Treme: Death of a neighborhood, survival of a culture

well just across North rampart from the wwl Studios is the historic Tremaine neighborhood considered sacred ground to the culture bearers of New Orleans but today many feel Treme is in trouble of losing that cultural identity the neighborhood that was once vibrant and filled with music has gone silent so we asked what happened to Treme and can we stop this community from losing more cultural ground here's part one of my special report death of a neighborhood survival of a culture it's Sunday in New Orleans and there's energy surging through the streets at shermaine it's a familiar sound in smell and as time passes a growing excitement a crowd gathers in the streets anxiously awaiting the call of a drum [Music] the sound signifies it's time to second line [Music] [Applause] [Music] the black men of Labor has paraded for more than 25 years after the death of famed musician Danny Parker who believed in upholding the traditional jazz standard Danny single-handedly cultivated the tradition of brass band music because it was it was dying Danny said if we don't teach these young guys how to play this music through attrition we gon lose and as tradition would have it the social Aid and pleasure Club second line through Faubourg tremé considered sacred ground to many but when the music slows down during the dirge mourning ensues the parade moves sombrely down the street some remembering the death of a friend loved one musician or public figure others mourning the death of a neighborhood don't you [Music] from Esplanade to st. Louis brought to North rampart Treme is considered ground zero for culture and activism in America the oldest integrated neighborhood free people of color thrived with more than 80 percent owning land in Treme during slavery in the deep south it's home to one of the earliest known civil rights movements in the south dating back to the 19th century when residents formed the Citizens Committee selecting term a resident Homer Plessy to directly challenge segregated railroad car laws in Louisiana plus he versus Ferguson will lead to the separate but equal doctrine we know as Jim Crow laws and businesses lined the streets of play born Avenue providing a solid economic base for Treme and then there's the music from Louis Armstrong playing in the red-light district known as storyville and jazz clarinetist Alphonse Baku to Betty Jones striking up with the Treme brass band and Trombone Shorty picking up his first horn jazz was born on these streets and passed down from generation to generation I can remember seeing Trombone Shorty and his his literally and his little brass band in diapers playing on shorty you know you know playing on plastic trombones and beating on pots and boxes musicians educators artists craftsmen political activists all would find themselves immersed in one of New Orleans first suburbs the neighborhood that was the multicultural epicenter of New Orleans including Kermit Ruffins musically do you think New Orleans would be what it is about to me I'm quite sure that Treme contribute at least 65 to 75% of this culture for his jazz is concerned in the birthplace of dancing Wallace Treme brought the world-renowned musician to the neighborhood when he was just 18 years old just a few miles down from the Lower Ninth Ward you know fell in love with it and I never went back to the loan that cool I wanted to wake up and a heart of let's remain well the music was real popular and real vibrant I mean on any given day would look like Mardi Gras and 9:00 in the morning what is for me right now trim II was on it was one of the best neighborhoods in America to me as we knew it is there it is died why do you say that because all the juice has been over of the action of the sufferer the cultural oxygen the children the resident d'etre that we once woke up in the morning and live for Asia it lapa how you doing man like the second line said past of the neighborhood those who used to call Treme homes say culture has become transient leaving it with no sense of community but where did Charmaine soul go according to the culture bearers at left right along to those who call the neighborhood home some willingly others unwillingly the neighborhoods were just beautiful they were just you could you would all just like in the seventh Ward I'm trimming you'd walk through those neighborhoods you could smell people cooking you know you could hear kids playing and laughing you could hear your people conversing on steps everybody would see you and see how the part of the tree minute I knew coming up is dead is gone the folks aren't there anymore there's - unless you bring those people back you never have that part of the trimming oh yeah we may never meet jazz vocalist John boutté a has long been a vocal critic of the changes happening in Treme changes he says forced out some of the poorest people who provide some of the richest cultural experiences [Music] after Hurricane Katrina a song he recorded about his life in Treme had resurfaced on the HBO series bearing the same name when you wrote that song yes what you kind of had a resurgence which for me right well you know what I wrote that you know in 1993 and nobody cared about truly yeah nobody cared about your me you know and anybody says different I dare them to prove that to me the series featured musicians and characters throughout New Orleans as they attempted to recover after Hurricane Katrina one of those musicians as Benny Jones founder of the Treme brass band we have with the people in the neighborhood I was in Syria twice I was into Syria trivia moving it really helped people and they got it get in to see what really went on in Benny was born in Treme starting the Dirty Dozen brass band before branching off to start the Treme brass band but even Benny can't deny the betrayal of Treme on screen on the Internet just about anywhere versus the reality of Treme in 2019 present a stark difference the hair plenty musicians in this neighborhood yeah the plenty of cold here thematic rap guy with the migraine in his neighborhood mother family musician come out to live black smokers Jonathan Harry now you know John Boudreau it is in the 90s and seven you can walk the border ball and will they have plenty live entertainment in their neighborhood so what is he like now oh it's going all that's gone [Music] architecture bars restaurants neighbors all gone leaving Treme as a shadow of its former self so what happened to charm a those who live through it blame a myriad of issues all in the name of urban renewal in part two of my series we explore how gentrification urban renewal and transportation projects literally bulldoze through Treme forever changing its landscape as a community we'll continue our special report tomorrow night at 10:00

Channel: WWLTV

Views: 16,823

Keywords: Tremé, Treme, New Orleans neighborhood, Treme culture, wwltv, WWL-TV, gentrification, gentrification new orleans, NOLA treme, treme HBO, second line culture, second line, treme culture, treme neighborhood, air BNB new orleans

Id: DXKsGol8cAQ

Length: 9min 34sec (574 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 26 2019