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Treme

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Slightly belatedly just getting to the end of Treme, with it’s 4th season.

For anyone not familiar it is a drama by The Wire team about a disparate group of characters trying to put their lives together in post-Katrina New Orleans. Haven’t seen it discussed too much here but there is much to recommend it.

1. The music – I never seen a drama that included so much music – possibly a third of each show includes live New Orleans bands, and it is often in the background of other scenes. I have discovered quite a lot through the show and ther are also accompanying cds, plus websites where they namececk every song in each episode – it’s a real treasure trove.

2. The setting – different, contemporary and familiar but somehow slightly exotic

3. The subject – it’s not crime, fantasy etc but about the real drama in these peoples lives across the social spectrum. It can be a bit slow and a bit preachy but the writing and the tunes pulls it through.

4. The characters – well drawn and believable (ish, once again occassionally “really??”)

5. The acting – strong across the board (apart from DJ Davis) including many Wire alumni

So, the point is – if you haven’t tried it, do so. I guarantee you’ll like some of the characters and their stories are all well distinguished. If nothing else, good tunes……

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Comments

  1. I love it. New Orleans is my special tea after all. To have all these great artists caught on film is a great thing. The guys that made it really knew their stuff. There are some lines that I think I might be the only person outside of area code 504 that gets them.

  2. You really make me want to give it a go.

    This thread overlaps nicely with my Carnival one. I keep digging up lots of interesting things about the whole Mardi Gras culture and the Indian tribes.

  3. Give it a go. One of the lead characters is an Indian Big Chief. It’s very a accurate.
    I’m very privileged. I’ve been to an Indian rehearsal and they portray that perfectly in Treme.

  4. A superb series from start to finish, imbued with an unerring sense of place. The plot is not afraid to proceed at a leisurely pace. A bit like life, really. David Simon, you are one of the greatest creative geniuses in the history of television.
    As timtunes says, a very strong ensemble cast – but twist my arm and I’d give the Top Treme actor award to Khandi Alexander for her portayal of LaDonna.

  5. Jorrox, I’m jealous you say an actual Indian rehersal – it does imply in the show that there can be quite an intimidating atmosphere?

    duco01, yeah you are probaly right with LaDonna but for sheer pleasure it’s difficult to get past Bunk, sorry Wendell Pierce – particularly when ythat grin comes over his face…

    This tune I’s never heard before it was used as a closing credits tune

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUHBjVMsNmw

    • Yup, an actual rehearsal. This would have been around ’96. I got pally with Irma’s band (even got to play on stage with them and her) and they adopted this blue skin Celt. I got to see places that don’t exist!

  10. For a time, in the 90’s, I ran tours in New Orleans. I first went on an organised tour – ran by Mrs Richard Thompson aka Nanci Covey. I got to now the guys in Irma’s band and being a player myself got to play with them in the warm-up set before Irma came on stage. I was asked up one night to play behind Irma but I totally shat it and stayed in my seat. Wish to god I hadda done it now!

    Later on I started my own tours, aimed at musicians who wanted to know the real New Orleans. Nanci still runs her tours but mine had to stop as I didn’t have enough funds to get it established. Festival Tours is the name of Nanci’s and I can well recommend it.

    So, the guys in the band adopted me and took me to places like La Donna’s Bar, the places that tourists would never find. One of them turned out to be a place where a tribe met and did their thing. I can’t actually remember which tribe it was but it was a real privilege to be there, no matter what tribe it was!

    I could post all day but I think this might be better. There is a site called The Cosimo Code devoted to cataloguing all the 45s that came out of Cosimo’s studio post 1960. The site will tell you all about that. Along the top of the page, click on a year and you will get all the sides that have been ‘found’ so far. Many have audio/youtube links. Enjoy!

    http://cosimocode.com/

    • Butting into this old thread.
      The “Real Davis” aka Davis Rogan is doing dates in the UK right now. Edinburgh Tuesday, Glasgow Wednesday and London sometime after that. And Ireland after that.

  12. Hah! I know the guy that does the tours that Davis’ was based on. A fella called John McCusker runs this but it’s from inside a people carrier rather than on foot. He specialises in early jazz rather than R&B but many of the places that he takes you were places that Davis took his people too.

    Mine was more hotel/tickets/advice but I did also take my people on John’s tour. He takes you to the only cemetery in the city that is above the water table and can bury bodies in the ground. This is where Buddy Bolden was buried in a pauper’s grave. One one visit I found the grave of the recently deceased Jessie Hill (Ooh Poo Pa Doo) and he was there with only a wooded marker which has probably been destroyed by insects and weather by now.

    Holt Cemetary link
    http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=67811

  14. Give me a shout if you do – I was last there in 2010.

    If you can only do two weeks go for Jazzfest. If you can do a month do French Quarter fest and Jazzfest and spend the time between in the Cajun Country.

  17. NOLA has been my guiding star since I was in my early teens. I hardly listen to ‘new’ – don’t have time with collating over7.500 NOLA R&B tracks. Plus NOLA jazz, brass, Cajun, Swamp Pop, Swamp Blues etc.

    I’ve been to Memphis and Nashville – you won’t find a 10th of the music there that you’ll find in NOLA.

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