Treme s03e01 Episode Script
Knock with Me - Rock with Me
Batiste: Uh-uh.
Oh, but no, you see, you took two sides of the triangle, brah.
Carrollton to Esplanade, what you needed to do was just go down the one side.
- What? - Claiborne, Claiborne is the hypotenuse of the triangle.
- Hypo-- what? - The hypotenuse of the triangle that we was in.
Give me my $16, stop talking bullshit, huh? It's basic geometry, brah.
New Orleans is crescent-shaped, like a triangle.
Now, you need to get with the hypotenuse.
Now, don't believe me, believe Pythagoras.
He made a science of this shit.
I owe you 10, tip included.
Shit.
I'm about ready to pay you 10 just to have you shut the fuck up.
( Chuckles ) ( Music playing ) One glad morning when this life is over I'll fly away when I die, hallelujah by and by I'll fly away ( Sirens wailing ) - Officer: That's it! Stop the music! - Officer #2: No more! Hold it! Stop, no more! - ( Music stops ) - That's it! No more music! Break it up! Officer #3: There's no jazzfest.
Shut them down.
This is a memorial for my little brother, come on now.
We got noise complaints.
This a memorial for Kerwin James, man.
- Y'all can't be playing your instruments - Man: Arrested my cousin, man.
- Out here without a permit.
- Woman: Yeah.
All right.
Y'all can't stop us from singing, right? We can sing in the streets, right? One glad morning All: when this life is over - I'll fly away - Man: Sing! When I die, hallelujah by and by - Woman: Come on now! Y'all be smoking shit! - I'll fly away oh, I'll fly away Fly away.
Oh, glory, I'll fly away.
( Yelling ) Officer: Come on, let's go! Y'all just don't get it! Y'all just don't get it! Man: It don't make no sense.
- It don't make no sense.
- Woman: We ain't doing nothing.
- Man, this is bullshit.
- What was that? Look, I'm just saying.
Kerwin James was a loved man, and we all played music with him at one point or another.
We told you.
We got complaints.
Anybody with complaints about music in Treme, - they in the wrong place altogether.
- All: Yeah.
Clear the streets! Come on, man.
We here out of respect! - I'm telling you, clear the area.
- Man: This is bullshit.
- Man: Are you serious? - Man #2: We can't celebrate his life.
Officer: Wrap it up, folks! Let's go! Come on, keep going! Keep going! All right, party's over! Let's go! Good night! - Officer: Party's over! - Officer #2: Let's go, people! ( Vocalizing ) ( Car approaching ) - Woman over radio: 120.
- Man over radio: 120.
- Respect, huh? - ( Handcuffs clinking ) Woman over radio: Any more units out there? Man over radio: Negative, it's under control, copy? Woman over radio: Copy, over.
( Theme music playing ) Hangin' in the Treme watchin' people sashay past my steps by my porch, in front of my door church bells are ringin' choirs are singin' while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone ( Woman vocalizing ) Down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jammin' and having fun trumpet bell's ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jammin' and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy - while jammin' and having fun.
- Whoo! Ah, fuck! I gotta start my show in, like, 15 minutes.
We'll catch a tune or two.
Yeah, it's her New Orleans debut.
I wanted to see it.
- Check, check.
One, two - Yes.
Okay, we are Annie Tee and The Bayou St.
John Playboys.
( Clapping ) At least that's what we're going with right now, so check back in a week or so.
( Music playing ) Nothin' ever comes from out of nowhere ain't nobody ever rides for free there's a hundred million heartaches out there between the devil and the deep blue sea and all the troubles of the wide world flow down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico here it comes again ready or not worry and pain is that all you got, is that all you got? Your girlfriend rocks, brah.
Yeah, right? You won't spoil my day give it your best shot another hurricane is that all you got? - ( Blows note ) - What the fuck? That's Glen's trombone? How do you happen to have his trombone if he isn't under arrest? Batiste, Antoine.
That's the only guy that we arrested.
Look, if you don't want to represent him, I can put it back in the locker.
No, no, no.
I'll be his lawyer.
So Antoine is at OPP? No doubt waiting for you to get him his ROR.
When you see him, tell him from me he might want to oil that squeaky middle finger of his.
Here, sign.
Thank God for this, at least.
What? I told the guy we'd hold it for him.
You didn't think we'd hold it for him.
So you're telling me you have no record of any arrest for anyone else from the Treme memorial? Arrests? No.
( Grunts ) Tabb: The way they came at us, I thought we were going to jail for sure.
Andrews: Yeah, we didn't do nothing.
Glen David, Derrick.
Tabb: Hey, miss Toni.
How you doin'? - I got a call you were locked up.
- We were.
They didn't send you to jail? This one asshole who was in charge, he wanted to lock us up.
But when they got us back to the station, none of the police that was out there wanted to sign the papers.
You shoulda heard David out there.
Well, I told 'em, you don't take a musician to jail from New Orleans for playing for another musician.
So you shamed the New Orleans Police Department - out of a bad arrest? - Hey.
Glen, you'd make a hell of a lawyer.
- Come on, I'll give you a ride.
- Ah, thank you.
- ( Laughs ) - So, you playing trombone now? I'm serving $28 bowls of yaka mein to yankees.
I don't know whether to feel good about that or guilty.
Position number four.
See him? - Yeah, I see him.
- Third time he's been in this week.
Comes in by himself, eats, watches gator.
Has a pretty good serial killer vibe.
( Chuckles ) He hasn't said shit to me.
Oh, yeah, he comes in here all the time.
He's in love with you-- either you or Chang.
Or either that or he wants a ten-course threesome.
Chang: Well, if you see him waiting outside holding a roll of duct tape and a hefty bag, - you might wanna make a run for it.
- Oh, thanks.
By the way, tomorrow, bring a change of clothes with you to work.
I'm gonna take you to a dinner after.
It's a chef thing.
I'm wearing a jacket, that should tell you something.
No way.
What, it's a funeral? No.
Trust me, you're gonna wanna be there.
I'm going to New Orleans on Wednesday, - I gotta deal with house shit.
- You'll be home in time to pack.
All right, there we go.
All right.
Thank you.
Good reviews so far.
Sales are outpacing your last release.
You should be pleased, Delmond.
Most of the critics are just happy to write that it's about New Orleans and to reference Katrina.
Got no clue about the Indians or what we trying to do.
- So now it's not enough to get a good review.
- Hi, how are you? - You need the reviewer to actually understand the work? - Congratulations, Delmond.
- Hey.
- Hey, thanks, brah.
How about the hot apps? You good with the chicken satay? Hey, how you doing? Or did the label screw you on those, too? - Hey.
- Ah, fuck.
I hear you, man.
It's just that I bumped into Wynton a moment ago at the bar and he gave me one of them Wynton compliments, you know? Called it an "interesting amalgam, not quite jazz, but intriguing for what it is.
" ( Chuckles ) Delmond, you told me when you started this, jazz literati are gonna hate it almost as much as some of the Mardi Gras Indians are going to resent it.
Speaking of which I thought your father would come up here for the release.
Now, my father, he's just like, "who the hell cares what anybody thinks?" He can do that.
Matter of fact, the other day, I went with him to an Indian Council meeting and most of the other chiefs, they were cool, you know, but A couple of them started dogging the music, saying we were messing with tradition.
Know what he told them? - ( Mimics Lambreaux ) Don't listen, then.
- ( Chuckles ) Swear, man.
I wish I could be like that.
The man ain't never soft.
Thompson: Delmond, loving the new tracks, the whole recondite Native American motif.
I mean, seriously, where in your imagination did all of that come from? Well, actually - Whah! - ( Screams ) ( Laughs ) Were you there? Yeah, I saw the first three.
Then I went to OZ and had to start my set.
( Laughing ) And? - You guys killed it! - What?! - You killed it! - ( Kisses ) Baby, we played Frenchmen Street.
( Grunts ) Not on the sidewalk, in a club.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- We played two sets at DBA! - Great, hold on.
Okay, that's better.
And I even wrote a few of those songs.
What? ( Laughs ) I am so proud of you.
Well, of course you are.
You are my first groupie, Davis.
And with that honor comes rights and responsibilities.
It's like 6:00 in the morning.
Tomorrow we play in Morgan City and then it's back to Lafayette for more rehearsals.
It's now or never sucker.
( Giggles ) - Mom! - ( Alarm clock beeping ) - Mama! - Ladonna: What? - Where's my other shoe? - ( Toilet flushes ) - You look under your bed? - Randall: I looked there.
- Alcide, you find your book bag yet? - No.
Is that my toothbrush? Damn, boy, find your book bag.
( Beeping continues ) - Where was it at? - Under your bed.
- Larry: Ladonna.
- ( Alarm clock stops ) ( Door shuts ) - Alcide: Please? - Randall: No.
- Alcide: Why not? - Ladonna: Oh, man.
What's up? Did you fill out that permission slip? - The one for Randall? - Oh, shit.
Alcide: I don't break stuff.
I mean Sorry, Victorine.
Living in closer quarters like this, it would probably be better if everyone dressed before breakfast.
Victorine, we're all family here.
