jane
_____________________________________________
to make one's mouth water =  http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/make+mouth+water

to blend -->        http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/blend

as well as = also
Cajuns =  the people living in Acadiana (go back to the map on   Day 2)  We'll come back to them later on this blog.
bayous = Remember, Louisiana is called The Bayou State. 
                        (Return to Day ?, if you don't remember the definition of "bayou".
swamps =  les marais
parish  =  The state of Louisiana is divided administratively  into parishes (from the French "paroisses")
ground = moulu, here
olive spread = "tapenade"

14 (D-48) French Market, Café du Monde

The French Market was founded as a Native American trading post before European colonization.  The market is the oldest of its kind in the United States.  It began where the "Café du Monde" currently stands and has been rebuilt and renovated a number of times.


Café du Monde is a coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans. It is best known for its café au lait and its French-style beignets. In the New Orleans style, the coffee is blended with chicory.


The French brought coffee with them to the United States as they began to settle along the Mississippi.  During the Civil War, the French developed the chicory style of coffee that is used at Café du Monde. Chicory adds an almost chocolate flavor to the Café au Lait.   Along with this taste, the Acadians from Nova Scotia brought other French customs, such as the beignet, to Louisiana in the 17th century.  Unlike most doughnuts, beignets are squared pieces of dough with no hole in the middle, fried and most often covered with powdered sugar. Sometimes they can be seen served with fruit, jam, maple syrup or even savory items.   At Café du Monde, they are served traditionally with a thick covering of powdered sugar.

The menu at Café du Monde is simple, as it only includes dark roasted coffee and chicory, beignets, white and chocolate milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. 

Café du Monde, where both locals and visitors are welcomed, is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for Christmas Day and days when "the occasional hurricane passes too close to New Orleans".

Jane  ....and wikipedia!
__________________________________________
trading post = a general store established in a remote area, originally by a trading company 
to obtain furs, etc., in exchange for food, clothing, and other supplies.
currently = now, at present... NOT couramment
settle =  to make a home
along with = with
unlike = different from
doughnuts (donuts)  = beignets américains
powdered sugar = sucre glace
maple syrup = sirop d'érable