New Orleans

JAZZ & BLUES CLUBS 179
within an additional, even cheaper cab ride, if not walking distance,
of each other. We strongly urge you to leave the Quarter at night to
visit some of the town’s better joints.
However, if you aren’t up to that, don’t fret. Some of the best jazz
and brass-band clubs are right in the Quarter. And only steps away
is the excellent scene in the Frenchmen section of the Faubourg
Marigny, where at least six clubs and bars are going at once within
3 blocks of each other. However you decide to do it, don’t miss it.
New Orleans at night is not New Orleans during the day, and not
to take advantage of it is to miss out. You could stay in your hotel
room with the covers pulled over your head, but if that’s what you
want, you came to the wrong city: Just tell yourself you’ll sleep when
you get home.
For up-to-date information on what’s happening around town,
look for current editions of Gambit, Offbeat, and WhereY’at, all
distributed free in most hotels and all record stores. You can also
check out Offbeat on the Internet (www.nola.com; once you get to
the NOLA home page, go to the music and entertainment section).
Other sources include the Times-Picayune’s daily entertainment
calendar and Friday’s “Lagniappe” section of the newspaper. Additionally,
WWOZ (90.7 FM) broadcasts the local music schedule
several times throughout the day.
1 Jazz & Blues Clubs
THE FRENCH QUARTER & THE FAUBOURG
MARIGNY
Blue Nile It’s taken a long while for the dedicated owner of
Blue Nile to get it back in order after post-storm damage and insurance
tussles, but his victory is complete with a well-scrubbed new
facility. Grit like that, plus loyalty to the city, should be rewarded,
which is easy, since the Nile is smack in the center of the thriving
Frenchmen club scene, and so is easily added to your list of stops.
The two-story club has better than average sightlines, except for
near the bar where archways can obstruct views. There should be
excellent pizza (it’s owned by the same people who do Rocco’s in the
Quarter) for late-night munchies upstairs, and at least three shows a
week by a wide variety of locals plus late-night DJ’s. 532 Frenchmen St.
& 504/948-BLUE. www.bluenilelive.com. Cover varies.
Donna’s A corner bar at the very northern edge of the
Quarter, Donna’s has become one of the top spots for great local