Danny Barker's King Zulu project was part of a wave of 1950s Mardi Gras recordings that give us a window into the forces that influence the soundtrack of Carnival to this day.
"From the moment you first hit New Orleans, the city’s musical history is impossible to avoid. Fly into Louis Armstrong International Airport – the world’s only major metropolitan airport named after a jazz musician – and you’ll be greeted by a life-sized statue of the man himself. Instead of standard Muzak, you’ll hear local classics through the sound system. It could be The Meters’ 'Hey Pocky Way,' Armstrong’s ubiquitous 'What A Wonderful World,' or Allen Toussaint’s 'Shoo Ra' guiding you toward baggage claim. If it’s lunchtime you might even find a jazz combo playing in the piano bar.
There are locals who swear that everything great about American music came from New Orleans. And, to large extent, they’ve got a point. Credit that partly to New Orleans being a seaport city, or the 'northernmost point of the Caribbean' as it’s sometimes called. From the start, New Orleans music was about absorbing a world of influences and creating something uniquely funky and tasty out of it. ..."
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