I don't think she needs you to tell her-- Ladonna: No.
Uh-uh.
She got a point.
Though in this case, after Larry gets the boys off to school, I'm going back to bed.
Ladonna closed last night, didn't get home till 2:00.
Oh, of course.
Your bar.
( Door closes, footsteps ) We're late.
Let's roll.
- Bye, ma.
- She'll sign it tomorrow.
Bye, ma.
( Beeps over PA ) PA: Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Man, I can't get some of my own people to make this ride, but here you are.
A friend's a friend.
That's my motto.
- That's your motto? - I gotta bunch of mottos.
- ( Chuckles ) Yeah.
- I got mottos for every situation.
- 37 months, huh? - Yeah.
Coulda got less if you'd have cooperated.
That's what people say.
But you didn't.
So you drove all the way up here from New Orleans to ask me why-- - Flew in from Dallas, actually.
- ( Chuckles ) I've been home.
All right, flew in from Dallas to Atlanta to ask poor old incarcerated Oliver Thomas why he wouldn't drop a dime when the feds rolled him up, huh? - Well, that, and I want to ride zulu again.
- ( Chuckles ) So, I figured I'd ask you about that, too.
Yeah.
You're not cooperating, right? I guess I just didn't want to play the game anymore.
And I'll do the time I deserve to do.
'Cause I did what I did, sorry for that.
Let a lot of people down.
As to whoever did what else, that's between them and their conscience.
PA: Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Be that as it may, - I've kept every promise I've made to you, Lieutenant.
- Yes, sir.
Six months ago, I transferred you to Homicide with the promise that Captain Guidry would not be your problem.
Yes, sir.
And in the end, it's Guidry that we transferred, and you're still there.
Look, chief, with all due respect, if Guidry had been doing his job, you'd be having this conversation with him and I'd be out to pasture somewhere.
Well, now, it's time to let me go home.
- Back to Eighth District.
- Transfer you, too.
That unit is full of Guidry's people.
They resent that he's gone and I'm still there, and I cannot be effective in that environment.
Says here that your shift's clearance rate is twice that of the other two.
Deputy, I am requesting a transfer.
Denied.
Terry, I need you where I have you.
All right.
If you want me to stay I have one other request.
- Fire away.
- Limit the details.
Make eight hours a week the maximum amount of secondary employment for homicide detectives.
You think the detectives resent you now? Imagine what it's like I put a cap on secondary.
But give me a chance to confer with Captain Hardesty and the people in Legal, and I'll have an answer for you by week's end.
- I'm off till Friday.
- You are? Any plans? Yeah, I'm going to go visit my kids-- Indianapolis.
Indianapolis? Just headed across the street there.
My son was here? I thought they took him out to Saint Gabriel or someplace.
Yeah, they did.
The morgue here was flooded.
So, no, Joey was never here.
- This the guy's giving you a hard time, eh? - Mm-hmm.
All right, let's go see this son of a bitch.
Look I would be happy to talk this over with Dr.
Minyard in person.
Okay? The lawsuit would not have been necessary in the first place-- Dr.
Minyard isn't available.
Okay, can I leave my card again? Suing Dr.
Minyard, are we? Afraid so, for public records.
Ahem, all my numbers are on the top sheet.
Thank you.
- Good luck with it.
- Thanks.
Hi.
I'm Vincent Abreu.
The father of Joey-- Joseph.
Joseph Abreu's my son.
I had an appointment with the doctor in charge here today.
We weren't aware that Dr.
Minyard had a meeting with anyone other than the victim's family.
No, this is my lawyer.
Yes, but we were led to understand Oh, to hell with it.
Listen, who does he think-- Listen-- ahem.
Minyard and I go way back, so if it makes him more comfortable to not have me in the room, let's make him more comfortable.
All right, just remember, the document that we need is the day record.
It's usually internal to the coroner's office, and it tells us where they picked the body up, when, and who was there.
And those are facts that we need to nail down.
- So remember, you want the day record.
- Day record, I got it.
And he likes to think he's doing right by the families.
So if he balks, just make him feel guilty.
He says no, I'll put him on his ass.
Go easy.
Frank's nearly 80.
Put him on his wrinkled ass, then.
( Laughs ) All right, then, it's just me.
Come with me.
( Music playing ) Oh, here it goes told you that my man would come home.
- That's my favorite.
- Thanks.
- We play to please.
- It breaks my heart, in a good way.
- Man: Breakin' hearts is what we do.
- Woman: And mending them, too.
Hey, if you think I'm paying for that if you put your lips on it Like you've paid for a coffee drink in the past three months? Woman: Aw, he's blushing.
- Any requests? - Do the Jimmie Rodgers one.
Which one? "Blue Yodel 9"? In honor of what happened in Treme last night.
What happened in Treme last night? Didn't you hear? Cops locked up the musicians for playing a memorial.
Oh, what? - Man: Man, that's fucked up.
- It's terrible.
- Man #2: Who died? - Woman: One of the new birth.
( Yodels ) Well, I was standing on the corner didn't mean no harm when along come a police that took me by my arm.
( Yodeling ) Ask Walter if he'll take all the Fridays, then maybe we could split the Saturdays.
Two to Little Freddie and two to-- Wait a minute, wait a minute.
What's his name? "Dap Walk.
" What's his name? Ernie Vincent.
Ernie.
( Vocalizes ) Wait a minute, how do you know about him, youngblood? That's old school.
All right, and Sundays We'll just figure it out as we go.
How's that? Okay.
Tell me something.
- What do you think about this here? - This where? This bar here.
My bar, Gigi's.
I don't know.
It's here, so am I.
It's here and so am I.
That's almost exactly what I'm likely to tell her, she step to me again with her shit.
Who? None of your damn business.
( Music playing ) Bouncer: Cover's 10.
- The Treme two? - That's right.
Brah, it's supposed to be three, brah.
That's me.
Who dat call the police? them hoes called the police who dat call the police? them hoes called the police ( Vocalizing ) Them hoes called the police ( Vocalizing ) Delicious.
- Man: Great.
- Man #2: Wow.
( Laughs ) On your right.
It's a surprise.
- Man: Wow, look at that.
- Man #3: Beautiful.
Nice.
Man: This is why there are no easter bunnies in France.
Gentlemen and lady.
Lievre a la royale.
Janette: I've only ever heard of this dish.
Enrico's been in France shooting cute little animals.
But how does he get them back here? I mean, don't you need the blood? Man: Nice.
- What is it? - Nice, '71 La Tache.
La Tache? Enrico: Yes, Ms.
Desautel.
It's a '61 Chateau Latour grand vin.
I trust that you won't be throwing the contents of it in anybody's face? ( Laughing ) Man #2: It's never going away.
( Cheering ) Where my brother? Where my coconspirator at up in here? Where he at? They tryin' to make us out to be public enemies and all that shit.
Man: That's enough, man.
We gonna play this number right here for them.
- Now roll with me - Roll with me - Knock with me - Rock with me - Roll with me - Roll with me - Knock with me - Rock with me - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight Enrico: Aldo, the cognac.
With such a gathering of chefs, we need the bottle.
Don't give me that look.
Get it.
Janette: I remember that tone.
Enrico: That's my dulcet tone.
This is good.
Ah.
Napoleon had not yet fought Borodino when this was bottled.
- Man: Wow.
- Man #2: Wow, look at that.
1811.
Yep, that's older than you, Jonathan.
( Laughs ) Wow.
Hmm, I guess New York doesn't suck.
Who knew? Enrico, your luggage must smell very strange when you arrive at JFK.
( Laughing ) Or maybe you have a friend who is a diplomat? How do you get it all in? ( Speaking French ) Si je te le dis, je devrai te tuer.
Merci beaucoup, mon ami.
( All laugh ) Wow.
( Laughing ) - Now wipe your weary eyes, mama, don't cry - Mama, don't cry - living in the street, living do or die - Mama, don't cry drugs and prostitution, people will die mama, don't cry I say they say there's no cure for AIDS, that's a lie mama, don't cry - 10 years from now, where will I be? - Mama, don't cry will I shine like a star bright as their eyes can see? mama, don't cry will I be kicking the breeze - hanging on St.
Phillip Street, y'all? - Mama, don't cry or like I ask the sixth come on and roll with me - gimme a dime - I only got eight - gimme a dime - I only got eight - Hey, remember where you found that, pal.
- Okay.
Seriously.
Rocks, you want coke or you want dope? mama, don't cry you want pills, you want weed or you want speed? Ahh.
- For the park? - Yeah, later, later.
You wanna fill a club for two or three months on a $10 cover? Get your ass locked up by the NOPD.
That shit was legendary.
- Legendary, huh? - Yeah.
Getting cuffed for playing music on the streets of New Orleans? That shit's like Christlike.
Andrews: Y'all make some noise! ( Cheering ) ( Music playing ) - Hey, Mark.
- Terry.
- Boys are just finishing up breakfast.
- Great.
- You get in okay? - Yeah.
Where you staying? Holiday Inn off of Wesleyan.
Nice.
Well, in New Orleans, I live in a trailer.
Right, sorry.
Hey.
Peter: Hey, dad.
Hey, dad.
