518. Sam Irwin on Jazz

518. We talk to Sam Irwin about his new book on jazz history. "Why did Louis Armstrong choose the Fourth of July as his birthday? What did Independence Day mean to southern Blacks in 1901? How did jazzman Joe Darensbourg of Baton Rouge, the musician who played clarinet on Louis Armstrong’s 1963 smash hit “Hello, Dolly,” encounter not one, but two serial murderers in his long career? The answers are found in Sam Irwin’s new book, The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age. Autographed copies $24 plus $3.49 media mail shipping rate in the U.S." SamIrwin.net

1. This week in Louisiana history. April 21, 1804. Gov. Laussat, last French Gov., leaves Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Reverse Freedom Rides
   April 21, 1962. The Reverse Freedom Rides of 1962 were a deliberate parody of the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in the previous year. Also called the Freedom Rides North, African American "participants" in the Reverse Freedom Rides were offered free one-way transportation and the promise of free housing and guaranteed employment to Northern cities. George Singelmann of the Greater New Orleans Citizens' Council orchestrated the Reverse Freedom Rides, which served as the Citizens' Councils' means of testing the sincerity of Northern liberals' quest for equality for African Americans. This attempt to embarrass Northern critics of the Citizens' Councils was a way of, in Singelmann's words, "telling the North to put up or shut up." Public outcry against the Reverse Freedom Rides was swift and direct, with groups such as the Urban League of Greater New Orleans leading the chorus of disapproval. WDSU Radio released a statement in April 1962,that typifies the response: "WDSU believes the Freedom Bus North movement is sick sensationalism bordering on moronic."
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival
   May 5-7, 2023
   Parc Hardy
   Breaux Bridge, LA
   Website
   The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, held the first full weekend in May, provides the perfect opportunity to witness over 30 Cajun and Creole bands over three days, coupled with the delicious crustacean, the crawfish. Sample crawfish dishes prepared every way imaginable–fried, boiled, étouffée, bisque, boudin, pie, jambalaya and crawdogs–along with other Cajun and Creole favorites. The Crawfish Festival also hosts a parade, crawfish eating contest, Cajun and Zydeco dance contest, crawfish étouffée cook-off, crawfish race, and carnival rides for young and old alike, as well as an arts and crafts fair.
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. The Original Dixieland Jass Band. 1917. 

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