"Last night it really started getting good to me." "I got enough flex" " I can start my own band, you know." " You?" "Antoine Batiste and his Soul Apostles." "I just pulled a $200,000 contract for demolition and debris removal." "Call when you've made the number, and by then" "I might have another piece of the pie." "My son" " He's dead." "I don't need anything from anybody but to call this guy and tell them where his son was found dead." " Hey, Delmond." " Now when were you thinking you were gonna tell me poke came back and put y'all out the bar?" " He seems tired." " He seems more than tired." "Gonna be a dead night again." "Too many dead nights in here." "The salmon can be a beautiful animal." "Honor his death." "Listen to your fish." "Sweetie?" "Sofia?" "You see that fellow down by the rail?" "Oliver Thomas-- President of the City Council, probably the next mayor if he wants it." "Go ahead, make a new friend." "Duck's ready for veg." "All right, let's sauce it." "♪ Better stash that ♪" "♪ don't be surprised if she asks where the cash at ♪" "♪ I see she's wearing them jeans that show ♪her butt crack... ♪♪" "Hey, brah, I'm going uptown." "You can handle that?" "Remember me?" "Hey, man, fuck you." "Motherfucker." "Toni Bernette." "♪ hanging in the Treme ♪" "♪ watching people sashay ♪" "♪ past my steps ♪" "♪ by my porch ♪" "♪ in front of my door ♪" "♪ church bells are ringing ♪" "♪ choirs are singing ♪" "♪ while the preachers groan ♪" "♪ and the sisters moan ♪" "♪ in a blessed tone ♪" " ♪ mm-hmm ♪ - ♪ Yeah ♪" "♪ down in the Treme ♪" "♪ just me and my baby ♪" "♪ we're all going crazy ♪" "♪ while jamming and having fun ♪" "♪ trumpet bells ringing ♪" "♪ bass drum is swinging ♪" "♪ as the trombone groans ♪" "♪ and the big horn moans ♪" "♪ and there's a saxophone ♪" "♪ down in the Treme ♪" "♪ it's me and my baby ♪" "♪ we're all going crazy ♪" "♪ while jamming and having fun ♪" "♪ down in the Treme ♪" "♪ it's me and my baby ♪" "♪ we're all going crazy ♪" " ♪ while jamming and having fun. ♪" " Whoo!" "What did the call come out as?" "Call?" "There was no call on it." "Communications was pretty spotty-- 108s and in-progress stuff only." "They weren't transmitting ordinary calls for service." "So how did you end up here?" "A guy flags me on basin street, tells me about a body here." "Not my district, but what the hell?" "I figure the least I can do is mark the spot for whenever the world comes back online." "About how many days into it?" "Three, maybe four, maybe five." "Days kind of blended together, you know." "Yeah." "What time?" "Late morning, maybe 10:00-11:00, around then." "I pull up, a couple dozen assholes, black and white, walking out of there." "They got whiskey, er, cigarettes." "I jump out at them." "And you see the kid Abreu laying out here." "Out here?" "Inside." "Inside?" "Well, the family was told on the street" "Marais street actually." "Marais street?" "Nah." "He's inside, laying over a shelf which must have got pulled down in the looting." "The body was going ripe actually." "Inside this store." "I think it was right there." "That's how I wrote it up." "Whoa whoa, you wrote a report on it?" "I didn't have any r.T.F.S." "Crazy-shit time it was, we were using them for toilet paper, I swear to God." "So no report?" "Well, there was a package of paper plates lying there by the kid." "So I grab one, I write it up" "A white male, early 20s, dark hair, blue eyes," "6' maybe, about 160-165, a skinny dude, no visible scars, tattoos, what-have-you." "Driver's license says he's..." " Joseph Abreu." " Right." "Gunshot wound to head." "Gunshot wound?" "So the kid was shot?" "Of course he's shot." "I had casings" " Three on the floor." " Wait, you found bullet casings here?" " Three" "Either nine mil or .380" "from the look." "But this isn't a homicide, right?" "D-mort pended it." "If you say so." "It's above my pay grade." "I just wrote up what I had and handed it to my captain along with the casings." "Captain laughs his ass off when I hand him the plate." "Yeah." "That's about all we rehearsed." "Listen, we could play everything again." "Nobody would know the difference." "You should finish the set solo." "I'm gonna look at some pictures and listen for a while." "Okay, cool." " Hey." " We meet again." " How've you