Oh, hey.
Kay: Hey, Terry.
Glad you made it.
Yeah.
Boys, enjoy your day with your dad, and we'll all meet back here for dinner, all right? - I gotta go.
I'm late for work.
- Okay, all right.
- Let's go.
- See you, Terry.
See you.
So - What's fun in Indianapolis? - ( Door shuts ) I looked him in the eye.
He's not talking to the feds.
And if he was, do you think he'd tell you? Do you think he'd say, "why, yes, Nelson, I gave them your name and two dozen others and all the paperwork I could lay hands on"? It's been months.
I have to be cautious.
It's a shame.
There's a lot of work still to be done in this town.
That's so true, and I could use you.
Right now, I'm part of this group working with the Hyatt Regency people out of Chicago, raising money for a National Jazz Center.
It means moving city hall to a new location, but if we do it right, there's a chance to monetize the culture down here in a very smart, civic way.
That sounds great.
Trying to sort out the real estate issues now.
Irvin Mayfield's on board.
The trumpeter? I saw him play.
Good man-- Irvin.
Come on.
Put me in, Coach.
Not now.
Not yet.
( Music playing ) Gonna buy me a pirogue, lash it to my balcony it's a little boat, baby, enough room for you and me when the water comes to meet us we'll float on out to sea Come on, man.
You.
- Well, they all evacuatin' - I ain't goin' - Folks ain't waitin' - I ain't goin' - Category seven - I ain't goin' - Knock us up to heaven - I ain't goin' Gonna stay in New Orleans Both: with a cold drink in my hand.
( Laughs ) Yeah, man, that's it.
Sounds like some funny stuff.
Yeah, "funny" but deep, brah.
Uh, so this supposed to be an opera? - Verdi meets rhythm and blues.
- ( Knocking on door ) The story of Katrina and its aftermath told in musical verse.
- And, Clarence, man - ( Knocking continues ) - I see you in a lead role.
- ( Laughs ) Yeah, fuck! ( Laughs ) Mail call.
You're back.
Quick visit.
- Where's Annie? - Lafayette, she's got a gig tonight.
But Mr.
Henry, my good friend Janette.
I was spending the afternoon engaged in some songsmithery.
Wow, "Frogman" Henry, it's an honor.
- My pleasure meeting you.
Great.
- Excuse us a minute.
In my living room by my piano, Mr.
Clarence "Frogman" Henry.
- You are my witness.
- I am.
Well, I'll leave you to it, just give me the mail.
- All but the junk.
- Thank you.
I-- ah, yes! Insurance check? Road home money.
Actually, a notice of my closing date.
Sold out to road home, huh? Well, I got what I could, Davis.
Hmm, I'm in New York now.
( Music playing ) ( Vocalizing ) Come on, pick it up.
And march! ( Vocalizing ) No, keep going.
There, that's it.
Louder, louder.
All right, yeah.
Wait, wait.
Hold on.
You're supposed to turn the other way.
( Vocalizing ) Yeah, now, turn, turn.
Turn, left, left.
Your other left.
Step, keep going.
Keep it going, that's it.
Make sure-- No, no, don't come over here.
Why you coming over here when the band going that way? Where you going? Where y'all going? Go that-- Don't you walk-- You going to walk right in front of me? Y'all a band, not a herd.
( Door opens ) Hello? ( Door shuts ) Alison? Uh, no, I don't think so.
Oh, my assistant must still be at lunch, I'm sorry.
Is this a bad time for you? - From the coroner's office, right? - Right.
And you're Toni Bernette.
If I'd have known, I would have said something yesterday.
I'm LP Everett.
I'm a reporter.
With who? Uh, it's hard to say.
I'm kinda working for the investigative reporting program at the grad school out of UC Berkeley, but they kinda ran out of funding so I might be down here with "The Nation" magazine or "Pro Publica," maybe both.
So you're not local.
Um Well, I like the food, anyway.
( Laughs ) Boy, I thought we got rid of you.
There's still cash in the streets here, son.
I'm just getting started.
So what? You back on the tit with your FEMA boys or what? Not yet, but I see you still got work.
What's the game nowadays? Noah.
Noah? Like the ark? ( Scoffs ) N-O-A-H.
New Orleans Affordable Homeownership.
What's your contract? I'm a sub.
Getting what I can out this Florida lady who got the connect.
Christ, that's half-assed.
Your guys can't do better than that? Man, I'm demo and hauling, me.
This clever bitch got us out here pretending to do the work on this one.
Another two, she ain't got us doing nothing at all.
Pretending? Cheap door, some paint, cut the grass.
Bullshit only.
You walk inside, the whole damn place rotted out.
You got a name, address for the lady? I got an address over on Howard, but it ain't nothing but an office with a secretary.
I wanna connect with her I call her.
I need to start voting republican and shit.
( Dialing ) Vote your conscience, son.
You got a percentage? She pay by the house.
With me, you got points.
You know that.
( Keys jingling ) ( Door shuts, car starts ) Vigilante killings? In Algiers.
That was the tip anyway.
Shootings of blacks by white civilians during Katrina.
So you sued the coroner for autopsy reports.
Which ones? I asked for autopsies on every death in Orleans parish from the date of the Levee breaks until the end of September.
And? - Dr.
Minyard refused.
- ( Laughs ) So I filed suit three months ago, state judge found in our favor, and eventually I get the autopsies from the time period in question except for any deaths from gunshots, knife wounds or blunt-force trauma.
What they sent me was whitewashed.
Have you ever been to New Orleans before, Mr.
Everett? No.
Well, welcome to another world.
( Laughs ) I was told that I should look you up.
That you've been doing civil rights work since the '80s.
A long time to be ignored, I know.
Ahem, um I'm wondering if you know anyone in the black community over in Algiers.
I mean, if the coroner won't give me the autopsies, there's always another way to skin the cat, right? Oh, I haven't had a case over there in a decade, but I do know a guy that grew up in the Fischer Projects over on the West Bank.
He's a good investigator.
Okay.
I'll have him get in touch with you.
- Thank you so much.
- You bet.
( Music playing on radio ) ( Music fades ) That was Benny Spellman's "Lipstick Traces," which I wanted to get on today because Benny's been ailing since his stroke.
And between y'all and me, I was hoping that he might be around to where he be one participating in what is becoming known around town as "The Opus Without Pity"-- A work most definitely in progress.
"Oh, no," I hear you saying, "Davis, please, mother of God, say it isn't so!" It's so.
I've already signed up Al Johnson, Frogman Henry, and I'm coming after Benny and Irma next.
Yes, the great voices of New Orleans' rhythm and blues will speak to our current sociopolitical contretemps in a way that only they can, making puccini my bitch in the process.
Hey.
Yes, music lovers, "Katrina.
An opera in blues and funk.
" And to help fund this essential project, please allow me to shill for my other current endeavor, Mcalary's Musical Heritage Tours, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon and 3:00.
Starting on Rampart and Dumaine.
All proceeds benefiting the opera.
So please tell your friends, tell your family, but most importantly, tell the tourists.
Okay, well, I'm DJ Davis sitting in for Judy Wood on the day shift.
We have a fresh release from Delmond Lambreaux and his father, big chief Albert Lambreaux, of The Guardians, taking that Indian thing to where it never dared go before.
( Music playing ) ( Hammering ) ( Power saw whirring ) You know who y'all listening to? Que? On that radio there.
Turn that up.
( Volume increases ) That's me! Right there! Ese viejo esta loco.
( Laughs ) "Loco," shit! That's me on your radio.
And that right there? ( Trumpet playing ) That's my son on that horn.
( Laughs ) ( Coughing ) ( Bell ringing ) Sonny, you come for dinner tonight? Well, actually-- Actually, I was thinking I might take Linh to this restaurant-- Real nice place.
Clancy's.
- In New Orleans? - Yeah, uptown.
It's a real nice place.
I just thought-- No, no, no.
It too long to ride to New Orleans.
It 5:00 now.
By the time you change your clothes, get clean and go, you have no time.
You have to bring Linh right back.
Crazy.
Mr.
Tran.
Linh, me, we've been going out for months now.
Okay, for you tonight, restaurant, okay? Dong Phuong.
I treat.
I'm saying they locked me up, too, and nobody even know.
Ain't that a mess? You gonna sit there and pout because Glen David and Derrick took a charge for playing in the street and no one talking about you.
For real? I'm just saying.
Well, I'm just saying, Glen and Derrick, they ain't neither of them the assistant band director at Elie.
And how you think it would look to the school if you got locked up for giving the finger to the police all disorderly-like? Don't look now, Antoine, but you becoming a grown-up.
( Scoffs ) And you need to be carrying it like a grown-up.
I ain't no grown-up.
I'm a musician, God damn it.
Oh, yeah.
Barack Obama over TV: Because the legacy of their sacrifice You know, Glen, Derrick, and the Fraziers? They're gonna be in the Treme tomorrow night and playing for Kerwin again.
You ain't gonna be there.
Desiree.
You the assistant band director.
You making a steady wage.
You ain't getting locked up, Antoine.
( Huffs ) ( Mumbles ) Get my ass locked up any damn time I feel like it.
