NOLADrinks Show – 4-12-18 – Soul Skillet – Tom Oliver of Coffee Science and NOLA Jazz History – John McCusker

On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we’re celebrating French Quarter Festival! We have another #SoulSkillet segment where we chat with Tom Oliver, owner of the café Coffee Science and member of the band the Royal Pendletons. Next, a fascinating chat in our featured interview with jazz historian and guide, John McCusker of the Cradle of Jazz Tour. We emphasize the early history of jazz in the place of its birth, New Orleans, and the need to preserve important historical landmarks here in the city.

Pictured above from left – Tom Oliver of Coffee Science and The Royal Pendletons and Bryan Dias of NOLADrinks.

NOLADrinks Show – 4-12-18 – Soul Skillet – Tom Oliver of Coffee Science and NOLA Jazz History – John McCusker

We start things off talking about the 35th annual French Quarter Festival. We mention how we will be covering the event and how special it is. We also tee-up this week’s show (a bit – went on a lot about the fest!)

First up, we welcome Tom Oliver to the show for another edition of our #SoulSkillet segment. He is the owner of a new artisanal coffee shop called Coffee Science. He is also a local musician and, most notably, a member of the enigmatic band, the Royal Pendletons. There are a terrific group that still lives, to some degree, in legend. Their style of modern trash or garage rock is truly entertaining. They didn’t record much, but you can find certain bits and pieces online. Be on the lookout – they still pop-up from time-to-time for gig here and ther. We talk about the shop, coffee, and the band. Thanks to our friends at Louisiana Music Factory for hosting us while we taped this segment with Tom!

After #SoulSkillet, we circle back on today’s show and cover some news in the world of drink and food.

In the second half of the show, we have our featured interview with jazz historian and tour guide, John McCusker of the Cradle of Jazz Tour here in New Orleans. John is a passionate and dedicated researcher in the world of jazz. He has worked to dispel many of the myths associated with the birth of this American artform that came to be in NOLA. He is also a strong advocate for the preservation of the locations (for example, homes of jazz pioneers that still exist) and the real story of the personalities and music.

We talk about John’s background as a photojournalist, how he became interested in his work with jazz, and discuss much of the history and myth of the music as it came to be in the early 20^th century. We also talk about the surprising lack of protection and historical recognition given to many of the landmarks associated with the early period of the music. This is ironic in that New Orleans is a city that depends on tourism for our economy with many folks coming to visit us for our music and its history. We talk about some specific instances of this and current efforts to achieve much-needed protection. It’s a fascinating chat!

Below the map that shows the location of Coffee Science and Louisiana Music Factory, you can subscribe to, stream, and download The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias podcast…

Cheers, You All!

~ Bryan