been?" " All right, all right." "The usual." " Coke for me." " Scotch neat, ice water back." "You remembered." "Nice." " Bucanero." " Bucanero?" "Yeah, Bucanero." " Bow and arrow?" " Whatever." " What?" " What?" "Bucanero" " Something I read about it waking up the stomach." "Double espresso, a Coca-Cola, scotch neat, and some shit I never heard of." "Now you done made her angry." " She's always angry." " So for tonight you planning on playing everything from the new album or you want to leave out "friend of a friend" since we shot the bari sax?" "Nah, play it all." "Just give me something down low with your left hand" " to fill it out on "friend."" " Got ya." " What about the encore?" " Let's do the Sonny Clark thing." " "News for Lulu"?" " Uh-huh, okay." "Y'all read that "downbeat" review?" "Right as rain." "Those critics be loving your ass, Delmond." "About the only ones." "Soundscan reading out 60% national coverage." "So far 2,300 sales." "Now you want to be popular or acclaimed?" "That dude in the "downbeat"-- What did he call you?" "A postmodern Coltrane." "Yeah, you "serve up a chilly brew."" "Oh no, man I don't write this shit." "Direct quote from the bartender:" ""Fumble-nuts and his Bucanero can go fuck each other."" " Oh!" " Oh shit." " Sweet." " She got you now, man." "Groove-- Give me the groove." "Give me a note." "No, brah, play the riff." "Come on, b-flat." "Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it." "I'm playing b-flat, brah." "That ain't b-flat." "That's b-flat, motherfucker." "Brah, it's b-flat." "I know what I'm fucking reading." "Man, are you talking b-flat concert or my b-flat?" "Oh, you mean concert." "My bad." "Man, you motherfuckers sound like a high school band." "Now come on." "Well, if we had decent charts" "Man, listen, I would have had Wardell's charts here, but I asked Andrew Lloyd Webber instead." "They're still waiting." "Oh, I can tell right now I'm putting together a band with some contrarian motherfuckers." "Just use your ears, brah." "Say, brah, get off the phone, brah." " You can call them back." " I'm on the fucking phone, brah." "Voicemail, motherfucker-- Tell them to go to it." "Jesus." "Man, count it off, ray." "Shit." "Come on." "Hold on." "Lay out, lay out, lay out." "B-flat." "B-flat!" "There, that's it, that's it." "Come on, come on." "♪ Sneakin' Sally through the alley ♪" "♪ she ain't got no drums... ♪" "Aw man." "It's crowded like this every day?" "Some days better than others." "Shit, what you gonna do when you got one ash can to dump half the city into?" "Ain't no other dump open?" "We was dumping everything out there on Chef Menteur, down there where them vietnamese at, you know, till they closed that dump, opened this one up right here." "And this bitch's been closed since '86." "Now they're dumping shit right on top of the Clay cap." "Now tell me that ain't gonna fuck shit up." "Fools making it up as they go along." "The paper plate?" "Yeah, I remember." "How am I gonna forget that?" "So a report was made on Joseph Abreu?" " The shooting victim from the store, right?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I frisbee'd it over to the first district." "The body was discovered in the first." " It was their catch." " Did you call homicide?" "It was for them to liaison." "You gotta remember there were bodies everywhere." "Thanks for this." "The man gave me the job on the promise" "I'd haul the old shit away." "You got your appointment tomorrow, don't you" "That road to home shit?" "The day after, 2:00 P.M." "And it's road home." "What?" "The program" " It's not road to home." "It's road home. right there on the webpage where you go to sign up." "You apply to road to home." "I'ma go with road home." "And we'll see who ends up which end of this shovel." "They got this one cop-- He's on the hunt for any funeral without permits, chasing everybody away unless they slip him some street bail." " Which motherfucker is this?" " The one with the buzz cut, looks like the marine." "Him, yeah." "Thing is, unless they bring the permit fees back down, there ain't gonna be no more parade." "I know." "The city's gone crazy since them shootings in January." "Clubs suing the city, right?" "Trying to get them to drop their fees." "By the time it goes to court, who