Yeah.
Barack Obama: America had not made the right choice over the easy choice.
Mark's a good guy.
Boys and him get along? Yeah, they're fine.
So Colts are looking good this year.
( Scoffs ) And you got that car race, right? - So how's the sorghum coming in? - ( Water running ) Come on, it's a place like any other.
You never really took to New Orleans even before the flood.
Didn't work for you, did it? Dreamers.
Dreamers and drunks.
I don't think I'm either.
Well, maybe you're in the wrong place, then.
Listen, Terry I've been thinking that Until you're out of that trailer and back in your house, I don't think the boys should be staying there.
Why not? It's a trailer.
It's like camping out or something.
I saw a report that all the FEMA trailers have formaldehyde.
People are getting sick, Terry.
( Speaking vietnamese ) _ Sonny.
You need to drive back now? Pssh, it's crazy.
Living in another century.
It's very different for you, I know.
If I don't get you back home in like an hour, he'll get back in that car, start rolling around the village looking for me.
An hour after that, every able-bodied vietnamese fisherman in Versailles will be hunting us.
( Horn honks ) Go to the canal? See the birds? That was last night.
Let's go down Chef Menteur.
We can watch the traffic light change.
( Laughs ) ( Both grunt, panting ) Don't-- Don't say anything.
( Chuckles ) Well, I'm not going to think.
( Giggles ) There will be no thinking.
We can talk about work.
You could tell me about your adventures in New York.
We could.
But I'm not going to.
( Chuckles ) I just want to lay around.
When's your flight? - I like it.
- You got used to wearing it long.
Yeah, I'm glad we decided to keep it.
- Sofia? Did you like what we did last time? - Sure.
Do you think you could make it so it's kind of not a hairstyle? Excuse me? Sofia: Something that says, "I'm not styling my hair.
I just am.
" You know? Like, "this is me just hanging out, not pretending to anything other than what's real.
" Well, well.
That coffee shop must be deep in the bywater.
It's worse than that, Jay.
Her boyfriend's a musician down there.
- Oh, God.
Sofia Bernette? - ( Chuckles ) Bywater crusty.
I'll bet you've been shopping at all the vintage stores.
Up and down Decatur Street.
Some nights she goes out dressed like something out of a Steinbeck novel.
Thanks, Heather.
Have you met him? No, I keep stopping in for coffee, hoping to catch a glimpse, but so far, I've been shut out.
When are you having him to dinner, Sof? When I'm 30, maybe.
( Chuckles ) Okay, gather close.
I'm DJ Davis, and today's musical heritage tour begins on hallowed ground.
J&M record shop.
( Camera clicks ) Cosimo Matassa opened a studio here in the '40s which gave birth to something called rock 'n' roll.
This place turned out more hits than any other studio in the country.
"Good Rockin' Tonight," all the Fats Fomino stuff, Little Richard, Ray Charles-- it's a laundromat.
Clearly.
But when you go inside and you stand next to the change machine You are more or less on the spot where Earl Palmer laid down the backbeat that changed the world.
But it's just a laundry now.
With a built-in daiquiri stand.
Questions? No, great.
Let's cross the threshold and partake.
( Laughing ) - Look who needs a trim.
- Hey.
- I got all the trim I need.
- ( Laughs ) Hey what up, Anthony, how you moms and them, man? We'd complain, but who would listen? All: Yeah.
All right.
This is my friend Louis.
Louis, meet the wise men of Algiers.
- How's it going, guys? - Don't nothing happen this crew don't know about.
Okay, do me a favor, though.
Call me LP.
I don't really like, Louis.
Ah, no problem, Lou.
( Laughs ) Don't get to harvest that kinda crop too often.
Right.
So how about them 'aints? All: Oh, man.
Same old saints, man.
- Yeah, the saints for lack of season.
- I don't know.
( Chattering ) Nice to meet you.
Holding the breeze by every one of them.
Gaze, if you will, at the grounds of Armstrong Park, home to Congo Square, where basically any American music worth talking about comes from.
Syncopated rhythms, call and response, the blue notes of West African slaves commingling on market days with the brass instrumentation of the European musical heritage.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the birthplace of jazz! Why don't we go there? Closed since the storm.
You mean they can't manage to clean up a park after two years? Dude, two years is but a twinkle in the eye of our civic leaders.
We've only got a marker in the general vicinity of Buddy Bolden's grave a few years back, and he's been gone for more than half a century.
So questions? Good.
Let's sojourn uptown.
Ms.
Mortensen? - Nelson Hidalgo.
Dallas, Texas.
- Nelson.
You ever been here? You sit, drink, and the bar spins.
For real, once around every half hour.
Are you with the government, Mr.
Hidalgo? Do I look like I'm government? Are you with the RNC, then? ( Chuckles ) I paid those dues in Texas.
Just like you paid them in Florida, I'm sure.
It's a big swing state, Florida.
Come on, sit, have a drink.
So you're not with the government and you're not from New Orleans.
I'm a contractor, just like you.
Right, then why do I need to know you, Mr.
Hidalgo? ( Chuckles ) And here we have the most important row of jazz landmarks left on Earth.
Starting here, the eagle saloon where Louis Armstrong's career began.
He won a talent show here when he was a kid.
He won that at the Iroquois Theater.
No, I'm pretty sure it was here at The Eagle.
That was when he put on makeup and performed in Whiteface.
That was a theater.
Why would there be a children's talent show at a saloon? Oh, that's no problem in New Orleans.
Kids in bars is one of our sacred traditions.
This says it was the Iroquois Theater.
In any event! This area was called back of town.
Armstrong grew up on Perdido Street over there in a house that we tore down in the '60s.
Did you people ever actually preserve anything of note? Preservation Hall.
Man: When was that founded? '60, '61, maybe? Really? That far back? Come on, son, this is bullshit.
Ridiculous.
Wanker.
( Alarm chirps ) ( Door opens ) ( Sniffing ) Alcide, darling, I think you left your salad fork in the potato server.
You know, where I was raised in the Sixth Ward, we were taught that it was bad manners to correct a guest for their manners.
If they picked up the wrong fork or poured beer into the wine glass, we were supposed to do the same.
But in no way would we be treating Ladonna like a guest.
Oh, I'm family.
All right, then.
Since I'm kin, I ain't gonna pay no never mind to how I'm supposed to do.
I'm guessing you don't have no malt liquor.
Nothing in a 40, huh? Maybe you got a paper bag? 'Cause I'm thinking about finishing this here up on the "cornder.
" ( Randall, Alcide chortling ) Excuse me.
( Larry whispering ) You are not helping.
( Whispering ) Me? What did I do? ( Sighs ) Baby, I'm doing everything I can to find a house for us.
What about that one up off City Park? Not enough room for both boys and my practice.
One bedroom shy.
Another month or two of this shit, and I really will go ghetto.
Ladonna will choke a bitch.
Heh.
( Chuckles ) Yeah, I know.
So go talk to the guy.
No way.
I don't know him.
What if he's a perv? Or worse, what if he's a food blogger? He's not.
He's one of yours.
He's from New Orleans.
And like others before him, he's come to poach my prize cook and offer fame and fortune back home.
So go talk to the mook.
I can't handle the suspense.
I'm not interested.
Sorry.
- ( Chattering ) - ( Drumroll ) ( Tuning instruments ) Keep your eyes open.
Keep in touch.
Man: Ho! What's up, son? ( Man #2 laughs ) ( Water running ) ( Water stops ) ( Water running ) Hey, pop.
See you got the cabinets up without me, huh? Finished the plumbing, so Hey, read some of these reviews.
They're strong for the most part.
You should have been at the CD launch.
The label actually threw a pretty good party.
Donald was there-- Terence, Wynton.
Well, that's your bag.
Gimme a hand with this door to the bathroom.
Come on, now, you're not proud? I get them lighting fixtures up in them bedrooms, I'll be proud.
You know, Wynton said it was pretty good, but it wasn't really jazz.
Wynton would say that.
But he don't get the last damn word on what's jazz and what ain't.
I been listening to and loving jazz since before that boy was a thought in Ellis's mind.
If he gave them songs even half a listen, he'd know that you and me done broke some fresh fucking ground.
Them songs are gonna stand, son.
( Whistling ) Let's get this thing started, man.
I hope y'all got that bail money ready.
Can't tell the sheriff I only got eight.
What's up, man? Hey.
How about, "Just A Little While"? ( Music playing ) Crowd: Just a little while to wait Just a little while to labor on the path that's always straight just a little more-- ( Siren whoops ) Whoa.
Which way you walking? We going down St.
Phillip all the way to St.
Claude, around Ursulines to Robertson.
Okay, we your escort.
All right.
( Cheering ) Taylor was right, I guess you did shame them.
( Snare drum playing ) Just a little more hard trouble in this low and sin-- ( Sighs ) Roast beef.
You? Oyster, me.
Don't ever change.
Of course not.
( Music playing ) We are all in this together said the captain to his crew it's pretty much a secret mission you are all the chosen few now let's sail in the morning and no one else can know we've got letters from Rome the sun got up over Belize Point as they slowly left the coast heading straight for open waters
Oh, but no, you see, you took two sides of the triangle, brah.
