|We Are So New Orleans:| It’s been a weird 9 weeks for us all, but I’m excited about some really cool projects I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes with some of the city’s acclaimed performers and @Hosts New Orleans!
Our music and culture is the heartbeat 💓 of New Orleans. As the city prepares to “reopen” and the tourism industry slowly returns, the music and culture will excitedly be waiting! Stay tuned for some really cool announcements this week…
We’re looking forward to celebrating culture with our visitors, guest and clients again!
🤷🏾♂️ I’m confused… somebody help me out here. It’s articles like this that disturb my chill.
Title says: New Orleans in the age of coronavirus is quiet and strange. But like after Katrina, musicians and artists are planning a revival
Article says: Trombone Shorty wants to drone from his roof (I can help you with that Lil’ Homie)… another dude been working on Bourbon Street since he was 8 years old (speaks volumes if you’re really interested)…
Article ask: “Is it like Katrina in New Orleans?” is the question that keeps recurring. It’s the event by which all disasters are measured.”
Article concludes with: “New Orleans survived Katrina and that makes its people feel like it can defeat anything. That’s New Orleans. Stay strong, stay firm and be for real and come back and do what you been doing.”
My problem with the article: WHAT IS THE REVIVAL MUSICIANS AND ARTIST ARE PLANNING and WHO ARE THE ARTIST AND MUSICIANS PLANNING IT?
My question: What is the revival plan? Who’s planning it? When will it be announced? How do New Orleans “musicians and artist” get involved?
My summary: These are the kind of articles that hurt the culture and cultural economy more than embracing the culture. It’s a feel good story with no resolve. Overall, it insinuates that the streets are quiet without our entertainment, but “the city” will return when this is over, because, you know, free music and dancing, that’s resiliency. But there’s no mention of economic support. No mention of PPE or small business support. No mention of millions of dollars being raised on “behalf of the culture” but never trickling down. No mention of financial or economic incentives.
Dear author, New Orleans musicians returned from Katrina broke, broken, battered, bruised, and with no plans or support mechanisms in place so we were forced to do what we do best, using our talents to pay the bills. Truthfully that’s resiliency. And that resiliency is no different from rebuilding your life after a house fire or tornado. But due to coronavirus, Ruth Chris’ received $20 million and Shake Shack received $10 million, and the New Orleans airport received $42 million. New Orleans musicians are still trying to receive $600 weekly unemployment benefits,
7 weeks into this pandemic!
—Dr. Brice Miller, founder @The New Orleans Music Company
|Today is PERFECT JazzFest’n Weather:| According to schedules and emails, I’m suppose to be heading from the trailer to backstage prep for my 2020 JazzFest performance…
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As per tradition, on today, the first Saturday of NOLA JazzFest, Dr. Brice Miller and the Mahogany Brass Band was scheduled to rock the Norman Dixon Jazz & Heritage Stage! We were looking forward to recording a live CD. I’d bought the freshest @colehaan shoes on the market; always fresh and sharp. I’d been working out too.
And to finally outdo @Trombone Shorty during our last song I’d planned to strip down to my purple pearled g-string underwear, pink polka dot socks and crowd surf! Well, I guess there’s always next year, hopefully…
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#iambricemiller #jazzfest #neworleansjazzfest #bam #jazzman #culturalentrepreneur #meetoo #trumpet #livingmybestlife #normandixon #mahoganybrassband #embracetheculture #cityofculture #theneworleansmusiccompany http://www.thenomc.com 📸by James Scott Cullen
Ah yes! This is our time of the year. Between the New Orleans French Quarter Festival (early April), JazzFest (last weekend of April and first weekend of May), through Essence Festival (July 4th weekend), The New Orleans Music Company is usually crazy busy, booking dozens of musicians at not only the festivals, but a host of weddings, parties, conventions, and more.
Well, thanks to this ol’ pesky COVID19, let’s just say the new normal ain’t no fun.