knows?" "Would you listen to that, man?" "Man, Derrick's smoking on that, man." "Dinerral, I still see you sitting across the street in the play lot, half-pint you be, rat-a-tat-tatting on a plastic five-gallon, feathering a trash lid for a high-hat." "Antoine Batiste." " Fuck that." " Oh!" "Triple Jameson." "For the next 10 minutes" "I don't need none of your bullshit, please." "City of music" " I can't even find a tenor sax who knows how to transpose keys in his head." "Ladonna." "I ain't said a damn thing." "Don't." "Hey, Antoine, you're in my bar." "Which is another thing." "I just got a band put together and we need some gigs." "Seems to me I heard talk that you were thinking about getting some live music up in here." "I might let you audition." "Audition?" "Never!" "♪ What you gonna do?" "♪" "♪ I'm sick and tired ♪" "♪ fooling around with you... ♪" "Who's that?" "Who's that?" "Anybody there?" "This is the police." "Anybody up there?" "I'm a cop with a gun, seriously!" "Every 30 minutes, so that the rest of you can idle in your SUVs in rush hour, we lose a football field's worth of land to the Gulf of Mexico." "But God forbid the federal government should let us negotiate higher leasing fees with these fucking greedheads." "Today it's the wetland and oil companies." "Yesterday she was ranting about how the humane society is spending more on relocating dogs and cats than nagin is spending on getting people's electric back on." "And the profanity..." "Giving voice to her father." "I'm sure she is." "And I'd let her run with it, but the more I do, the more she seems to turn on me." "Maybe a change of venue." "I'm open to suggestions." "The zoo always looking for volunteers." "She's a free-the-beasts advocate." "Politics then-- An internship, maybe city hall or the courthouse or one of the other agencies." "Lusher has a volunteer requirement, right?" "I know Oliver Thomas pretty well." "Yeah, president of the city council should be able to manage an unpaid internship." "I'll make a call." "Do it now." "Day after tomorrow, 3:00 sharp," "Theophile Jones Elie elementary." "You're interviewing with the head bandleader, so wear your tie." "I pressed your suit." "I'm putting a band together, desiree." "You know how I am." "I need to concentrate on one task at a time." "You're going to get this job, Antoine" "Assistant bandleader, $24,000 a year." "I might could make that much in half the time once we start getting the gigs." "If this band happens, you might get gigs." "But even then, that's off-the-books cash money, Antoine." "And we've got to show the bank we got real salaries to qualify." "Yeah, baby, but I" "Get this school job." "Between your salary and mine we'd more than qualify for a home loan." "Or do you want us all the way out here in this dump forever?" "I'll dump your ass." "Shit." "Please?" "I mean, I'll look, but there's no way I can tell what's missing." "Fuck me." "This can't be happening." "It never ends." "I'll try to get down there tomorrow." "Yeah, you should." "I will." "Bye." "Chef, I have a problem back home in new Orleans." "My house was broken into." "And I have to take tomorrow off, get a flight down there and deal." "I can be back the day after." "You know..." "You made a commitment to be here." "More important, you made a personal commitment to me and to the people you work with to be here." "Chef, everything I own" "Do I have a life?" "This is my life." "Commitment-- That's all I ask." "I have to file a report with the police." "The insurance won't" "You know, I can teach skills." "I can teach people how to cook." "Character" "That I can't teach." "Go." "Go to new Orleans." "Do your-- Whatever it is." "Thank you, chef." "I'll be back Friday." "♪ It's high time ♪" "♪ that you find ♪" "♪ the same people you misuse on your way up ♪" "♪ you might need 'em ♪" "♪ on your way down... ♪" "Closed." "Closed." "Nah, I'm lost." "I'm looking for this place that's called Sidney's." "Sidney's?" "You want to head back to Saint Bernard, turn left." "It's down there where Saint Claude come in." " Saint Claude?" " Yeah, but they're closed about now too." "I'm supposed to meet my family down there." "They're supposed to have a band playing for my daddy's birthday." "On wednesdays?" "I don't think they have live music on wednesdays." "You think I could use your phone to call down there to see if they're still there?" " Got no phone, mm-mm." " You got a cell phone?" " What's your name?" " Mike." " Your family name." " Last name?" "Yeah, family." "Oh, you mean my daddy?" "Mike, same as mine." "Tell you what:" "I'ma call N.O.P.D., get them to come out here and help you out, all right?" "Nah, that's all right." "911, what's your emergency?" "Yeah, I'd like a police car out to my place" "Gigi's." "Corner of Annette D Urquhart." " Your name is Gigi?" " No, my name is not Gigi." "Someone out by my door." "He don't look right." "Ma'am, that's a separate number." "Yeah, I know the number for non-emergencies." "Hey, miss Ladee." "Okay, ma'am, please tell me that address again." "Hey, you said Saint Claude and what now?" "You head back to Saint Bernard, two blocks..." "The fuck you think you're doing?" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Okay, take it." "Take everything." "There's $200 in there." "Just take it and leave." "Get the fuck up out of here." "You hear me?" "Get!" "Nah." "Get the fuck out!" "Get the fuck up out of here." "♪ Every time I close my eyes ♪" "♪ I seem to see Louisiana ♪" "♪ I can hear those people singing ♪" "♪ in that free and easy manner ♪" "♪ I've been a rover, now that's all over ♪" "♪ beneath the clover I'll soon be found ♪" "♪ I'm on my way now, just any day now ♪" "♪ I'm delta bound. ♪" "The band's gonna take a little break right now and have a drink." "Hope you'll do the same." "We'll be right back." "Good set." "You just walked in, motherfucker." "You got me." "You know anyone looking for guitar or piano?" "I gotta get my ass off royal street." "What are you looking for?" "Anything" " Blues, RB, country, folk, bluegrass, gospel, kids' parties, viking funerals, whatever." "Have you tried posting at the music exchange?" "Two weeks ago." "Man, I don't know." "I'll ask around though." "I need help." "Can someone please help me?" "This woman is hurt." "What happened?" "Don't know." "The door to her bar was open." "I went inside and found her laying there." " What happened, honey?" " Is there anywhere I can set her down?" "Anywhere?" "Please, she's bleeding." "Jordan, get me a wheelchair." "Look, I apologize and it's not necessary, but I have to ask" " You know if she carries any type of insurance?" "Police!" "Search warrant!" "If you got anything that's gonna stick, please say so now." " Shh." " I need something." "It hurts bad." "Call C.T. Cecile's back and she's not alone." "No no no." "Cecile, get him out of here." "He can't tell the difference between night and day." "Out." "You keep bringing these crazies in and yore taking up all the beds for the sick people." "He's hallucinating." "His blood pressure is 190/100." "Sir, sir, are you okay?" "Yes, ma'am, I'm okay." "He says he's fine." "You take him home." "You leave him here" " I'm walking him right back out the door." "I can't give you anything till I get doctor's orders." "I wish I could." " Sir." " Ladonna." "What the hell?" "Excuse me, sir, you can't be in here." "I'm her husband." "What happened, baby?" "Why wasn't I called right away?" "How long has she been here like this?" "She came in very disoriented." "We called as soon as she was able to give us a contact number." "Nothing's broken, but, Mrs. Williams, I'm going to need" " Who are you?" " I'm her husband." "Good." "Good you're here with your wife." "But for the moment I'm gonna have to ask you to please step outside." " I'm staying right here." " Sir, I need you to step" "God damn it, I am not moving!" "Please, Larry." "It's okay." "Please." "Mrs. Williams, would you allow me to examine you for sexual assault?" "You'll feel a little pressure inside." "Okay, take slow, deep breaths." "The board is full, Bobby, all the way to Miami." "That's right." "I'll tell you, you're one of the best saints fans." "You're always optimistic." "Jesus on the cross, you're fast." "Those other crews are at least a week from finishing, and you're done a week early." "You said you'd have some more for me." "I can get more, no problem." "In fact, how about for you a bigger proposition?" "I'm listening." "Let's do this over drinks, hotel Lespere, 7:00 tonight?" "And don't run late." "I got dinner plans." "Sorry to keep you waiting." "Third shift had a bad night and we're still cleaning up for them." "I talked to the officer on my Abreu kid, took him back to the scene, in fact." "And?" "Kid's found dead inside a store, nowhere near marais street, and he's shot to death." "The officer found three casings and he wrote up a report on it" "Get this-- On a paper plate." "He hands it to his captain, who says he sent it over to the first district where it belonged." "And you checked with the first?" "Not so easy to do." "The captain who commands over there" "I sued him five, six years ago for profiling on traffic stops." "Of course you did." "They told the family he was found on the street." "No one says anything about any shooting." "Well, the kid's looting maybe, takes a bullet." "Someone says less than he should, trying to spare the family." "Yeah." "Maybe, but..." "But what?" "You should have seen that father's face." "No one spared him anything." "They took everything" "My purse, my phone," " my keys" " Everything." " Rest, babe." "Shh, rest, okay?" "I gotta get this." "Yeah?" "No no, we're still at the hospital." "Look, don't tell her mother or the boys." "I'll talk to them when I g back, okay?" "Ma'am, I'm detective Leroy." "I'm gonna need to talk to you if you're ready to do that." "Not now." "Ma'am, the sooner I'm able to get information" "I can't." "Not now." "I'll come back in a little while." "Tore through my shit good." "Had plenty of time, considering how long it took the cops to get here." "Is there anything I can do, you know?" "On a plate?" "Come on." "5d officer wrote it up on a paper plate" "Something you'd remember." "Came over to you guys from Malatesta at 5d." " I got nothing on it." " Prioleau in homicide has the file now." "It's not a homicide." "D-mort pended the thing." "Then talk to prioleau." "I have." "They got no plate report, got no casings, nothing from you guys." "First call they got was from an ambo unit for decomp body only." "This is for that bitch, ain't it?" "She fucking sued me, you know." "Well..." "She's a scab puller." "Whatever fits into some grand conspiracy is all she wants to know." "She say we got a report and casings?" "Yeah." "She still thinks Kennedy was whacked by the Marcellos and L.B.J." "And you're gonna carry water for her?" "Shame on you, Terry." "No no no." "Hold hold hold." "Hold up." "No, brah, it's..." " That's what I'm playing." " No, brah, it's..." "No, I'm playing..." " Yeah, I know." "That's what we're saying." " No, I'm playing..." "No, brah." "Show him, Dawg." "No no no, hold up, hold up." "That shit ain't right either." " Motherfucker, man." " What?" "Say, brah, I know you didn't just tell Raymond weber that he dropped the beat, did you?" " Yeah, I did now." " Got to be careful, Dawg." "Yo, ray, when was the last fucking time you dropped the beat?" "Me?" "'83, second weekend of jazz festival." "Sheet music flew off the stand, man." "I bent down to pick it up, missed my snare drum, brah." "Got to be more careful." "Man, even if it's right, it sounds wrong." "We need a guitar on that to fill up the hole." "I don't know where to find no guitar player, man." "I know horn men and rhythm and all." "But guitars" " Shit." "Charlie and Detroit-- They got gigs." "And the rest are just white boys with bad hair playing them cowboy keys." "All right, listen, man, let's just pick it up where we left off." "Come on." "One, two, three... ♪ Think about the good things now ♪" "♪ think about the bad things now ♪" "♪ think about the right things ♪" "♪ think about the wrong things... ♪" "Hold it, hold it, hold it." "Somebody's still not with it." "You, man." "You're right." "Grayson's got no love for you." "I'm shocked." "But regardless, he's got no memory of reports or casings or paper plates." "And I checked with homicide" "Nothing made it to them either." "So Malatesta and the 5d cop are crazy or lying-- Those are my choices?" "I don't know what to tell you, but I took this as far as I'm gonna." "Terry, I'm not looking for a fight here, just a couple of answers." "I've done what I can." "I gotta run" "A shooting call for my district." "He was shot in the left leg and in the hand." "Mr. Williams, would you please come with me?" "I need you to sign your wife's discharge