Carrollton to Esplanade, what you needed to do was just go down the one side.
- What? - Claiborne, Claiborne is the hypotenuse of the triangle.
- Hypo-- what? - The hypotenuse of the triangle that we was in.
Give me my $16, stop talking bullshit, huh? It's basic geometry, brah.
New Orleans is crescent-shaped, like a triangle.
Now, you need to get with the hypotenuse.
Now, don't believe me, believe Pythagoras.
He made a science of this shit.
I owe you 10, tip included.
Shit.
I'm about ready to pay you 10 just to have you shut the fuck up.
( Chuckles ) ( Music playing ) One glad morning when this life is over I'll fly away when I die, hallelujah by and by I'll fly away ( Sirens wailing ) - Officer: That's it! Stop the music! - Officer #2: No more! Hold it! Stop, no more! - ( Music stops ) - That's it! No more music! Break it up! Officer #3: There's no jazzfest.
Shut them down.
This is a memorial for my little brother, come on now.
We got noise complaints.
This a memorial for Kerwin James, man.
- Y'all can't be playing your instruments - Man: Arrested my cousin, man.
- Out here without a permit.
- Woman: Yeah.
All right.
Y'all can't stop us from singing, right? We can sing in the streets, right? One glad morning All: when this life is over - I'll fly away - Man: Sing! When I die, hallelujah by and by - Woman: Come on now! Y'all be smoking shit! - I'll fly away oh, I'll fly away Fly away.
Oh, glory, I'll fly away.
( Yelling ) Officer: Come on, let's go! Y'all just don't get it! Y'all just don't get it! Man: It don't make no sense.
- It don't make no sense.
- Woman: We ain't doing nothing.
- Man, this is bullshit.
- What was that? Look, I'm just saying.
Kerwin James was a loved man, and we all played music with him at one point or another.
We told you.
We got complaints.
Anybody with complaints about music in Treme, - they in the wrong place altogether.
- All: Yeah.
Clear the streets! Come on, man.
We here out of respect! - I'm telling you, clear the area.
- Man: This is bullshit.
- Man: Are you serious? - Man #2: We can't celebrate his life.
Officer: Wrap it up, folks! Let's go! Come on, keep going! Keep going! All right, party's over! Let's go! Good night! - Officer: Party's over! - Officer #2: Let's go, people! ( Vocalizing ) ( Car approaching ) - Woman over radio: 120.
- Man over radio: 120.
- Respect, huh? - ( Handcuffs clinking ) Woman over radio: Any more units out there? Man over radio: Negative, it's under control, copy? Woman over radio: Copy, over.
( Theme music playing ) Hangin' in the Treme watchin' people sashay past my steps by my porch, in front of my door church bells are ringin' choirs are singin' while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone ( Woman vocalizing ) Down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jammin' and having fun trumpet bell's ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jammin' and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy - while jammin' and having fun.
- Whoo! Ah, fuck! I gotta start my show in, like, 15 minutes.
We'll catch a tune or two.
Yeah, it's her New Orleans debut.
I wanted to see it.
- Check, check.
One, two - Yes.
Okay, we are Annie Tee and The Bayou St.
John Playboys.
( Clapping ) At least that's what we're going with right now, so check back in a week or so.
( Music playing ) Nothin' ever comes from out of nowhere ain't nobody ever rides for free there's a hundred million heartaches out there between the devil and the deep blue sea and all the troubles of the wide world flow down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico here it comes again ready or not worry and pain is that all you got, is that all you got? Your girlfriend rocks, brah.
Yeah, right? You won't spoil my day give it your best shot another hurricane is that all you got? - ( Blows note ) - What the fuck? That's Glen's trombone? How do you happen to have his trombone if he isn't under arrest? Batiste, Antoine.
That's the only guy that we arrested.
Look, if you don't want to represent him, I can put it back in the locker.
No, no, no.
I'll be his lawyer.
So Antoine is at OPP? No doubt waiting for you to get him his ROR.
When you see him, tell him from me he might want to oil that squeaky middle finger of his.
Here, sign.
Thank God for this, at least.
What? I told the guy we'd hold it for him.
You didn't think we'd hold it for him.
So you're telling me you have no record of any arrest for anyone else from the Treme memorial? Arrests? No.
( Grunts ) Tabb: The way they came at us, I thought we were going to jail for sure.
Andrews: Yeah, we didn't do nothing.
Glen David, Derrick.
Tabb: Hey, miss Toni.
How you doin'? - I got a call you were locked up.
- We were.
They didn't send you to jail? This one asshole who was in charge, he wanted to lock us up.
But when they got us back to the station, none of the police that was out there wanted to sign the papers.
You shoulda heard David out there.
Well, I told 'em, you don't take a musician to jail from New Orleans for playing for another musician.
So you shamed the New Orleans Police Department - out of a bad arrest? - Hey.
Glen, you'd make a hell of a lawyer.
- Come on, I'll give you a ride.
- Ah, thank you.
- ( Laughs ) - So, you playing trombone now? I'm serving $28 bowls of yaka mein to yankees.
I don't know whether to feel good about that or guilty.
Position number four.
See him? - Yeah, I see him.
- Third time he's been in this week.
Comes in by himself, eats, watches gator.
Has a pretty good serial killer vibe.
( Chuckles ) He hasn't said shit to me.
Oh, yeah, he comes in here all the time.
He's in love with you-- either you or Chang.
Or either that or he wants a ten-course threesome.
Chang: Well, if you see him waiting outside holding a roll of duct tape and a hefty bag, - you might wanna make a run for it.
- Oh, thanks.
By the way, tomorrow, bring a change of clothes with you to work.
I'm gonna take you to a dinner after.
It's a chef thing.
I'm wearing a jacket, that should tell you something.
No way.
What, it's a funeral? No.
Trust me, you're gonna wanna be there.
I'm going to New Orleans on Wednesday, - I gotta deal with house shit.
- You'll be home in time to pack.
All right, there we go.
All right.
Thank you.
Good reviews so far.
Sales are outpacing your last release.
You should be pleased, Delmond.
Most of the critics are just happy to write that it's about New Orleans and to reference Katrina.
Got no clue about the Indians or what we trying to do.
- So now it's not enough to get a good review.
- Hi, how are you? - You need the reviewer to actually understand the work? - Congratulations, Delmond.
- Hey.
- Hey, thanks, brah.
How about the hot apps? You good with the chicken satay? Hey, how you doing? Or did the label screw you on those, too? - Hey.
- Ah, fuck.
I hear you, man.
It's just that I bumped into Wynton a moment ago at the bar and he gave me one of them Wynton compliments, you know? Called it an "interesting amalgam, not quite jazz, but intriguing for what it is.
" ( Chuckles ) Delmond, you told me when you started this, jazz literati are gonna hate it almost as much as some of the Mardi Gras Indians are going to resent it.
Speaking of which I thought your father would come up here for the release.
Now, my father, he's just like, "who the hell cares what anybody thinks?" He can do that.
Matter of fact, the other day, I went with him to an Indian Council meeting and most of the other chiefs, they were cool, you know, but A couple of them started dogging the music, saying we were messing with tradition.
Know what he told them? - ( Mimics Lambreaux ) Don't listen, then.
- ( Chuckles ) Swear, man.
I wish I could be like that.
The man ain't never soft.
Thompson: Delmond, loving the new tracks, the whole recondite Native American motif.
I mean, seriously, where in your imagination did all of that come from? Well, actually - Whah! - ( Screams ) ( Laughs ) Were you there? Yeah, I saw the first three.
Then I went to OZ and had to start my set.
( Laughing ) And? - You guys killed it! - What?! - You killed it! - ( Kisses ) Baby, we played Frenchmen Street.
( Grunts ) Not on the sidewalk, in a club.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- We played two sets at DBA! - Great, hold on.
Okay, that's better.
And I even wrote a few of those songs.
What? ( Laughs ) I am so proud of you.
Well, of course you are.
You are my first groupie, Davis.
And with that honor comes rights and responsibilities.
It's like 6:00 in the morning.
Tomorrow we play in Morgan City and then it's back to Lafayette for more rehearsals.
It's now or never sucker.
( Giggles ) - Mom! - ( Alarm clock beeping ) - Mama! - Ladonna: What? - Where's my other shoe? - ( Toilet flushes ) - You look under your bed? - Randall: I looked there.
- Alcide, you find your book bag yet? - No.
Is that my toothbrush? Damn, boy, find your book bag.
( Beeping continues ) - Where was it at? - Under your bed.
- Larry: Ladonna.
- ( Alarm clock stops ) ( Door shuts ) - Alcide: Please? - Randall: No.
- Alcide: Why not? - Ladonna: Oh, man.
What's up? Did you fill out that permission slip? - The one for Randall? - Oh, shit.
Alcide: I don't break stuff.
I mean Sorry, Victorine.
Living in closer quarters like this, it would probably be better if everyone dressed before breakfast.
Victorine, we're all family here.
I don't think she needs you to tell her-- Ladonna: No.
Uh-uh.
She got a point.
