The Maple Leaf Bar is a music performance venue in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States. It is also a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and hosts other events.

Background

The Maple Leaf is on Oak Street in the Carrollton neighborhood. Opened on February 24, 1974, it is one of the longest continuing operations of New Orleans' music clubs with live performances seven nights a week. On the first night Andrew Hall's Society Jazz Band played and were there every Saturday for seven years. Many of the old time musicians were featured, including members of the

Preservation Hall Jazz Band The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a New Orleans jazz band founded in New Orleans by tuba player Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s. The band derives its name from Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. In 2005, the Hall's doors were closed for a p ...

. The Society Jazz Band left in the summer of 1981 but have played there several times since then, including the 30th birthday party in 2004 and the 40th birthday party in 2014. Musical styles represented include

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, R&B,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

jam bands A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often c ...

. Frequent performers have included

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was a New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards. Musician Dr. J ...

Rebirth Brass Band The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins,Skelly, RichardAllMusic Profile Retrieved 2013-02-9 and classmates from Joseph S. Clark ...

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, ''Alright Again!''. Early life Br ...

Henry Butler Henry Butler (September 21, 1948 – July 2, 2018) was an American jazz and blues pianist. He learned piano, drums, and saxophone in school. He received a college degree and graduate degree and taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative ...

Walter "Wolfman" Washington Walter "Wolfman" Washington (December 20, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American singer and guitarist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. While his roots were in blues music, he blended in the essence of funk and R&B to cre ...

, Papa Grows Funk, and The Radiators. The bar has been an incubator for young bands formed by students at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, Loyola University, and the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

. In recent history, the bar has weekly hosted residencies from acts such as

Tank and the Bangas Tank and the Bangas is an American musical group based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest and in November 2019, they were nominated in the Best New Artist category for the 2020 Grammy Awards. They have released ...

The Revivalists The Revivalists are an American rock band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2007. The eight-piece band consists of Ed Williams (pedal steel guitar, guitar), David Shaw (lead vocals), Zack Feinberg (guitar), Rob Ingraham (saxophone), George Gek ...

, George Porter Jr.,

Jon Cleary (musician) Jon Cleary (born August 11, 1962
BMA. ) is a British-born American

Johnny Vidacovich John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. (born June 27, 1949) is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski. He has also worked with Bobby McFerrin, Stanton Moore, Charlie H ...

. Porter still holds a weekly, Monday night residency at the bar with his trio, featuring Terrence Houston, and Michael "Goldenthroat" Lemmler. Poet Everette Maddox was so closely tied to the venue that his ashes are buried in the bar's patio area. The Maple Leaf hosts poetry readings and fashion shows. The

Krewe of OAK The Krewe of OAK is a small neighborhood New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe and parade held in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. The parade starts and ends on Oak Street, presumably the origin of the name, although members say that ...

starts and ends its parades at the Maple Leaf, where it holds its Krewe Ball. The Maple Leaf is thinly disguised in the

Ellen Gilchrist Ellen Gilchrist (born February 20, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, ''Victory Over Japan''. Life Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a ...

short story "The Raintree Street Bar and Washerteria" (the bar used to contain a laundromat). Poems about it can be found in ''Mirror Wars'' and ''Shards'' by

Nancy Harris Nancy Harris is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. She was given the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2012. Early life and education Harris is the daughter of Anne Harris (journalist), Anne and Eoghan Harris. She was educated at Trinity C ...

, ''Body and Soul'' and ''Rhythm & Booze'' by

Julie Kane :''Disambiguation: for the character voiced by Kate Micucci see Motorcity#Protagonists.'' Julie Kane (born July 20, 1952 in Boston) is a contemporary American poet, scholar, and editor and was the Louisiana Poet Laureate for the 2011–2013 ter ...

; ''The Everette Maddox Song Book'', ''Bar Scotch'', and ''American Waste'' by Everette Maddox; and in the anthologies ''The Maple Leaf Rag'' (1980), ''The Maple Leaf Rag 15th Anniversary Anthology'' (1994), and ''Maple Leaf Rag III'' (2006).

Hurricane Katrina

The Maple Leaf was closed for several weeks in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. Owner Hank Staples remained in New Orleans to guard the bar and his other properties while vowing in interviews with to host the first concert in New Orleans after the storm. On September 30, 2005, Walter "Wolfman" Washington played the Maple Leaf's first post-Katrina show in New Orleans. (Some other local musicians who were playing in the aftermath of the storm dispute the claim that it was the city's first post-Katrina public performance, but this was the first to generate such sizable crowds and media attention.) That night many of the journalists, cameramen, and crew from NBC News and other media outlets joined the party and recorded the event. The band's equipment was powered by a diesel generator because electricity had not yet been restored to most of the city. The concert was shut down by police and National Guard because the city was under a curfew. Electricity was restored to this section of the city about a week later.

Live albums

/ ''Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah'' (1993) *

/ ''The Main Event: Live at the Maple Leaf'' (1999) * Papa Grows Funk / ''Live at the Leaf'' (2006) * Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Russell Batiste, Jr. / ''Live at the Maple Leaf'' (2008) * New Orleans Suspects / ''Caught Live at the Maple Leaf'' (2012)

References

External links

Official site

National Public Radio

Post-Katrina reopening audio story
{{Music venues of Louisiana Culture of New Orleans Jazz clubs in the United States Jazz in Louisiana Music venues in Louisiana Nightclubs in the United States Tourist attractions in New Orleans Uptown New Orleans Historically African-American theaters and music venues

Background

Hurricane Katrina

Live albums

See also

References

External links