Mardi Gras Lilies

C'est Mardi Gras ce soir! Can't you hear the sounds of New Orleans Jazz, Blues, Soul, and Zydeco spilling out of bars and cafes? Music transports me. Tonight, I'm there! I've got Dr. John's, Such a Night, turned up. Dr. John, who died last year, was known as the Piano Soul of New Orleans. Listening to Creole Moon, and Right Place, Wrong Time, I've got to agree.  

Pianist, Jelly Roll Morton went further, proclaiming himself the inventor of Jazz. Born in the New Orleans of 1890, Morton played piano in brothels. His ragtime music is known around the world. Give Steamboat Stomp, or Shreveport Stomp a listen.

New Orleans men have a bravado about them. Professor Longhair, is called the Piano God of New Orleans. His, is a unique sound. New Orleans pianists are as varied as Elis Marsalis, and Harry Connick Jr. Each one is the heart and soul of New Orleans!

  

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Devout Catholics observe lent with sacrifice and penance, in the days leading up to Easter Sunday. Some give up chocolates, some give up alcohol, and some abstain from sex. The night before all that fasting, and sacrifice, is one of total excess! Eat, drink, and be merry!

I am not intoxicated, however, the intoxicating fragrance of lilies fills the home. I love the spicy scent of Oriental lilies. They're exotic and theatrical - perfect flowers for Mardi Gras!

As they say down South, laissez les bon temps rouler!  Let the good times roll!