Though in this case, after Larry gets the boys off to school, I'm going back to bed.
Ladonna closed last night, didn't get home till 2:00.
Oh, of course.
Your bar.
( Door closes, footsteps ) We're late.
Let's roll.
- Bye, ma.
- She'll sign it tomorrow.
Bye, ma.
( Beeps over PA ) PA: Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Man, I can't get some of my own people to make this ride, but here you are.
A friend's a friend.
That's my motto.
- That's your motto? - I gotta bunch of mottos.
- ( Chuckles ) Yeah.
- I got mottos for every situation.
- 37 months, huh? - Yeah.
Coulda got less if you'd have cooperated.
That's what people say.
But you didn't.
So you drove all the way up here from New Orleans to ask me why-- - Flew in from Dallas, actually.
- ( Chuckles ) I've been home.
All right, flew in from Dallas to Atlanta to ask poor old incarcerated Oliver Thomas why he wouldn't drop a dime when the feds rolled him up, huh? - Well, that, and I want to ride zulu again.
- ( Chuckles ) So, I figured I'd ask you about that, too.
Yeah.
You're not cooperating, right? I guess I just didn't want to play the game anymore.
And I'll do the time I deserve to do.
'Cause I did what I did, sorry for that.
Let a lot of people down.
As to whoever did what else, that's between them and their conscience.
PA: Officer Dalmadge, please report to the warden's office.
Be that as it may, - I've kept every promise I've made to you, Lieutenant.
- Yes, sir.
Six months ago, I transferred you to Homicide with the promise that Captain Guidry would not be your problem.
Yes, sir.
And in the end, it's Guidry that we transferred, and you're still there.
Look, chief, with all due respect, if Guidry had been doing his job, you'd be having this conversation with him and I'd be out to pasture somewhere.
Well, now, it's time to let me go home.
- Back to Eighth District.
- Transfer you, too.
That unit is full of Guidry's people.
They resent that he's gone and I'm still there, and I cannot be effective in that environment.
Says here that your shift's clearance rate is twice that of the other two.
Deputy, I am requesting a transfer.
Denied.
Terry, I need you where I have you.
All right.
If you want me to stay I have one other request.
- Fire away.
- Limit the details.
Make eight hours a week the maximum amount of secondary employment for homicide detectives.
You think the detectives resent you now? Imagine what it's like I put a cap on secondary.
But give me a chance to confer with Captain Hardesty and the people in Legal, and I'll have an answer for you by week's end.
- I'm off till Friday.
- You are? Any plans? Yeah, I'm going to go visit my kids-- Indianapolis.
Indianapolis? Just headed across the street there.
My son was here? I thought they took him out to Saint Gabriel or someplace.
Yeah, they did.
The morgue here was flooded.
So, no, Joey was never here.
- This the guy's giving you a hard time, eh? - Mm-hmm.
All right, let's go see this son of a bitch.
Look I would be happy to talk this over with Dr.
Minyard in person.
Okay? The lawsuit would not have been necessary in the first place-- Dr.
Minyard isn't available.
Okay, can I leave my card again? Suing Dr.
Minyard, are we? Afraid so, for public records.
Ahem, all my numbers are on the top sheet.
Thank you.
- Good luck with it.
- Thanks.
Hi.
I'm Vincent Abreu.
The father of Joey-- Joseph.
Joseph Abreu's my son.
I had an appointment with the doctor in charge here today.
We weren't aware that Dr.
Minyard had a meeting with anyone other than the victim's family.
No, this is my lawyer.
Yes, but we were led to understand Oh, to hell with it.
Listen, who does he think-- Listen-- ahem.
Minyard and I go way back, so if it makes him more comfortable to not have me in the room, let's make him more comfortable.
All right, just remember, the document that we need is the day record.
It's usually internal to the coroner's office, and it tells us where they picked the body up, when, and who was there.
And those are facts that we need to nail down.
- So remember, you want the day record.
- Day record, I got it.
And he likes to think he's doing right by the families.
So if he balks, just make him feel guilty.
He says no, I'll put him on his ass.
Go easy.
Frank's nearly 80.
Put him on his wrinkled ass, then.
( Laughs ) All right, then, it's just me.
Come with me.
( Music playing ) Oh, here it goes told you that my man would come home.
- That's my favorite.
- Thanks.
- We play to please.
- It breaks my heart, in a good way.
- Man: Breakin' hearts is what we do.
- Woman: And mending them, too.
Hey, if you think I'm paying for that if you put your lips on it Like you've paid for a coffee drink in the past three months? Woman: Aw, he's blushing.
- Any requests? - Do the Jimmie Rodgers one.
Which one? "Blue Yodel 9"? In honor of what happened in Treme last night.
What happened in Treme last night? Didn't you hear? Cops locked up the musicians for playing a memorial.
Oh, what? - Man: Man, that's fucked up.
- It's terrible.
- Man #2: Who died? - Woman: One of the new birth.
( Yodels ) Well, I was standing on the corner didn't mean no harm when along come a police that took me by my arm.
( Yodeling ) Ask Walter if he'll take all the Fridays, then maybe we could split the Saturdays.
Two to Little Freddie and two to-- Wait a minute, wait a minute.
What's his name? "Dap Walk.
" What's his name? Ernie Vincent.
Ernie.
( Vocalizes ) Wait a minute, how do you know about him, youngblood? That's old school.
All right, and Sundays We'll just figure it out as we go.
How's that? Okay.
Tell me something.
- What do you think about this here? - This where? This bar here.
My bar, Gigi's.
I don't know.
It's here, so am I.
It's here and so am I.
That's almost exactly what I'm likely to tell her, she step to me again with her shit.
Who? None of your damn business.
( Music playing ) Bouncer: Cover's 10.
- The Treme two? - That's right.
Brah, it's supposed to be three, brah.
That's me.
Who dat call the police? them hoes called the police who dat call the police? them hoes called the police ( Vocalizing ) Them hoes called the police ( Vocalizing ) Delicious.
- Man: Great.
- Man #2: Wow.
( Laughs ) On your right.
It's a surprise.
- Man: Wow, look at that.
- Man #3: Beautiful.
Nice.
Man: This is why there are no easter bunnies in France.
Gentlemen and lady.
Lievre a la royale.
Janette: I've only ever heard of this dish.
Enrico's been in France shooting cute little animals.
But how does he get them back here? I mean, don't you need the blood? Man: Nice.
- What is it? - Nice, '71 La Tache.
La Tache? Enrico: Yes, Ms.
Desautel.
It's a '61 Chateau Latour grand vin.
I trust that you won't be throwing the contents of it in anybody's face? ( Laughing ) Man #2: It's never going away.
( Cheering ) Where my brother? Where my coconspirator at up in here? Where he at? They tryin' to make us out to be public enemies and all that shit.
Man: That's enough, man.
We gonna play this number right here for them.
- Now roll with me - Roll with me - Knock with me - Rock with me - Roll with me - Roll with me - Knock with me - Rock with me - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight - Give me a dime - I only got eight Enrico: Aldo, the cognac.
With such a gathering of chefs, we need the bottle.
Don't give me that look.
Get it.
Janette: I remember that tone.
Enrico: That's my dulcet tone.
This is good.
Ah.
Napoleon had not yet fought Borodino when this was bottled.
- Man: Wow.
- Man #2: Wow, look at that.
1811.
Yep, that's older than you, Jonathan.
( Laughs ) Wow.
Hmm, I guess New York doesn't suck.
Who knew? Enrico, your luggage must smell very strange when you arrive at JFK.
( Laughing ) Or maybe you have a friend who is a diplomat? How do you get it all in? ( Speaking French ) Si je te le dis, je devrai te tuer.
Merci beaucoup, mon ami.
( All laugh ) Wow.
( Laughing ) - Now wipe your weary eyes, mama, don't cry - Mama, don't cry - living in the street, living do or die - Mama, don't cry drugs and prostitution, people will die mama, don't cry I say they say there's no cure for AIDS, that's a lie mama, don't cry - 10 years from now, where will I be? - Mama, don't cry will I shine like a star bright as their eyes can see? mama, don't cry will I be kicking the breeze - hanging on St.
Phillip Street, y'all? - Mama, don't cry or like I ask the sixth come on and roll with me - gimme a dime - I only got eight - gimme a dime - I only got eight - Hey, remember where you found that, pal.
- Okay.
Seriously.
Rocks, you want coke or you want dope? mama, don't cry you want pills, you want weed or you want speed? Ahh.
- For the park? - Yeah, later, later.
You wanna fill a club for two or three months on a $10 cover? Get your ass locked up by the NOPD.
That shit was legendary.
- Legendary, huh? - Yeah.
Getting cuffed for playing music on the streets of New Orleans? That shit's like Christlike.
Andrews: Y'all make some noise! ( Cheering ) ( Music playing ) - Hey, Mark.
- Terry.
- Boys are just finishing up breakfast.
- Great.
- You get in okay? - Yeah.
Where you staying? Holiday Inn off of Wesleyan.
Nice.
Well, in New Orleans, I live in a trailer.
Right, sorry.
Hey.
Peter: Hey, dad.
Hey, dad.
