My Lil’ Darlin’ All-Star Revue

By Lyndsey Beaulieu

This Saturday, January 12, the producers of ‘Treme’ will host its fourth annual fundraiser, “My Lil’ Darlin’ All-Star Revue.” It’s no secret that ‘Treme’ is a music show, so when it comes to fundraisers, it should come as no surprise the same holds true: It’s all about the music.

The night will boast performances by some of New Orleans legendary artists: Robert Parker of the 1965 R&B hit “Barefootin’,” Clarence “Frogman” Henry of “Ain’t Got No Home” fame, Blues guitarist Little Freddie King, vocal harmonizers The Pfister Sisters, and local favorites, Guitar Lightin’ Lee and Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, just to name a few.  And because in typical New Orleans fashion anything worth doing is worth overdoing, there will be special appearances by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, two Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famers who collaborated on a string of hits in the 1950s and ‘60s, including “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That a Shame.” The band leading the night is far from your average house band. Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show is more like an all-star jam session of New Orleans top musicians assembled to rock the house. There’s Paul Sanchez on electric guitar, Matt Perrine on bass, Alex McMurray on guitar, Jermal Watson on drums, Craig Klein and Mark Mullins on trombone, Bill Malchow on piano, and Arsene DeLay and Debbie Davis on vocals. 

The proceeds from the night will be split between two local nonprofits whose mission is to preserve the musical heritage and culture of New Orleans by instilling that culture in the city’s youth. The Roots of Music provides an after-school program for at-risk youth that enriches their lives through music education, instrument instruction, and ensemble performance, all free of charge for the kids who participate. Likewise, Tipitina’s Foundation supports all that is New Orleans music through childhood music education, as well as through the professional development of adult musicians in the community.  Our goal Saturday night is to make a meaningful contribution to both Roots of Music and Tipitina’s Foundation so they can continue to do the vital work of supporting the New Orleans music community and preserving one of the main things that make New Orleans, New Orleans – the music.  

‘Treme’’s own musicologist, Music Supervisor Blake Leyh, sums it up best: “We’ve had great ‘Treme’ charity fundraising events in the past, but the music was playing second fiddle to the auction. Not this time – now it’s about the music.  With such an incredible lineup of musical guests, this will be a night for the history books.  Don’t miss it!”

For tickets and more information: http://www.tipitinas.com

Unanswered Questions

By Lolis Eric Elie

One of the challenges of narrative writing is trying to determine when or whether your established characters will intersect. Of course, reality has no such constraint. In real life it is both highly unusual and quite commonplace for people from opposite sides of the track to encounter each other. But in fiction, if it happens too often, it seems as if the writer is manipulating his or her characters. From the writer's point of view, sometimes it's a matter of efficiency. If established characters never meet, new characters must be created at a pace that can leave relatively few faces with which the viewer is familiar.

For example, in Season 1, Daymo, the missing brother of LaDonna Batiste-Williams (Khandi Alexander) is also a friend and employee of Janette Desautel (Kim Dickens) and Jacques Jhoni (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine). Daymo's plight also connects Desautel patron Toni Bernette (Melissa Leo), LaDonna's lawyer.

In this season's finale, there's a benefit for Gigi's, LaDonna's night club. It brings together lots of our characters and musicians. You might have thought that that scene was our way of tying everything up in a neat bow; our way of putting everyone together on stage to accept their applause in a grand finale. But there are so many questions unanswered.

Will LaDonna reopen Gigi's?
Will Janette mend fences with Tim Feeny (Sam Robards)?
Will Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn) un-retire?
Will the medical treatments succeed for Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters)?

It's official now. We will have a fourth season, albeit an abbreviated one. We don't have an air date yet. But we're already busy at work writing and producing new episodes. If you want to know what's going to happen next, watch this space.

Interview With Blake Leyh

By Lolis Eric Elie

When David Simon and Eric Overmyer first started talking about a series about New Orleans, they wanted it to revolve around the city's rhythm and blues tradition. Both of them are fans of the music  and they dreamed of creating a show that would feature it. Years later, as 'Treme' started to take shape, the failure of the federal levees offered up several story lines that helped add a bit more heft to their original idea. But, as David sometimes says, if you're fast forwarding through the music performances on 'Treme' to get to the plot, you're missing the plot.

The final determination of which songs will be chosen for each episode is a job shared by the executive producers and the writers of the respective episodes. But much of the credit for the quality of the live performances and the selection of the music included in the show goes to Blake Leyh, our music supervisor. He's worked with David and Blown Deadline Productions for years so he understands the producers' musical sensibilities and high standards for authenticity in sound design.

Like so many titles in television, it's hard for outsiders to know what in the world a "music supervisor" does. I put that and other questions to Blake recently.

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