In the words of New Orleans' very own Steamboat Willie, "Summerti-----me, and the livin' is easy----". Well many residents and visitors of New Orleans would say so, but the Lake Zurich HS Jazz group might be singing a different tune, or at least different lyrics! This jazzy team braved the heat and rain to gain a variety of experiences in New Orleans during their visit the second week of June.
The week here began with their performance in Jackson Square (way cool!), followed by tours of the swamp, areas of the city affected mostly by Katrina, and the French Quarter. In addition to the tours, they took a ride on the Natchez Steamboat, where their band director played a few songs with the house band. Needless to say that steamboat had never seen such an enthusiastic audience before!
The other aspect of their trip was to work work work! The crew spent four days pouring their efforts into restoring the homes of New Orleans residents.
They painted
They laid tile
They used big saws and power tools!
But the most exciting job that they accomplished from HH2G's perspective is the irrigation trenches that they dug for Garden on Marais!
To top off their awesome week in New Orleans, we contacted our musician friend Steamboat Willie (many of you may remember him). Steamboat is located in a nice little cafe off of Bourbon St. in the French Quarter. He leads a jazz ensemble and invited some of the young jazz students to accompany his band one evening. These brave students did an amazing job playing along with the band, and even performing their own improv solos! We are so proud of them aaaaaand sort of turned into a slightly less annoying version of the paparazzi.
Attention Lake Zurich crew:
We expect autographs next time we see you guys!