To being a little cheer during these dark times, our friends over at WWOZ (wwoz.org or 90.7FM in New Orleans) decided to dig into their archives and organize a sorta virtual JazzFest. They’ll be airing performances throughout the next two weekends. They’ve even created cool performance “cubes” that JazzFest is known for. So if you want some New Orleans in your life, tune-in!
Our new era of physical distancing forced the eight-day festival to cancel for the first time in its history, but WWOZ 90.7 FM is still celebrating the music with Jazz Festing in Place.
So, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, April 23-26, and April 30-May 3, WWOZ will broadcast performances from Jazz Fests past, including sets by Ella Fitzgerald with Stevie Wonder (airing at noon Thursday), Fats Domino, Little Queenie, Dr. John, Alvin Batiste, Herbie Hancock, Widespread Panic, Allen Toussaint, Big Freedia, Pete Seeger and the Neville Brothers. There will also be second line broadcasts and the 1974 “Fire Benefit,” featuring Professor Longhair, the Wild Magnolias and Dr. John. That airs Friday, May 1.
The New Orleans Music Company is glad to have two of our performers featured: Dr. Brice Miller and the Mahogany Brass Band and Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra. We’d also encourage you to check out gospel superstar Raymond Miles (RIP). See the schedule (cubes) below:
To help make the experience as real-life as possible, we will be selling our artist CDs online for $17 (includes shipping) and $15 for download card. All we need is your email address and phone number. Visit the this link and tell us what you’d like —> https://thenomc.com/contact/
Dr. Brice Miller and his Mahogany Brass Band gets people grooving at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, 2018.
So, on today, April 14, 2020, New Orleans Mayor Cantrell recommends no festivals for 2020 due to coronavirus. The New Orleans Music Company ask: Is this the best approach? Were any additional options such as utilizing digital platforms and Pay Per View? Might this be a deathblow to an already fragile tourism-centric economy?
Mayor LaToya Cantrell put New Orleans on notice Tuesday that the festivals and major events postponed by the coronavirus outbreak may not be happening this year at all.
In a press conference at City Hall to update residents on the city’s coronavirus response, Cantrell said she was recommending that the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other large events be put on hold for the rest of 2020, a move that would keep potential visitors from igniting a new COVID-19 outbreak even if it choked off the city’s tourism-focused economy for several more months.
Her staff later said it was too soon to discuss the possibility of an executive order to that effect, but said that Cantrell has been in touch with some festival organizers about her wishes.
“My opinion is all of that should be pushed back, period,” Cantrell said. “Absolutely no large events as it relates to the year of 2020.”
The recommendation, if enacted, would mean the cancellation of this year’s Jazz Fest, which was postponed until the fall, as well as the Essence Festival of Culture, the French Quarter Festival and a host of other events that together bring millions of tourists to the city and have either been postponed or were still planned for later this year.
When calling for the festival cancellations, Cantrell said she worried not just about New Orleans’ progress in “flattening the curve” and reducing the number of cases — and deaths — from the pandemic, but about the progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in other states that might have residents who travel to New Orleans for those events.
The mayor’s staff said her recommendation on events extends even to smaller gatherings on the city’s festival circuit, like the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, which planned to finalize its date this month.
Festival organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. In a prepared statement, Mark Romig, Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Co., which promotes tourism in the city, said that the city’s tourism industry would be guided by the advice of health experts and government officials.
“We all know how important our festivals are to our economy and, most importantly, we know that must follow the guidelines that federal, state and city health experts and leadership recommend to safeguard our health,” Romig said. “We will get back to hosting festivals just as soon as it is prudent to do so.”
But Cantrell stopped short of saying whether her recommendation would apply to New Orleans Saints games and the 76,000-odd fans that pack into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for every home game.
Cantrell said that the NFL as a whole is struggling with those decisions.
“Those who are in the right position to have those types of conversations, they are having them. And I believe they will end up in the right place,” Cantrell said. “But at the end of the day, we have to be realistic. And I think the data should drive what we’re able to do.”
The information above is from today’s local newspaper.
In a separate interview, the founder of The New Orleans Music Company shared a few thoughts on today’s announcement:
Considering all, Dr. Brice Miller, former Director of Cultural Economy for the City of New Orleans isn’t sure Cantrell’s announcement was timely nor supported by industry experts and festival organizers. “Yes, this is a public health crisis we are dealing with globally. However, this is also 2020, not 1920. Technology is both our friend and our primary communication during these unprecedented times,” Miller said.
“This seems like another knee-jerk reaction from the Mayor. There are multiple ways each of these festivals and event could be hosted using cyber presentations and viewing, including Pay-Per-View, which still supports the economic impact of these massive events. People all over the world love New Orleans. Imagine folk from every corner of the planet paying to watch New Orleans musicians and cultural performers bring some happiness to this current dim world? Unfortunately, Cantrell dampened the possibilities by not having those who’re most informed on her team.”
“Remember how after Katrina we touted how resilient New Orleans was? Hosting these festivals, in innovative ways would be the best way to highlight resilience isn’t just a political feel good term,” Miller stated.
As one of the premiere musician-owned entertainment providers, today’s notice from the Mayor is like striking up the funeral dirge. To now think, March 14th through the remainder of the year, no gigs, no performances, no cultural economy…
What are your thoughts on the Mayor’s announcement? What options do you think should be considered?
UPDATE: The following statement was issued by the New Orleans Saints football team following Cantrell’s comments:
“We are preparing to play and we are being very proactive in working with health care professionals, our medical staff and both the NBA and NFL. In addition, we are in constant contact with local and state government,” said Greg Bensel, senior vice president of communications and broadcast for the Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bensel added that when the Saints return in the fall, “our highest priority will be the health and safety of our fans, staff, players and coaches. It is what we need to do and are doing relative to planning to play and we will be ready.”
“And considering the economic and cultural significance of the Saints, we are working to do everything in our power to make it work. It’s too important for our city,” Bensel said.
How quickly our lives have changed. From packed clubs on Frenchmen Street to outdoor weddings, performing for big and small events, private and public, touring the world to suddenly having ALL events canceled, clubs closed, and mandated “Stay At Home” orders from state and local leaders. But today, we celebrate LIFE!
Dear Friends,
If you could join The New Orleans Music Company in saying Happy Birthday to New Orleans’ own –– Dr. Brice Miller!
There is so much we can celebrate. His many accomplishments. His representation of the city and culture he loves so much. The ways in which he brings about positivity and happiness through both his music and his spirit. His love for his family. Maybe the simple fact that he has invested so much in celebrating New Orleans. But considering everything, we’d like to celebrate that on today, we can celebrate life.
Thanks to coronavirus, there won’t be a party, a parade, a crawfish boil, a barbecue, nor a gathering with friends and family. We cyber-celebrating!
Let’s sing, for my dad… Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday Dr. Brice Miller aka super cool dad, loving husband, and awesome trumpeter. Happy birthday to you!
In the groove together,
Milan Miller, Operations Manager
Dr. Brice Miller is SO NEW ORLEANS!
Have you heard Dr. Miller’s newest New Orleans theme song? If not, take a listen below!
|Do The Bunny Hop🐰:| For all of us, this will be the weirdest Easter EVER!
For New Orleanians, this will be the quietest Easter EVER! No Chris Owen Parade. No Pigeon Town Steppers Secondline Parade. No Lake Front. No Frenchmen Street. No Claiborne under the bridge. No Bourbon Street. No brunch. No crawfish boils. Is this really real?
