Dr. John's prognosis: No relief in sight for his city

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 18, 2006 at midnight

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There are many things to regret and point fingers over regarding Hurricane Katrina. But there's one chilling fact on the horizon: Hurricane season starts June 1, just 15 weeks from now.

And in the nearly six months since Katrina hit, there has been very little progress rebuilding and protecting New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, said Mac Rebennack (better known as Dr. John). In its crippled state, the Gulf Coast is far more vulnerable to even lesser-category hurricanes due soon.

Echoing the words of musician activists such as Michael Stipe, Rebennack warned University of Colorado at Denver College of Architecture and Planning students this week that the devastated Gulf Coast needs help.

"It looks like Hiroshima," Rebennack said Thursday. "The lower Ninth Ward still has the barge" that was thrown through the neighborhood by the hurricane.

When volunteers arrive to help with the devastation, he said, "they are not prepared on any level for what they see. The further you go, the worse it is."

After joining a tribute to New Orleans on the Grammys earlier this month, Rebennack was back on the road, with a Thursday night concert at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (he's in Aspen tonight and Sunday).

A New Orleans native, Dr. John has long exemplified its robust music scene - a scene that has been splintered and scattered in the wake of the tragedy. New Orleans residents and musicians are still scattered across the world, Rebennack said; every tour stop, here and overseas, brings out New Orleans evacuees.

"A lot of musicians have been dumped somewhere who have never been out of New Orleans" and don't know how to make a living elsewhere, Rebennack said.

He spent an emotional hour telling the students of the toll the disaster took on the city and its heritage. It also took a toll on him personally. His nephew, a harbor policeman, was killed, Rebennack said. His grandson went missing for six weeks, living in a hunting cabin in Mississippi. His drummer, bass player and roadies have all lost their homes in New Orleans. His own house in the Third Ward was damaged. His godson got a FEMA trailer to live in, but no key.

He also seethed at what he views as utter incompetence and corruption that led to the levee breaks as well as the slack response in reconstruction.

"There should have been something done 50 years ago," he said. "When it happens, everybody acts like it's a big surprise.

"I'm not too fond of politicians," Rebennack said later.

He restrained himself, but noted that there's rampant corruption at the local, state and federal level. "Everybody's getting rich off of people's misery.

"Problems are swept under rugs. FEMA has obviously done nothing. And this is a lot of months after the hurricane," Rebennack said.

All the large organizations which were supposed to help - FEMA, the Red Cross - were ineffective, Rebennack claimed. "When they were needed, the Red Cross wasn't there.

"It has been a pile of insults on top of injuries," he said. "Six months later they're still finding dead people."

Smaller organizations such as local churches, the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and others are the ones making the most difference, he said. So have the musicians.

"We played so many benefits that my band was about to go broke," Rebennack said, noting he's not a superstar on the scale of a Michael Jackson. "I'm a scuffling musician."

And that's part of the spirit of New Orleans.

"We were a partying town. If your dog died, we had a party," he said. "But it's not just a party thing. It's a spiritual thing. It's in Mardi Gras. It's in the churches.

"It doesn't fit with the rest of the country in some ways," Rebennack said of the city. "It had its own food, its own lifestyle, its own music."

And that's key, he said.

"Music is the only way they can bring it back," he said. Some have criticized plans to go ahead with Mardi Gras and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but Rebennack said it's essential to keep those cultural events going to keep any sense of the city alive.

Jazzfest is set for late April/early May with the Dave Matthews Band, Dr. John, Elvis Costello, Robert Randolph, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and scores more.

"The city needs its spirits lifted desperately . . . to get people back, you have to have something to go back to."

Mark Brown is the popular music critic. Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2674

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