Ned Sublette

Sublette writes this story from a very interesting perspective. He's a Southerner--he was born in the South, and as you'll read here he has lots and lots of vivid memories of growing up in the South in the ~1960s. But he's also very much a New Yorker--he's lived there for years and a lot of his sensibilities are formed by being a New Yorker.

He's also steeped in the music of the African diaspora to a degree well beyond the degree to which all of us have been. And music is not at all a bad vehicle to tell this story.

So Sublette's an outsider with all kinds of knowledge (and access) that makes him a very special outsider.

As the published review notes, this is a highly personal look at pre-Katrina New Orleans, but I can hardly think of a better personal view to take in.… (meer)

I picked up this book on a visit to New Orleans, wanting to learn more about what has made the city such a unique place. The title seemed apt and initial skimming piqued my interest. I didn't realize that it would focus almost exclusively on the colonial or antebellum period, nor did I expect the many discussions of African musical traditions and how they played out in places such as Cuba and St. Domingue. That said, I think it is a very good examination of the many social and musical forces of the period that set the framework for New Orleans' evolution. Understanding this "world that made New Orleans" (particularly the different colonial regimes, their slave codes, and the effects on people of color) explains much of why New Orleans has always been more of a world city than a Southern one.… (meer)