papers." "Can you bring them in here for me to sign?" "I'll stay with Mrs. Williams." "I'll be okay, honey." "The quicker you check her out, the quicker she can get home." "Please, I gotta get out of here." "Yeah." "Okay." "These are to prevent any possible sexually transmitted diseases." "Some water." "All right." "And ese are specifically to reduce the chance of H.I.V." "Here you go." "Okay." "We refer to this as plan b." "These pills contain hormones which will prevent any possible pregnancy." "It's your choice if you want to take them or not." "You take one now and we give you another to take 12 hours later." "Miss Williams, is it okay if we talk now?" "Thank you." "I don't want my husband" "I understand, but the sooner we can talk, the better chance we have of making an arrest." "Can you describe who attacked you?" "Take your time." "So we flip this motorboat over and we're in the water." "And my dad sees his boss on the dock yelling," ""you crazy fucking wetbacks!"" "And he says my to us later, les." ""You can either own the boat or end up cleaning it." "It's up to you."" " Hey!" " Hey." "So now you got a plan for me?" "For being first to make your number." "I appreciate personal initiative." "How would you like to be the new associate vice president for demolition and debris removal for Hidalgo  Hidalgo limited of Dallas, Texas?" " What?" " You'll handle all my demo contracts from here on out." "Divvy up the work, take whatever you can get to and give the rest to whoever can get the job done." "And, oh, you handle all the paperwork ba to pj in Florida because I don't want to be bothered with details." "And for this I get what?" "5% on all of it." "So if I get, say, a quarter million in work orders, you take $12,500 off" "Not to mention however much of the actual contract you want to cover." "What stays with you?" "Me?" "50%." "No shame in my game." "I'm the man making it rain, right?" "No drink for you?" "She's way better company." "♪ On the sidewalk ♪" "♪ Sunday morning ♪" "♪ lies a body ♪" "♪ oozing life... ♪" "So you know what he tells the poissonier?" ""Listen to your fish."" "Listen to the fish?" ""Listen to your fish."" "So are you doing all right with Susan?" "Yeah, I'm good." "Good." "You can have the bedroom." "I'm ne out here." "No, Jacques, you've done enough." "Janette..." "No, I'm good on the sofa." "I'll be out early in the morning anyway." "My favorite." "Thank you." "That was the title track to the new recording "walk-up,"" "jon Batiste on the piano." "Tony Jarvis on the sax." "We'll be right back with another set." "Y'all don't go nowhere now." "Keep on swinging, Delmond." "It's a rough one tonight, Jack." "Half empty is half full, dig?" "It's gonna be one big old obituary:" "Jazz died at 115 years or whatever it is." "Nobody gave a shit anymore." "Easy, brah." "I bet we'll pack the place tomorrow night." "Saw your reviews though." "You're like the wine at Cana" "Everybody asking Jesus why he saved the best for last." "It's the best thing I recorded, man." "Shit just ain't moving though." "The old ways just don't work anymore, do they?" " What do you mean?" " Well, if I want to fill this room, you got music you're trying to move, it's a brave new world." "We're getting enough hits on the website." "I'm not sure the club listings even matter." " What's your site seeing?" " My site?" "You got a webpage, right?" "A Facebook page?" "MySpace?" "Del, who in fuck is your manager?" "It's the whole Internet thing." "You got a kid in Shmenge, Idaho, sees you on Facebook, he's Ituning you" "10 seconds later-- Ka-ching!" "Your people need to be seeding this stuff." "Won't grow otherwise." "You done for the night?" "You ain't throw a stitch in five minutes there." "It's December, chief." "Less than three months." "Oh hell yeah." "You're gonna get a job today, Antoine." "I ain't playing." "May I help you?" "New Orleans east." "173." "Excuse me." "Thank you." "God damn." "I'm not gonna make my flight." "Look, that's all the receipts we could find" " The gas and the electric." "We were told two documents with the address would be enough proof." "I'm sorry." "I know it's a lot of paperwork, but it's required." "Come on, let's go." "Down the rabbit hole." " Joey was shot?" " Mm." " In a store?" " Mm-hmm." "Who