jürgen fauth’s muckworld

The last time we saw Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor, we were shaking our bones to Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers at the Jazzfest fairgrounds. Now arrives their documentary, directed by Logsdon and produced by Faulknor, telling about a storied New Orleans neighborhood that barely appears in the textbooks — even though in the Tremé , “the sit-ins began in the 1800s, the Harlem Renaissance started before the Civil War, and the roots of jazz music and Creole cuisine were being nurtured every Sunday in Congo Square.” Like everything else in New Orleans, the film was delayed and profoundly altered by Hurricane Katrina; the storm had changed the history of the Tremé and needed to become a part of the film.

It’s muckworld policy not to rate movies made by friends, but it’s worth noting that Logsdon, Faulknor, and writer/narrator Lolis Eric Elie take the exact opposite approach from Ed Pincus and Lucia Small, who headed south after the storm to make The Axe in the Attic without any apparent connection to the city. Faubourg Tremé illustrates all that was hopefully not lost when the levees broke — and the music is kick-ass. My own short movie from April 2006 is on YouTube.

Faubourg Tremé. Dawn Logsdon, 2007. N/R

From the secure, undisclosed New Jersey location where we’re weathering the storm, here’s a muckworld roundup, covering the triumphs, marriages, deaths, drug convictions, and ambivalent critical reception of five artists so famous their first names are enough.

Jami
I have neither video nor photos to prove it, but an exquisite literary time was had at KGB Bar on Friday, where Jami Attenberg celebrated tax day and the release of her Instant Love paperback together with Pauls Toutonghi (Red Weather), Darin Strauss (Chang and Eng and The Real McCoy) and Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires.) Jami read a story about anonymous sex with accountants. Darin Strauss played the Dobro, and Anya Ulinich sang the Internationale. I have it on good authority that less than half of those in attendance actually recognized the song, which indicates that it’s been a good long while since everybody was angelic and sentimental about the workers. The dustbin of history, indeed.

Kermit
Finally, good news from New Orleans: Kermit Ruffins got hitched! I realize St. James Infirmary isn’t quite appropriate, but it’s the best Kermit on YouTube. Congratulations, and thanks for all the BBQ. (And thank you for the tip, Robbi Jeanne.)

Kurt
“If you read Kurt Vonnegut when you were young — read all there was of him, book after book as fast as you could the way so many of us did — you probably set him aside long ago,” begins Verylin Klinkenborg’s piece in the Times. I followed her advice and just picked up Cat’s Cradle for the first time in 15 years, and it’s even better than I remembered. Around 1999, I saw Vonnegut speak, but at that point, he wasn’t my wavelength at all and just seemed like another bitter old Luddite griping about how superior the post office was to sending email. My friends Dusty and Kathleen enjoyed hanging out with him afterwards, so perhaps it was me who was bitter. Either way, Kurt could write. John Leonard in The Nation: “God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut.” Mourning at Metafilter and on Maud Newton.

Quentin
That Cleopatra rant was my last word on Grindhouse, but there are a few more pieces worth pointing out: Filmbrain, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last week, thinks Quentin needs a girlfriend, and the Looker agrees with my assessment that Death Proof is just way dull. At The House Next Door, Keith Uhlich and Matt Zoller Seitz have a debate that’s twice as exciting as the actual movie–and almost as long.

Trey
Trey pleads guilty. IANAL, but five years probation with mandatory prison in case he slips sounds like a tough deal. Hang in there, Trey. We love you. Push on ’till the day and don’t you listen to that evil Amy Winehouse. A video of better times:

Saturday was ReBirth and Kermit, laid back and sweaty. Femi on Sunday, tight and wet. Last night, an oddity: a Phish release party for the Island Tour at the Canal Room. Kevin Shapiro spun choice tracks and video, including some very nice footage from Big Cypress. People were getting down pretty hard for a Tuesday night in TriBeCa–but aren’t we supposed to be on summer tour right now?