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Everyone knows about Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Folks in New Orleans will tell you about the colorful history of the celebration, and how it reflects the heritage and diversity of the city. Outsiders are more likely to talk about wild debauchery, hangovers and crushing crowds of spectators. The reality of it is somewhere in between. Everyone agrees that it draws people from far and wide, hoping to be part of a spectacle.
New Orleans hosted the first Mardi Gras parade in 1857, presented by the Mistick Krewe of Comus. By that time, Osgood Shepherd had been carousing on the eastern shores of the Cedar River for some twenty years. Osgood likely could have taught those first revelers a little about making your own party.
In the aristocratic spirit of New Orleans' great multicultural festival, and paying homage to Linn County's alpha rogue, we present Krewe Osgood. Krewe Osgood believes that every day is Fat, although some are Fatter than others. The Krewe is here to remind you that beneath all the tradition, pageantry and cultural expression that makes Mardi Gras special...
...it's all about the party!
If Mardi Gras is the best-known tradition of New Orleans, then the music of Mardi Gras is its greatest export. Full of joy and humor, the music of New Orleans is woven so deeply into the American tapestry that it has impacted most styles of American traditional music. From the brass Jazz bands playing Dixieland through the streets to the Afro-Caribbean and Creole cultural stew that sent the Blues to Chicago, Memphis and beyond, the music of New Orleans is everywhere. Krewe Osgood visits almost a century of the Mardi Gras heritage, covering Rhythm and Blues, Dixieland, swamp fonk, mambos and straight-up rock 'n roll, and includes a nod to the classic marching Second Line. There's something for everyone, and sooner or later, we're all gonna march around the room.
By the end of the show, you'll hear tunes from Professor Longhair, Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, the Funky Meters, Huey "Piano" Smith, and some of Jelly Roll Morton's famed "Spanish Tinge" - all artists who define New Orleans music, and who first taught us how to shake that thing.
Maybe you'll end up face to face with a band member. There might be beads, masks and Hurricanes lined up all the way down the bar. One thing's for sure - if you have a pulse, you'll be having fun! So as they say in the French Quarter,
"Laissez le bon temps rouler!"
(Let the good times roll!)
à là-bas:
Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival, which begins on the feast of the Epiphany (Jan. 6), also known as Kings' Day or Twelfth Night (being the twelfth day of Christmas). It's a traditional European celebration which precedes the time of sacrifice during Lent.
Mardi Gras happens once a year, on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. For those of you who are counting, that's 47 days before the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. Depending on the date of Easter, New Orleans celebrates Carnival for four to nine weeks, with many parades, balls and celebrations, culminating in the Mardi Gras celebration.
The first parade, by the Mistick Krewe of Comus in 1857, had two floats, costumed maskers and brass bands. Today's parades are staged all over New Orleans, and are sponsored by over 80 krewes, each with 200 to 2000 members. Parades begin in early January, and range from the relatively tame to the multimillion-dollar floats and parades put on by the Super-Krewes in the last days before Fat Tuesday.
If you're interested enough to read all this fine print, you should really see Krewe Osgood. Join our mailing list and be the first to know when the band plays in your area!
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