Springsteen to St. Bernard

The 2006 Jazzfest theme "The Healing Power of Music" is shown here as Springsteen does a moving gospel rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Being a Jersey gal who has long had a love affair with New Orleans, and having spent so much time here since September covering Katrina and Rita, this experience was beyond words. I think it was for the Boss as well, as he wiped tears from his eyes talking about the man-made disaster that befell the city. He toured Lakeview and the Lower 9th, and the Boss was pissed. He mentioned our "Bystander President". Make Levees, Not War. Get your T-shirt here: www.metrothree.com Sorry, haven't figured out how to make a link on Blogspot. Their "insert link" button doesn't do the trick.



Bruce is looking so good these days. The best news is that there is a teen son of Springsteen. I hope the boy plays. And the girl too. I hadn't listened to the "Seeger Sessions" album beforehand because I wanted to hear it live for the first time. It was way better than I anticipated, and Bruce and his huge and talented band payed true homage to the music of New Orleans in his renderings of Seeger's tunes. They even did a little second line action as they walked offstage still playing right before the encore. Small Tyska claim to fame: I once played bass in a Cajun band called "The Crawdad Wranglers" and we opened up for Pete Seeger at the Lowell Folk Fest in Massachusetts. I'm looking for a cajun accordion, anyone got any leads? Since there are many displaced New Orleanians in the SF Bay Area, I want to start a zydeco/blues band.



PHOTO DISCLAIMER: These shots suck because even though I had a photo pass for the pit of all stages at the fest, Bruce's publicist decided they would only allow a small contingent of wire and local photogs. What's up with this? My company, Media News Group, just bought the San Jose Mercury News and three other papers and is now the fourth-largest newspaper chain in the country. I'm not saying this is good, but it should be enough for a Jersey girl to get up front and center. Booooooruce. No reflection on the Jazzfest PR team who were super-awesome and had nothing to do with this decision. Needless to say, I didn't move the picture for a daily because it would make me look bad in comparison to the other images that moved that day. I'm incorporating it into my Flash movie/documentary on the fest and current status of NOLA post-Katrina.



The Soul Rebels, did a great set of brass rap with positive messages. "We gotta stop killin' for recreation." If you get the chance, don't miss them...Another highlight was New Orlean's legendary piano player Allen Touissaint's set with special guest Elvis Costello. They have a record coming out soon. I've never seen this musical treasure before, and he strikes me as a most gracious and amazing human as well. His smile alone lights up the world.



Okay, get ready to meet 7th-generation St. Bernardian Jigger Borderlon, who rode out Katrina in his home in Chalmette.