Folklife Festival Concert Transmits Spirit of New Orleans

11 July 2006
Folklife Festival Concert Transmits Spirit of New Orleans
Celebration prevails over mourning with Davell Crawford and The Dixie Cups
By Elisa WaltonWashington File Staff Writer


The Dixie Cups perform Saturday, July 8, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. (File photo - ©AP/WWP)


The Dixie Cups perform Saturday, July 8, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. (File photo - ©AP/WWP)
Washington -- On Saturday evening, July 8, a large crowd that had gathered beneath a huge tent to hear some music from New Orleans seemed to become like family. Musicians recognized their neighbors in the audience, brought spectators up to dance on the stage and transmitted a sense of the indomitable spirit and culture of their Southern city.
The program was one in a special series of evening concerts featuring the sounds of New Orleans as part of the Smithsonian Institution's 2006 Folklife Festival on the National Mall. (See related article.)
Chuck Siler, a curator for the Louisiana State Museum and an organizer of the event, called the first performers, The Dixie Cups, "a wonderful set of ladies."
Promising the audience "a little trip to New Orleans," the vocal trio set the crowd dancing with spirited renditions of many of their past hits, including "Chapel of Love," from 1964. The group formed in New Orleans in 1963, and its music follows the rhythm and blues tradition.
Davell Crawford, also known as "The Prince of New Orleans," entertained the audience next with more contemporary music. Siler called Crawford's group "some of the best musicians around," and said of Crawford, "I told him today to rip it up, [since] I've been going around bragging about him."
The memory of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in New Orleans in August 2005 could have made the concert, part of the series "Been in the Storm So Long," a sad one. However, the performers brought an enthusiastic audience to its feet by the end of the first song. (See related article.)
"New Orleans is such a beautiful place, and no wind and no rain can wash us away," said Crawford.
Between songs, Crawford mentioned that he saw many familiar faces from New Orleans in the crowd, and members of both groups left the stage to dance with people in the audience during the performances.
After the show, several audience members approached Siler, thanking him for organizing the event and telling him the part of New Orleans from which they came.
Said one woman from the 7th Ward: "We were crying the whole time, but we loved it. Thank you."
Crawford, a vocalist and pianist, performed a wide range of music from New Orleans, with traditional jazz, gospel, funk and rhythm and blues influences.
"No matter if you’re black or white, everybody's had the blues once or twice in their life," said Crawford. "So many people want to be healed by so many beautiful songs."
The Dixie Cups sang mostly upbeat music that set people of all ages to dancing. Six of the braver audience members volunteered to go up on stage, where they followed, or tried to follow, directions from the singers, such as, "Shake your tail feather."
At the end, the audience rated the dancers with applause, and the three most popular were awarded Mardi Gras beads.
Later in the show, the dancing crowd swelled to the whole front half of the tent and the singers threw out more beads to outstretched hands while playing "When the Saints go Marching In."
Sue Livera, an audience member who chose not to dance, was enthusiastic. "Anything that smacks of rock and roll, I love," she said.
Additional information on the Smithsonian Folklife Festival can be found on the festival’s Web site.