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New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans
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 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 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 US, 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.
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 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 US, 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.
- GenresMusic
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 12, 2024
Wide ranging and varied, deeply personal and fonky, a very good anthology of New Orleans musicians. If you want to learn about the music of NOLA, read this. I couldn't help wondering as I read, that 12 years after this was written and 18 after Katrina, how those covered herein have survived and kept the music alive.
February 3, 2012
An encyclopedic, yet deeply personal catalog of the local New Orleans musicians and their efforts to restore their music culture in their home city.Some names are very familar, like Dr. John, Irma Thomas, the Neville family, and Harry Connick, Jr. These are people we immediately associate with New Orleans. Others I was not aware of, yet from the stories and chronicles of concerts and collaborations, I see that there are layers and layers of musicians in this city which is a family.
It also explains the derrivation of the Second Line, as well as the Mardi Gras krewes and parades.
Reading this book is like consulting Google Earth--you click on a location and it grows from a pin point to a closeup of a street corner and a line of roof tops, right before your eyes.
I recommend also reading John Barry's excellent RISING TIDE: THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI FLOOD of 1927. (Perhaps you've heard Randy Newman's song, "Lousianna" about this same event...) for some background on the Mississippi and the levees and the Army Corps of Engineers.
It also explains the derrivation of the Second Line, as well as the Mardi Gras krewes and parades.
Reading this book is like consulting Google Earth--you click on a location and it grows from a pin point to a closeup of a street corner and a line of roof tops, right before your eyes.
I recommend also reading John Barry's excellent RISING TIDE: THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI FLOOD of 1927. (Perhaps you've heard Randy Newman's song, "Lousianna" about this same event...) for some background on the Mississippi and the levees and the Army Corps of Engineers.
April 19, 2013
This was a great book that really educated me about New Orleans and the struggle to save the culture following Katrina. More than anything else the book exposed me to musicians that I hadn't really given much attention to and now enjoy on a whole other level. John Swenson does a great job revealing the heart and soul of these musicians and the spirit of a magical and special city. Dr. John, Anders Osborne, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Paul Sanchez, The Radiators, Trombone Shorty, Glen David Andrews, John Boutte and Susan Cowsill are just a few of the musicians covered in this book.
July 1, 2011
A must-read for anyone interested in post-Katrina New Orleans an its music; also, a must-read for TREME fans of that even needs to be said. I have added about 20 items to my download queue thanks to Swenson's wide music coverage net, and I can't wait to hit the Crescent City in August.
August 7, 2011
This book about musicians in NOLA after Katrina was a quick and interesting read. This is an issue that is close to my hesrt and I was happy to see a book addressing it.
October 4, 2011
This book has turned me on to so much new music it's crazy!!!!
January 16, 2013
If you like New Orleans music, you will love this book! Interesting ready about how so so so many of NOLA's musicians fared and came back after the Federal Flood.
Did Not Finish
August 12, 2016I very much wanted to like this, but it was tedious and poorly edited and awkwardly written.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews