Crossing the threshold between the bar and the corridor with the stage at one end, the foam spillover of my frozen Sierra Nevada Trail Pass dripping through my fingers leaving a liquid trail in my path, is like stepping through a portal in time. It’s dark in the club. The air is sultry and a must hangs in the air that still seems to carry the faint memory of decades-old cigarette smoke still baked into the paneling on the walls. The Maple Leaf Bar in NOLA is an iconic venue, the former home of New Orleans stalwarts such as James Booker, Kermit Ruffins, and the Rebirth Brass Band. This is theplace to catch the drumming of one of New Orlean’s most storied characters behind the tubs, Johnny Vidacovich.
Johnny Vidacovich Trio at the Maple Leaf, NOLABorn in New Orleans, LA in 1949, Vidacovich has played and recorded with such luminary New Orleans musicians as Professor Long Hair, James Booker, Mose Allison, and Dr. John. You may not have known his name before reading these words, but you’ve heard his influence if not his drumming. From the first strike of the bell of his cymbal he begins weaving a story. He leads you down cobblestone side streets of rhythm in disrepair. You trip over the history of New Orleans music as the rumble of his toms signal the approaching train. Every sound of the New Orleans streets is in his drums. He’s a keeper of the city’s storied musical history and he invites you to follow his bucket-hatted 2nd line as he ambles and shambles through the streets he knows like the back of his wrinkled gig-worn hands.
Johnny speaks to the audience. A true legend and NOLA character!The music gets slinky. Marie Laveau still lives in the whispers and the walls of New Orleans. The drumming gets dark. Sticks rattle like bones ready to be read against the shells and rims of Johnny’s drums. His brushes hiss like vipers and wisps of smoke across the head of his snare and the grooves etched in his cymbals. You are in New Orleans after all, and Vodun is still alive and well in the shadows. Hairs on the back of your neck and goosebumps raise on your arms as you realize you’ve unwittingly signed on for a musical séance. The trumpet wails the cry of an ancestor called to dance to the thump of the bass and the incessant Bum chi bum bum, bum chi bum bum of the bass drum and hi hat.
Soul!There are still musicians and venues in this country that hold historic knowledge and significance. They’re still connected to the direct lineage of the music. It’s an intravenous connection. Make the effort to seek them out and, if you’re fortunate, a little of that magic will stay with you and inform your journey. Decelerating with my family after making the return trip last night, we were watching the Golden Globes. One actor said, “Cinema should be seen in the cinema.” He was alluding to the dying practice of going to the movies and sharing that magic with others in a public space. Johnny V said the same thing from the stage of the Maple Leaf. He thanked the audience for doing our part, for bringing the joy he was feeling, for making it easy to play. We were part of the music. We are part of the music. And if we’re going to keep music alive, we have to keep going out and supporting live music, venues, and artists.
Until next week,Jason
PS- Happy New Year! I can't wait to get 2026 started with a gig at Little Beast Bistro this Thursday from 6-8pm with the John Howard Trio! Come out and see if I absorbed any of Johnny V's gris gris!