do they think did it?" "They don't know." "There's some question as to whether evidence was recovered or whether reports on this exist at all." "See, the police work after the storm was..." "What it was." "So what now?" "I'm" " I can't stay any longer than I already have." "I'm out of comp days." "You should go home, Mr. Abreu." "I'll learn what I can and call you." " Remind me again." " The race track, Thanksgiving." "Seventh race, provocative touch" "You told me to wheel her for the exact." "That's right, yeah." "From Dallas, right?" "Right." "I said I would stop past when I got a moment." " Here I am." " Consultant, huh?" "Around here "consultant" ain't nothing but another word for an unindicted co-conspirator." "Well, look, like I was saying," "Waco, San Antone, Dallas" "My firm's done work all over Texas." "Upgrading infrastructure's what we know." "And let me tell you, even without the storm this town needs an upgrade or o." "Mr. Hidalgo, we appreciate all the help that comes from out of state." "But to quote the standing wisdom, all politics is local." " Meaning?" " Meaning who in this town are you working with?" "Who sent you?" "I'm no carpetbagger, councilman." "I'm just a good-vote democrat here to do some good." "Don't take this personally, but over the past year we've been inundated with people from elsewhere making money that's supposed to go to our recovery." "So I'm gonna ask you again" "Who in this town are you working with?" "C.J. Liguori is a friend." "Not exactly a good-vote democrat." "Well, I'm comfortable on either side of that aisle." " I'm sure." " And the long view has you running for mayor in three years, especially with all the buyer's remorse over nagin." "I like the long view." "Right now I'm just taking it from one day to the next." "I lost my house." "I lost my brother recently." "I'm just living in the here and now." "Well, if tomorrow comes, remember me, councilman." "'Cause I brought Texas rain for Karen Carter's campaign last month." "I'll bring that same rain for you." "Couldn't help Karen in that race." "Councilman Thomas, your messages." "Councilman Filco, chief Riley, Toni Bernette." "Her daughter's showing up today for that afterschool internship." " Sorry about your brother." " Thank you." "You don't need to walk me in." "Mom's the boss." "I do as I'm told." "Whatever." "What's going on?" " It's a press conference." " Oh, okay." "The mayor's naming a new recovery czar." "Recovery czar?" "Last of the Romanoffs." "The first floor of my house went under." "You" " Much damage?" "I moved to New York" "The city, not the state." "197." "But I got a call telling me my house got robbed." "They took everything worth taking." "I'm scheduled for a hearing on January 3rd, but I can't make that date." "I already had to beg my boss for the time to check on my house." "So you're here today without a scheduled appointment?" "Mm mm mm." "It's a Tacoma 9 series, a scratch on the back, broke turning peg." "So anyone comes in looking to sell," " he stole it, all right?" " All right, brah." "And never paid rent." "How could it not be my house?" "I got your notification in the mail and I did call and get an appointment for early January, but I'm down here now because my house was broken into." "I can only deal with people who were scheduled for today." "It all seems to be in order." "Really?" "Yes, sir." "You're set." "I'm working in New York right now." "I can't" "There's nothing I can do." "Appointments are scheduled so that people-- but I'm here now." "I'm not gonna be able to be here next month." "It was hell coming down here just the once." " State farm, huh?" " Mm." "Screwed me too." " You're not here at your appointed day." " I know." "Could you cut me a break, please?" "If I cut you one, I have to cut everyone else one too." "And then where will we be?" "I don't know." "We'd all get a break then." "Wouldn't that be a nightmare, huh?" "Okay, you're good to go for your photo I.D." "And fingerprinting, for real." "Thank you, ma'am." "Say, man, you know, woodrow looking for you, talking about how you run his cell phone to death." "Sure as hell did." "Thanks, brah." "There's a kid in Idaho needs him some Delmond Lambreaux, huh?" "Yeah, maybe." "You aren't gonna tell me that you expect the