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In Tune With The Times

5/17/2007
Shawn Kennedy - The New Orleans Times-Picayune

Bass player Michael Harris is the kind of musician whose spirit and art have always been nourished by the company he keeps. So when his Lower 9th Ward family home was washed off its foundation by Katrina, he lost not only precious instruments and more than 20 original songs he was working on, but also the fellowship of neighbors who've sustained him since he started playing.

"From the time I can remember, there always was music everywhere in the Lower 9," Harris said. "You could always hear someone playing. The kids in school bands played as they walked home from school. That's the way it was. That's what I've missed."

His exile from a musical neighborhood will end soon. Work recently was completed on the home he will occupy in Habitat for Humanity's Musicians' Village in the Upper 9th Ward.

Harris plays locally with artists including Irma Thomas, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Shades of Praise and Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes. And he has already played with two acts during Jazzfest 2007. Harris was on tour in Brazil when Katrina hit. But despite invitations from friends around the world for Harris to move to their cities, giving up on New Orleans was not an option.

"As much as I love to travel, I knew I'd come home," said Harris, who's currently occupying a tiny apartment Uptown. "I'm really looking forward to being a part of the Musicians' Village. This place is an important acknowledgment of the value of music and musicians to this city.
"Imagine having Bob French and Little Freddie King as next-door neighbors," as he soon will, Harris said.

The sweat equity (350 hours of labor) required of all homeowners in the Habitat for Humanity village was a tough fit for Harris, who is not only a working musician but also a full-time student at Southern University at New Orleans. Harris will graduate with a degree in history later this month. When he finally moves into his new home, Harris will be joined by his 17-year-old son.

"This community is going to be so important to the cultural survival of our art, of our city," Harris said. "I want to be a good steward of this cause, a good neighbor and for people to feel welcome in my home."

ELLEN SMITH: Expanding her circle in a purple house

Tears still well in the eyes of jazz vocalist Ellen Smith when she talks about the terrifying days after Katrina. She didn't know where some of her family members were, or the fate of their 9th Ward home.

Like so many others fleeing the city ahead of the storm, Smith thought her trip to Texas with her daughter, Kiara, would take her away for days -- not months. But so determined was Smith to move home that, for nearly a year, she drove back and forth between Dallas, where her daughter was in school, and New Orleans, for singing jobs.

"You can't be a jazz singer and make a living in many places," Smith said. "If I had stayed in Dallas I would be singing Motown or something like that."

Now home for good, Smith is settling into her vibrant purple, three-bedroom home in Habitat for Humanity's Musicians' Village in the 9th Ward.

"It has been beautiful to be able to bring my daughter home, have room for my mother and my Katrina daughter," said Smith, who is hosting a friend's daughter until she graduates from high school later this month. Since settling in shortly before Mardi Gras, Smith has furnished her place with comfortable pieces, put up stylish window treatments and hung art and family photos. These days, Smith is busy re-establishing her singing career and laying the groundwork to record her first CD.

"I've recorded with a lot of people, but now I want my own disc," said Smith.

Although she's performed with some of New Orleans' most successful artists, Smith didn't train formally for her career in music.

"I was always singing as a kid, but after school I went into the Navy," she said. Smith got her start about eight years ago when trumpeter Kermit Ruffins heard her singing as she wiped down tables while working as a cocktail waitress. He invited her to sing with his band, which led to other gigs, at Andrew Jaeger's restaurant and elsewhere. She is often featured with jazz drummer Bob French's band.

"Getting work still isn't easy, but right now I feel blessed," Smith said. "I'm a homeowner, I'm in this wonderful community, and that's great."