Oh, hey.
Kay: Hey, Terry.
Glad you made it.
Yeah.
Boys, enjoy your day with your dad, and we'll all meet back here for dinner, all right? - I gotta go.
I'm late for work.
- Okay, all right.
- Let's go.
- See you, Terry.
See you.
So - What's fun in Indianapolis? - ( Door shuts ) I looked him in the eye.
He's not talking to the feds.
And if he was, do you think he'd tell you? Do you think he'd say, "why, yes, Nelson, I gave them your name and two dozen others and all the paperwork I could lay hands on"? It's been months.
I have to be cautious.
It's a shame.
There's a lot of work still to be done in this town.
That's so true, and I could use you.
Right now, I'm part of this group working with the Hyatt Regency people out of Chicago, raising money for a National Jazz Center.
It means moving city hall to a new location, but if we do it right, there's a chance to monetize the culture down here in a very smart, civic way.
That sounds great.
Trying to sort out the real estate issues now.
Irvin Mayfield's on board.
The trumpeter? I saw him play.
Good man-- Irvin.
Come on.
Put me in, Coach.
Not now.
Not yet.
( Music playing ) Gonna buy me a pirogue, lash it to my balcony it's a little boat, baby, enough room for you and me when the water comes to meet us we'll float on out to sea Come on, man.
You.
- Well, they all evacuatin' - I ain't goin' - Folks ain't waitin' - I ain't goin' - Category seven - I ain't goin' - Knock us up to heaven - I ain't goin' Gonna stay in New Orleans Both: with a cold drink in my hand.
( Laughs ) Yeah, man, that's it.
Sounds like some funny stuff.
Yeah, "funny" but deep, brah.
Uh, so this supposed to be an opera? - Verdi meets rhythm and blues.
- ( Knocking on door ) The story of Katrina and its aftermath told in musical verse.
- And, Clarence, man - ( Knocking continues ) - I see you in a lead role.
- ( Laughs ) Yeah, fuck! ( Laughs ) Mail call.
You're back.
Quick visit.
- Where's Annie? - Lafayette, she's got a gig tonight.
But Mr.
Henry, my good friend Janette.
I was spending the afternoon engaged in some songsmithery.
Wow, "Frogman" Henry, it's an honor.
- My pleasure meeting you.
Great.
- Excuse us a minute.
In my living room by my piano, Mr.
Clarence "Frogman" Henry.
- You are my witness.
- I am.
Well, I'll leave you to it, just give me the mail.
- All but the junk.
- Thank you.
I-- ah, yes! Insurance check? Road home money.
Actually, a notice of my closing date.
Sold out to road home, huh? Well, I got what I could, Davis.
Hmm, I'm in New York now.
( Music playing ) ( Vocalizing ) Come on, pick it up.
And march! ( Vocalizing ) No, keep going.
There, that's it.
Louder, louder.
All right, yeah.
Wait, wait.
Hold on.
You're supposed to turn the other way.
( Vocalizing ) Yeah, now, turn, turn.
Turn, left, left.
Your other left.
Step, keep going.
Keep it going, that's it.
Make sure-- No, no, don't come over here.
Why you coming over here when the band going that way? Where you going? Where y'all going? Go that-- Don't you walk-- You going to walk right in front of me? Y'all a band, not a herd.
( Door opens ) Hello? ( Door shuts ) Alison? Uh, no, I don't think so.
Oh, my assistant must still be at lunch, I'm sorry.
Is this a bad time for you? - From the coroner's office, right? - Right.
And you're Toni Bernette.
If I'd have known, I would have said something yesterday.
I'm LP Everett.
I'm a reporter.
With who? Uh, it's hard to say.
I'm kinda working for the investigative reporting program at the grad school out of UC Berkeley, but they kinda ran out of funding so I might be down here with "The Nation" magazine or "Pro Publica," maybe both.
So you're not local.
Um Well, I like the food, anyway.
( Laughs ) Boy, I thought we got rid of you.
There's still cash in the streets here, son.
I'm just getting started.
So what? You back on the tit with your FEMA boys or what? Not yet, but I see you still got work.
What's the game nowadays? Noah.
Noah? Like the ark? ( Scoffs ) N-O-A-H.
New Orleans Affordable Homeownership.
What's your contract? I'm a sub.
Getting what I can out this Florida lady who got the connect.
Christ, that's half-assed.
Your guys can't do better than that? Man, I'm demo and hauling, me.
This clever bitch got us out here pretending to do the work on this one.
Another two, she ain't got us doing nothing at all.
Pretending? Cheap door, some paint, cut the grass.
Bullshit only.
You walk inside, the whole damn place rotted out.
You got a name, address for the lady? I got an address over on Howard, but it ain't nothing but an office with a secretary.
I wanna connect with her I call her.
I need to start voting republican and shit.
( Dialing ) Vote your conscience, son.
You got a percentage? She pay by the house.
With me, you got points.
You know that.
( Keys jingling ) ( Door shuts, car starts ) Vigilante killings? In Algiers.
That was the tip anyway.
Shootings of blacks by white civilians during Katrina.
So you sued the coroner for autopsy reports.
Which ones? I asked for autopsies on every death in Orleans parish from the date of the Levee breaks until the end of September.
And? - Dr.
Minyard refused.
- ( Laughs ) So I filed suit three months ago, state judge found in our favor, and eventually I get the autopsies from the time period in question except for any deaths from gunshots, knife wounds or blunt-force trauma.
What they sent me was whitewashed.
Have you ever been to New Orleans before, Mr.
Everett? No.
Well, welcome to another world.
( Laughs ) I was told that I should look you up.
That you've been doing civil rights work since the '80s.
A long time to be ignored, I know.
Ahem, um I'm wondering if you know anyone in the black community over in Algiers.
I mean, if the coroner won't give me the autopsies, there's always another way to skin the cat, right? Oh, I haven't had a case over there in a decade, but I do know a guy that grew up in the Fischer Projects over on the West Bank.
He's a good investigator.
Okay.
I'll have him get in touch with you.
- Thank you so much.
- You bet.
( Music playing on radio ) ( Music fades ) That was Benny Spellman's "Lipstick Traces," which I wanted to get on today because Benny's been ailing since his stroke.
And between y'all and me, I was hoping that he might be around to where he be one participating in what is becoming known around town as "The Opus Without Pity"-- A work most definitely in progress.
"Oh, no," I hear you saying, "Davis, please, mother of God, say it isn't so!" It's so.
I've already signed up Al Johnson, Frogman Henry, and I'm coming after Benny and Irma next.
Yes, the great voices of New Orleans' rhythm and blues will speak to our current sociopolitical contretemps in a way that only they can, making puccini my bitch in the process.
Hey.
Yes, music lovers, "Katrina.
An opera in blues and funk.
" And to help fund this essential project, please allow me to shill for my other current endeavor, Mcalary's Musical Heritage Tours, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon and 3:00.
Starting on Rampart and Dumaine.
All proceeds benefiting the opera.
So please tell your friends, tell your family, but most importantly, tell the tourists.
Okay, well, I'm DJ Davis sitting in for Judy Wood on the day shift.
We have a fresh release from Delmond Lambreaux and his father, big chief Albert Lambreaux, of The Guardians, taking that Indian thing to where it never dared go before.
( Music playing ) ( Hammering ) ( Power saw whirring ) You know who y'all listening to? Que? On that radio there.
Turn that up.
( Volume increases ) That's me! Right there! Ese viejo esta loco.
( Laughs ) "Loco," shit! That's me on your radio.
And that right there? ( Trumpet playing ) That's my son on that horn.
( Laughs ) ( Coughing ) ( Bell ringing ) Sonny, you come for dinner tonight? Well, actually-- Actually, I was thinking I might take Linh to this restaurant-- Real nice place.
Clancy's.
- In New Orleans? - Yeah, uptown.
It's a real nice place.
I just thought-- No, no, no.
It too long to ride to New Orleans.
It 5:00 now.
By the time you change your clothes, get clean and go, you have no time.
You have to bring Linh right back.
Crazy.
Mr.
Tran.
Linh, me, we've been going out for months now.
Okay, for you tonight, restaurant, okay? Dong Phuong.
I treat.
I'm saying they locked me up, too, and nobody even know.
Ain't that a mess? You gonna sit there and pout because Glen David and Derrick took a charge for playing in the street and no one talking about you.
For real? I'm just saying.
Well, I'm just saying, Glen and Derrick, they ain't neither of them the assistant band director at Elie.
And how you think it would look to the school if you got locked up for giving the finger to the police all disorderly-like? Don't look now, Antoine, but you becoming a grown-up.
( Scoffs ) And you need to be carrying it like a grown-up.
I ain't no grown-up.
I'm a musician, God damn it.
Oh, yeah.
Barack Obama over TV: Because the legacy of their sacrifice You know, Glen, Derrick, and the Fraziers? They're gonna be in the Treme tomorrow night and playing for Kerwin again.
You ain't gonna be there.
Desiree.
You the assistant band director.
You making a steady wage.
You ain't getting locked up, Antoine.
( Huffs ) ( Mumbles ) Get my ass locked up any damn time I feel like it.
