New Atlantis

Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans

John Swenson (freelance, freelance, UPI and Reauters., New York, NY)

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Hardback

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
20 May 2011

Brass band, military music & marches; Jazz; Soul & R 'n' B; Rap & Hip-Hop

"At its most intimate level, music heals our emotional wounds and inspires us. At its most public, it unites people across cultural boundaries. But can it rebuild a city? That's the central question posed in New Atlantis, journalist John Swenson's beautifully detailed account of the musical artists working to save America's most colorful and troubled metropolis: New Orleans.

The city has been threatened with extinction many times during its three-hundred-plus-year history by fire, pestilence, crime, flood, and oil spills. Working for little money and in spite of having lost their own homes and possessions to Katrina, New Orleans's most gifted musicians--including such figures as Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, ""Trombone Shorty,"" and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux--are fighting back against a tidal wave of problems: the depletion of the wetlands south of the city (which are disappearing at the rate of one acre every hour), the violence that has made New Orleans the murder capitol of the U.S., the waning tourism industry, and above all the continuing calamity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (or, as it is known in New Orleans, the ""Federal Flood""). Indeed, most of the neighborhoods that nurtured the indigenous music of New Orleans were destroyed in the flood, and many of the elder statesmen have died or been incapacitated since then, but the musicians profiled here have stepped up to fill their roles. New Atlantis is their story.

Packed with indelible portraits of individual artists, informed by Swenson's encyclopedic knowledge of the city's unique and varied music scene--which includes jazz, R&B, brass band, rock, and hip hop--New Atlantis is a stirring chronicle of the valiant efforts to preserve the culture that gives New Orleans its grace and magic."

By: John Swenson (freelance freelance UPI and Reauters. New York NY)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 169mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 560g
ISBN: 9780199754526
ISBN 10: 0199754527
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 20 May 2011
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Table of Contents 1. Voice of the Wetlands 2. African Americans and Indians 3. The Constantinople of the New World 4. Sad night in Jackson Square 5. Return of the Spirits 6. Let It Go 7. Don't Let Them Wash Us Away 8. Reality Check 9. Don't Take My Picture 10. Musicians Strike Back at Violence 11. I am New Orleans 12. Shorty on the Block 13. The Armstrong Legacy 14. Cold in the Trailer 15. If I Can Help Somebody 16. Baghdad on the Mississippi 17. Brown Baby Dead in the Water 18. On the Fringes 19. City That Care Forgot 20. Wild and Free 21. Saving at the Bank of Soul 22. It Ain't Just the Suit 23. Bourbon Street Blues 24. Snooks Flies Away 25. Ghosts of Traditional Jazz 26. New Blood 27. Jazz Fest turns 40 28. New Atlantis 29. McDermott's Duets 30. Cyril's Nightmare 31. The Wizard of Piety Street 32. Blues Come Down Like Rain 33. Cyril Comes Full Crcle 34. Marching In

"John Swenson has been a syndicated columnist for more than 20 years at UPI and Reuters. His account of musicians returning to New Orleans after Katrina, ""The Bands Played On,"" appeared in Da Capo's Best Music Writing 2007; his ""Every Accordionist a King"" won the 2008 Best Entertainment Feature award from the Press Club of New Orleans. Swenson has been an editor for Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone, Circus, Rock World, Offbeat, and other publications. He is the author of The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide (Random House, 1999); Stevie Wonder (Plexus, 1989); and Bill Haley: The Daddy of Rock and Roll (Stein and Day, 1985)."

Reviews for New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans

John Swenson's moving book records the story of a city that acted on singer Randy Newman's famous plea Don't let them wash us away. ...Swenson argues that the New Orleans' musicians, including Allen Toussaint (in collaboration with Elvis Costello), Terence Blanchard (for Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke), Dr John and Irma Thomas, have all written and played some of their best music since Katrina. Helen Taylor, The Independent

"Winner of Winner of the 2011 JazzTimes Critics Poll ""Book of the Year"" Award."
Winner of Jazz Times Critics' Poll: Best Book 2012.
Winner of Winner of the 2011 JazzTimes Critics Poll Book of the Year Award.