label to do co-op advertising in "the Boise bugle" or whatever it's called?" " Facebook." " Facebook?" "Yeah, MySpace, the Blogosphere, Metafilter." "Meta-who?" "Delmond, come on." "You put out a modern jazz recording, a good one." "But the stuff sells what it sells." "You know what?" "You're fired." "I'm fired?" "Because I can't find a couple hundred thousand discerning Americans to shell out for a jazz quintet's latest I'm fired?" "Come" " Is that what you're saying, Delmond?" "I'm saying go fuck yourself." "♪ Well, we had a love ♪" "♪ that was in-between ♪" "♪ and to me it was ♪" "♪ like a dream ♪" "♪ if we'd stayed together till June ♪" "♪ baby, bride and groom ♪" "♪ that's why I ♪" "♪ got to get you off of my mind ♪" "♪ I know it's just a matter of time ♪" "♪ you found somebody new ♪" "♪ and our romance is through... ♪" "Play it, baby." "Yeah!" "♪ Yeah yeah ♪" "♪ yeah ♪" "♪ got to get you ♪" "♪ off of my mind ♪" "♪ I know it's just a matter of time ♪" "♪ you found somebody new ♪" "♪ and our romance is through ♪" "♪ that's why I ♪" "♪ got to get you off of my mind ♪" "♪ I know it's just a matter of time. ♪" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Lord have mercy, we finally got one down, huh?" " Yeah." " Yeah." "Now all we need is eight or nine more, baby," " and you've got you a set." " There you go, baby." "At that rate we'll be in the clubs by summer." "You see, I'm tired of all y'all complaining for real." "Come on now." "That's your job." "You're the bandleader." "You know something?" "I've paid for this room until 6:00." "And I was gonna say let's move on to that Joe Tex thing, but now I'm gonna say fuck all of y'all." "I'm gonna go get me a drink or two now." " You're bad." "You're bad." " I heard that." "Edward Blakely" "A college Professor in Australia and go-to man for cities during disasters." "He helped New York after September 11," "San Francisco after the '89 earthquake, and now new Orleans." "That, I think, is not a question that anyone can answer" " What are you gonna be doing next year?" "Can you believe this guy?" "I'm not answering questions unless they're really questions." "That sounds like a threat." "The best way is my experience." "And which ways will that translate to making our lives better?" "Come back next year." "The guy's a carpetbagger." "All politics is local." "You know that?" "It's true." "And what are you having, sweetheart?" "♪ Tipitina ♪" "♪ tra-la-la ♪" "♪ tra-la-la la ♪" "♪ tra-la-la ♪" "♪ tipitina oola malla walla dalla ♪" "♪ tra ma ti na na ♪" "♪ hey ♪" "♪ come on, baby ♪" "♪ we'll go ballin' ♪" "♪ we're gonna have ourselves a time ♪" "♪ we're gonna oola malla walla tralia dalla ♪" "♪ drink some mellow wine. ♪" "Fess made it sound easier than that, but he had a piano." "'Sup, brah?" "I need a guitar, electric, and an amp, 30 watts at least." "Man, it ain't that." "Cops kicked in the door on my roommates and left the door open behind them." "So whatever didn't get broke got stolen." "Look, audition." "RB thing." "I need to make this happen." "And you ain't gonna pawn my shit, right?" "Harley, I fucking swear on my life." "How about your telecaster?" "The danelectro." "Take it or leave it." "This here's the "hometown blues"" "with apologies to Thomas wolfe and doc Watson." "♪ I wish I'd never come back home... ♪" "The doc says you can take vicodins as often as you need." "All right." "I didn't know where you were." "I call the bar-- No answer." "I call your mother's-- No answer." "I call the cops-- No help." "I'm doing 100 on the I-10 down here." "I'm scared to death." "You want another pillow or something?" "I'm just so damn glad that you're okay." "You know, that Vicodin" "I can write as many refills as you want." "A pillow would be good." "♪ oh, the shark has ♪" "♪ pretty teeth, dear ♪" "♪ and he shows them ♪" "♪ pearly white ♪" "♪ just a jackknife ♪" "♪ has macheath, dear ♪" "♪ and he keeps it ♪" "♪ out of sight ♪" "♪ when the shark bites ♪" "♪ with his teeth, dear ♪" "♪ Scarlet billows ♪" "♪ start to spread ♪" "♪ fancy gloves though ♪" "♪ wears macheath, dear ♪" "♪ so there's not a trace ♪" "♪ mm, of red ♪" "♪ on the sidewalk ♪" "♪ Sunday morning ♪" "♪ lies a body ♪" "♪ oozing life ♪" "♪ someone's sneaking ♪" "♪ around the corner ♪" "♪ is this someone... ♪"