117. Sandy Rosenthal

117.  Today we interview Sandy Rosenthal, the founder of Levees.org.  She founded the website and the group as a response to Katrina to advocate for stronger levees and other flood defenses.  Following the government failures surrounding Katrina, Sandy began leading citizens to hold agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers accountable, to correct misrepresentations of what happened, and to demand better protection for New Orleans and other coastal cities. Now she has been named a Hero of the Recovery by the Editors of New Orleans Magazine. 

1. This week in Louisiana history. August 16, 1814. US gunboats attack Barataria, destroying all ships and pirate contraband.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Jazz drummer, cornetist and melophone player Arthur "Monk" Haze was born Harvey on August 15, 1903. He played with Emmett Hardy, Stalebread Lacombe, Abbie Brunies (the Halfway House Orchestra), and Tony Parenti. Monk led his own Bienville Roof Orchestra (which played for atop the Bienville Hotel at Lee Circle, and made recordings in 1928) and then spent time in New York playing with Johnny Wiggs, Jack Pettis and with his own group (1929–31). Hazel was in Hollywood for a period (working with Gene Austin) but eventually came back to New Orleans, performing with Joe Caprano (1937) and the Lloyd Danton Quintet. Hazel spent 1942-43 in the Army and then worked for a time outside of music. However during his final 20 years, Hazel was once again quite active in New Orleans, performing with Sharkey Bonano, George Girard, Mike Lala, Santo Pecora and virtually every other important name in New Orleans jazz. 

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Sandy Rosenthal