But on behalf of Dr. Brice Miller and all the musicians and artist @ The New Orleans Music Company we promise you, The Sweet Sounds of New Orleans and EVERYTHING that makes us beautifully weird WILL RETURN…
We are wishing each of you and your families a beautiful and safe quarantined Easter celebration @ HOME. Like you, we can’t wait for this to be something we talk about rather then exist in. And yes, we are busily booking post-coronavirus dates. So secure your dates and entertainment now.
Everyone, I mean everyone take a month to 8 weeks off. Have the banks excuse mortgages, landlords rent, utilities, credit cards, car notes, store credits, cable and any other finacial obligations dismissed now till the end of May. Relieving everyone’s financial stress. Not postponed, dismissed! Banks and corporations, insurance card companies and profiteers suck it up for one month.
Have only essential services operate. Everyone stay home. Clean your house, help clean your neighborhood, read, work on self development, education, work on hobbies and indulge in new ones, plan for a better future and whatever else to keep it positive without the stress. Let it pass. Why should we risk our health, having unknown infectious people spreading COVID-19 for because folk are still forced to work to pay bills?
Ask ourselves what’s more important health or possible death to pay your bills and run your business for one month? The banks are getting assistance, to the tune of a trillion dollars. Let’s do a complete shut down. Maybe we could take the time to reflect and think about how to be more considerate, kind and loving to all of our neighbors. Maybe we could use this time to reestablish the essence is family by spending this time TOGETHER. Maybe we can use this time as an opportunity to figure out how we can make America Great, for once.
And hey, maybe for once also, we can get the politicians to listen to We The People.
|Talk Dat Talk Tuesday:| Be careful what you ask for and be even more careful about what you pray for…
Today begins a 4 month escapade of nonstop performing, touring, recording, concerts, creative partnerships, and traveling. Additionally, my entertainment firm @theneworleansmusic Company is about to redefine cultural engagement and expanding nationally/internationally. Yes Lawd, EXCITED!
Here are some really cool shows and public performances you can check out:
12•4 @ Mardi Gras World Float Den w/ Dr. Brice Miller’s Urban Swing Project
12•4 @ Snug Harbor w/ Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, 10pm
12•5 @ Ritz Carlton w/ Dr. Brice Miller Jazz Quartet, 5pm
12•6 @ N.O. Jazz Market w/ Adonis Rose and New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s tribute to Duke Ellington’s Nut Cracker Suite, 7:30pm
|Small Business Saturday:| Ain’t no off days in this cultural entrepreneur life…
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This is Jessica and Josef, they live in Atlanta, but love New Orleans, and they’re getting married there this Spring! Being the awesome cultural entrepreneur I am, always going the extra mile to provide the best services. Being I’m currently in Atlanta celebrating the Saints and my wife’s birthday, I decided it be cool to meet them in person, so we met at their favorite Buckhead coffee shop to discuss all their entertainment needs to ensure #theneworleansmusiccompany provides the perfect soundtrack for their BIG DAY!
We go the extra mile in EVERYTHING that we do…
This is why @theneworleansmusic is the #1 musician-owned entertainment company in New Orleans. Support us @ http://www.thenomc.com — We the BEST!
|Kick’N Some Brass with Dr. Brice Miller:| What Had Happened Was… Lady and her husband flew to New Orleans, Uber’d to Frenchmen to see me perform. Got to Spotted Cat and found out I wasn’t performing, wife passed out. Husband rushed to her aid, asked what happened; “Baby, Dr. Miller ain’t playing tonight. He’s chilling with his family.” He passed out too! Paramedics were called to the scene… Current situation. City Tourism Commissioner asked if I could come say hello to them. I’m off tonight, chilling with my family!
Ah yes! This is our time of the year. Between the New Orleans French Quarter Festival (early April), JazzFest (last weekend of April and first weekend of May), through Essence Festival (July 4th weekend), The New Orleans Music Company is usually crazy busy, booking dozens of musicians at not only the festivals, but a host of weddings, parties, conventions, and more.
On behalf of all our musicians, cultural performers, artist, and our entire team… We say MerryChristmas and Happy Holidays!
