Jordan Hirsch
@mrjordanhirsch.bsky.social
Freelance writer: https://www.jordan-hirsch.com/
Editor of the interactive map of New Orleans music history at ACloserWalkNola.com
Editor of the interactive map of New Orleans music history at ACloserWalkNola.com
When ICE gets to New Orleans
November 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
When ICE gets to New Orleans
RIP Jeff Hannusch, who spent the 1980s talking to musicians in New Orleans who'd changed the world in the 1940s-60s, and left us books that are still essential to understanding their stories.
November 13, 2025 at 2:19 PM
RIP Jeff Hannusch, who spent the 1980s talking to musicians in New Orleans who'd changed the world in the 1940s-60s, and left us books that are still essential to understanding their stories.
Apparently an animated one won an Oscar!
October 3, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Apparently an animated one won an Oscar!
Percy Humphrey, leader of the Eureka Brass Band and, later, member of the Perservation Hall Jazz Band, provided musical accompaniment for two appearances by Ferdinand the Bull in 1944. "Ride him if you wish."
October 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Percy Humphrey, leader of the Eureka Brass Band and, later, member of the Perservation Hall Jazz Band, provided musical accompaniment for two appearances by Ferdinand the Bull in 1944. "Ride him if you wish."
Early jazz star Leon Roppolo (Benny Goodman's idol) had a mental breakdown and was sent to the same institution as jazz progenitor Buddy Bolden. The place was segregated, but they could have played in its band together--both had horns inside. Hopefully Roppolo paid his respects and they got to jam.
September 11, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Early jazz star Leon Roppolo (Benny Goodman's idol) had a mental breakdown and was sent to the same institution as jazz progenitor Buddy Bolden. The place was segregated, but they could have played in its band together--both had horns inside. Hopefully Roppolo paid his respects and they got to jam.
New Orleans musicians to Benny Goodman in 1949: Debate me, Breaux. (These ads are great, too. Shout out to Miss Ice Cream at K&B.)
September 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
New Orleans musicians to Benny Goodman in 1949: Debate me, Breaux. (These ads are great, too. Shout out to Miss Ice Cream at K&B.)
You can livestream this tonight. The first hour is a reception, talk starts at 6:00 cst: m.youtube.com/@NOLAJazzMus...
August 28, 2025 at 4:58 PM
You can livestream this tonight. The first hour is a reception, talk starts at 6:00 cst: m.youtube.com/@NOLAJazzMus...
1991 Times-Pic profile of Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes
August 19, 2025 at 7:25 PM
1991 Times-Pic profile of Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes
Today's Times-Picayune asserts that Cantrell started as "anti-establishment," but she ran to Dana Kaplan's right to get on the City Council and was an Aspen Institute fellow in her first term...she may have been left of old New Orleans but she was never a Mamdani-like figure.
August 18, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Today's Times-Picayune asserts that Cantrell started as "anti-establishment," but she ran to Dana Kaplan's right to get on the City Council and was an Aspen Institute fellow in her first term...she may have been left of old New Orleans but she was never a Mamdani-like figure.
There is nothing more "New Orleans in 1991" than Art Neville in a Saints Zubaz hat and Cha-Ching (sponsored by Rally's) shirt. Looks like black and gold Zubaz pants, too. Pure Dome Patrol.
August 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
There is nothing more "New Orleans in 1991" than Art Neville in a Saints Zubaz hat and Cha-Ching (sponsored by Rally's) shirt. Looks like black and gold Zubaz pants, too. Pure Dome Patrol.
For Stanley Kubrick's birthday, a shot from the trip he took to New Orleans in 1950 on assignment for Look Magazine. He took photos of a bunch of musicians (the trad jazz revival was picking up steam at the time); here he is with George Lewis' band.
July 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
For Stanley Kubrick's birthday, a shot from the trip he took to New Orleans in 1950 on assignment for Look Magazine. He took photos of a bunch of musicians (the trad jazz revival was picking up steam at the time); here he is with George Lewis' band.
From Wavelength Magazine in 1983: Charles Moore, Cyril Neville, and Terry Manuel in front of the pride of the 13th Ward, Benny's Bar.
July 24, 2025 at 7:48 PM
From Wavelength Magazine in 1983: Charles Moore, Cyril Neville, and Terry Manuel in front of the pride of the 13th Ward, Benny's Bar.
Somebody made the Gordon Gartrelle shirt
July 21, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Somebody made the Gordon Gartrelle shirt
From Jay Mazza’s book
July 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
From Jay Mazza’s book
"Irm" Thomas caught my eye, but also: 3 dance floors falls short of one dance floor per Neville Brother. Do better, Ole Man River's in 1977!
July 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
"Irm" Thomas caught my eye, but also: 3 dance floors falls short of one dance floor per Neville Brother. Do better, Ole Man River's in 1977!
Ad from 1945. An accurate slogan for asbestos, just not for the reason they intended...
June 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Ad from 1945. An accurate slogan for asbestos, just not for the reason they intended...
From the new National Public Housing Museum in Chicago: George Floyd and his sister LaTonya loved “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon, so the lead singer gave her this platinum record.
May 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
From the new National Public Housing Museum in Chicago: George Floyd and his sister LaTonya loved “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon, so the lead singer gave her this platinum record.
1941: a family moving into the McCulloh Homes, a public housing complex then opening in Baltimore, arrives in a horse-drawn cart
May 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
1941: a family moving into the McCulloh Homes, a public housing complex then opening in Baltimore, arrives in a horse-drawn cart
Ed Buckner and the Original Big 7 SAPC Mother’s Day second line passing the Sidney Bechet mural on N. Claiborne Ave.
May 11, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Ed Buckner and the Original Big 7 SAPC Mother’s Day second line passing the Sidney Bechet mural on N. Claiborne Ave.
I'm looking through post-Katrina stuff, which is fairly brutal, but found this long-forgotten note from a young attendee of a benefit concert for New Orleans musicians held in the months after the flood
May 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I'm looking through post-Katrina stuff, which is fairly brutal, but found this long-forgotten note from a young attendee of a benefit concert for New Orleans musicians held in the months after the flood
When the guitarist/banjoist Danny Barker moved back to New Orleans from New York, he bought this house, which was still listed as a "colored" property years after the passage of civil rights legislation. The Times-Picayune apparently had no problem with this.
May 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
When the guitarist/banjoist Danny Barker moved back to New Orleans from New York, he bought this house, which was still listed as a "colored" property years after the passage of civil rights legislation. The Times-Picayune apparently had no problem with this.
Silver Synthetic at Jazz Fest today, playing the hits
April 27, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Silver Synthetic at Jazz Fest today, playing the hits
This is the moment when the reenactment reached the mint where the Confederacy made its currency (now the New Orleans Jazz Museum).
April 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This is the moment when the reenactment reached the mint where the Confederacy made its currency (now the New Orleans Jazz Museum).
98-year-old Lawrence Cotton on piano today. He toured with Guitar Slim when “The Things That I Used To Do” blew up in 1954. I didn’t realize till adulthood that I grew up around the corner from him.
April 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
98-year-old Lawrence Cotton on piano today. He toured with Guitar Slim when “The Things That I Used To Do” blew up in 1954. I didn’t realize till adulthood that I grew up around the corner from him.
Every building in New Orleans may become a boutique hotel
April 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Every building in New Orleans may become a boutique hotel