It lets wealthy French Quarter residents squelch the tradition of street music that is the basis of our jazz traditions and the education of youngsters who want to perpetuate musical traditions. Over the past week or so the OffBeat office has been barraged with letters and e-mail from local musicians, music business activists and music lovers around the country who are outraged at the new ordinance supported by Councilman Troy Carter which once again will place limits on when street music can be played in the French Quarter, his councilmanic district. The limitations are proposed for stopping music at 4 p.m. on weeknights and 7 p.m. on weekends on the streets of the Quarter and 2 a.m. at local bars. We feel the street musicians should be able to play until midnight on weeknights and 1 or 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. OffBeat has long had a positive stance on preserving street music it s the lifeblood and root of musical tradition in New Orleans.
Street music is also one of the things that makes New Orleans unique.
OffBeat supports it and will continue to do so. But we d also encourage local musicians to stop and consider that not everyone appreciates street music being played until midnight underneath their window every evening. That s not an attitude that s conducive to finding a solution to a problem where everyone benefits. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys music, and insisting that it be played til midnight on weeknights is not a viable solution, unless we want to turn the French Quarter into a tourist-only neighborhood. Therefore there have to be some compromises made.