'Carnival Time' At Music Summit
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, a New Orleans Mardi Gras icon for over 40 years, kicked off the Future of Music Coalition's annual policy summit on Monday with a rousing rendition of his latest song, "Lower Ninth Ward Blues."
Johnson, whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, is best known for his ditty "Carnival Time," which dates back to February 1960. There have been numerous releases of the track over the years and its creator has fought to secure his legal rights to it.
FMC Executive Director Jenny Toomey said her group has spent time in the Big Easy in the past year organizing what she called "musician activist camps." The events brought bands to the recovering region to "look at what's not happening" with respect to the reconstruction effort and talk about media policy, she said.
"There's no place to understand more clearly how important infrastructure is than in New Orleans," Toomey said. The historically musical city was failed by its infrastructure, from levies and local elected officials to federal overseers, she said.
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