Yeah.
Barack Obama: America had not made the right choice over the easy choice.
Mark's a good guy.
Boys and him get along? Yeah, they're fine.
So Colts are looking good this year.
( Scoffs ) And you got that car race, right? - So how's the sorghum coming in? - ( Water running ) Come on, it's a place like any other.
You never really took to New Orleans even before the flood.
Didn't work for you, did it? Dreamers.
Dreamers and drunks.
I don't think I'm either.
Well, maybe you're in the wrong place, then.
Listen, Terry I've been thinking that Until you're out of that trailer and back in your house, I don't think the boys should be staying there.
Why not? It's a trailer.
It's like camping out or something.
I saw a report that all the FEMA trailers have formaldehyde.
People are getting sick, Terry.
( Speaking vietnamese ) _ Sonny.
You need to drive back now? Pssh, it's crazy.
Living in another century.
It's very different for you, I know.
If I don't get you back home in like an hour, he'll get back in that car, start rolling around the village looking for me.
An hour after that, every able-bodied vietnamese fisherman in Versailles will be hunting us.
( Horn honks ) Go to the canal? See the birds? That was last night.
Let's go down Chef Menteur.
We can watch the traffic light change.
( Laughs ) ( Both grunt, panting ) Don't-- Don't say anything.
( Chuckles ) Well, I'm not going to think.
( Giggles ) There will be no thinking.
We can talk about work.
You could tell me about your adventures in New York.
We could.
But I'm not going to.
( Chuckles ) I just want to lay around.
When's your flight? - I like it.
- You got used to wearing it long.
Yeah, I'm glad we decided to keep it.
- Sofia? Did you like what we did last time? - Sure.
Do you think you could make it so it's kind of not a hairstyle? Excuse me? Sofia: Something that says, "I'm not styling my hair.
I just am.
" You know? Like, "this is me just hanging out, not pretending to anything other than what's real.
" Well, well.
That coffee shop must be deep in the bywater.
It's worse than that, Jay.
Her boyfriend's a musician down there.
- Oh, God.
Sofia Bernette? - ( Chuckles ) Bywater crusty.
I'll bet you've been shopping at all the vintage stores.
Up and down Decatur Street.
Some nights she goes out dressed like something out of a Steinbeck novel.
Thanks, Heather.
Have you met him? No, I keep stopping in for coffee, hoping to catch a glimpse, but so far, I've been shut out.
When are you having him to dinner, Sof? When I'm 30, maybe.
( Chuckles ) Okay, gather close.
I'm DJ Davis, and today's musical heritage tour begins on hallowed ground.
J&M record shop.
( Camera clicks ) Cosimo Matassa opened a studio here in the '40s which gave birth to something called rock 'n' roll.
This place turned out more hits than any other studio in the country.
"Good Rockin' Tonight," all the Fats Fomino stuff, Little Richard, Ray Charles-- it's a laundromat.
Clearly.
But when you go inside and you stand next to the change machine You are more or less on the spot where Earl Palmer laid down the backbeat that changed the world.
But it's just a laundry now.
With a built-in daiquiri stand.
Questions? No, great.
Let's cross the threshold and partake.
( Laughing ) - Look who needs a trim.
- Hey.
- I got all the trim I need.
- ( Laughs ) Hey what up, Anthony, how you moms and them, man? We'd complain, but who would listen? All: Yeah.
All right.
This is my friend Louis.
Louis, meet the wise men of Algiers.
- How's it going, guys? - Don't nothing happen this crew don't know about.
Okay, do me a favor, though.
Call me LP.
I don't really like, Louis.
Ah, no problem, Lou.
( Laughs ) Don't get to harvest that kinda crop too often.
Right.
So how about them 'aints? All: Oh, man.
Same old saints, man.
- Yeah, the saints for lack of season.
- I don't know.
( Chattering ) Nice to meet you.
Holding the breeze by every one of them.
Gaze, if you will, at the grounds of Armstrong Park, home to Congo Square, where basically any American music worth talking about comes from.
Syncopated rhythms, call and response, the blue notes of West African slaves commingling on market days with the brass instrumentation of the European musical heritage.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the birthplace of jazz! Why don't we go there? Closed since the storm.
You mean they can't manage to clean up a park after two years? Dude, two years is but a twinkle in the eye of our civic leaders.
We've only got a marker in the general vicinity of Buddy Bolden's grave a few years back, and he's been gone for more than half a century.
So questions? Good.
Let's sojourn uptown.
Ms.
Mortensen? - Nelson Hidalgo.
Dallas, Texas.
- Nelson.
You ever been here? You sit, drink, and the bar spins.
For real, once around every half hour.
Are you with the government, Mr.
Hidalgo? Do I look like I'm government? Are you with the RNC, then? ( Chuckles ) I paid those dues in Texas.
Just like you paid them in Florida, I'm sure.
It's a big swing state, Florida.
Come on, sit, have a drink.
So you're not with the government and you're not from New Orleans.
I'm a contractor, just like you.
Right, then why do I need to know you, Mr.
Hidalgo? ( Chuckles ) And here we have the most important row of jazz landmarks left on Earth.
Starting here, the eagle saloon where Louis Armstrong's career began.
He won a talent show here when he was a kid.
He won that at the Iroquois Theater.
No, I'm pretty sure it was here at The Eagle.
That was when he put on makeup and performed in Whiteface.
That was a theater.
Why would there be a children's talent show at a saloon? Oh, that's no problem in New Orleans.
Kids in bars is one of our sacred traditions.
This says it was the Iroquois Theater.
In any event! This area was called back of town.
Armstrong grew up on Perdido Street over there in a house that we tore down in the '60s.
Did you people ever actually preserve anything of note? Preservation Hall.
Man: When was that founded? '60, '61, maybe? Really? That far back? Come on, son, this is bullshit.
Ridiculous.
Wanker.
( Alarm chirps ) ( Door opens ) ( Sniffing ) Alcide, darling, I think you left your salad fork in the potato server.
You know, where I was raised in the Sixth Ward, we were taught that it was bad manners to correct a guest for their manners.
If they picked up the wrong fork or poured beer into the wine glass, we were supposed to do the same.
But in no way would we be treating Ladonna like a guest.
Oh, I'm family.
All right, then.
Since I'm kin, I ain't gonna pay no never mind to how I'm supposed to do.
I'm guessing you don't have no malt liquor.
Nothing in a 40, huh? Maybe you got a paper bag? 'Cause I'm thinking about finishing this here up on the "cornder.
" ( Randall, Alcide chortling ) Excuse me.
( Larry whispering ) You are not helping.
( Whispering ) Me? What did I do? ( Sighs ) Baby, I'm doing everything I can to find a house for us.
What about that one up off City Park? Not enough room for both boys and my practice.
One bedroom shy.
Another month or two of this shit, and I really will go ghetto.
Ladonna will choke a bitch.
Heh.
( Chuckles ) Yeah, I know.
So go talk to the guy.
No way.
I don't know him.
What if he's a perv? Or worse, what if he's a food blogger? He's not.
He's one of yours.
He's from New Orleans.
And like others before him, he's come to poach my prize cook and offer fame and fortune back home.
So go talk to the mook.
I can't handle the suspense.
I'm not interested.
Sorry.
- ( Chattering ) - ( Drumroll ) ( Tuning instruments ) Keep your eyes open.
Keep in touch.
Man: Ho! What's up, son? ( Man #2 laughs ) ( Water running ) ( Water stops ) ( Water running ) Hey, pop.
See you got the cabinets up without me, huh? Finished the plumbing, so Hey, read some of these reviews.
They're strong for the most part.
You should have been at the CD launch.
The label actually threw a pretty good party.
Donald was there-- Terence, Wynton.
Well, that's your bag.
Gimme a hand with this door to the bathroom.
Come on, now, you're not proud? I get them lighting fixtures up in them bedrooms, I'll be proud.
You know, Wynton said it was pretty good, but it wasn't really jazz.
Wynton would say that.
But he don't get the last damn word on what's jazz and what ain't.
I been listening to and loving jazz since before that boy was a thought in Ellis's mind.
If he gave them songs even half a listen, he'd know that you and me done broke some fresh fucking ground.
Them songs are gonna stand, son.
( Whistling ) Let's get this thing started, man.
I hope y'all got that bail money ready.
Can't tell the sheriff I only got eight.
What's up, man? Hey.
How about, "Just A Little While"? ( Music playing ) Crowd: Just a little while to wait Just a little while to labor on the path that's always straight just a little more-- ( Siren whoops ) Whoa.
Which way you walking? We going down St.
Phillip all the way to St.
Claude, around Ursulines to Robertson.
Okay, we your escort.
All right.
( Cheering ) Taylor was right, I guess you did shame them.
( Snare drum playing ) Just a little more hard trouble in this low and sin-- ( Sighs ) Roast beef.
You? Oyster, me.
Don't ever change.
Of course not.
( Music playing ) We are all in this together said the captain to his crew it's pretty much a secret mission you are all the chosen few now let's sail in the morning and no one else can know we've got letters from Rome the sun got up over Belize Point as they slowly left the coast heading straight for open waters