The apparent suicide of Moses “Moss” Khumalo in West Rand, South Africa comes as a shock to the global jazz community. 26 years old at his death, the saxophonist was a star on the rise, having performed at venerable New Orleans venues such as Snug Harbor (with Irvin Mayfield) and The Red Room while only 21. In fact, it was in this city that he was discovered as a potential jazz great.

Given the New Orleans proclivity for rearing some of the world’s best musicians, this is yet another loss for its rich musical history at an already bad time. As Mark Clague, assistant professor of musicology at U. Michigan says, “Born at the confluence of Latin, Caribbean, African and European peoples, the music of New Orleans thrives on such a diverse human resource. Today, [its] musicians are scattered. Diaspora is a disaster for New Orleans music.”

Here are just two directories of our displaced or affected music community, all the way from the locally-popular to world-famous greats like Irma Thomas and Henry Butler. Thanks to efforts like Habitat for Humanity’s Musicians’ Village and other grassroots work, New Orleans musicians like Fredy Omar are able to return home. A cursory internet search yields the global reach of New Orleans music. Rolling Stone claims that “a powerful case could be made for New Orleans as the true birthplace of rock & roll. Not just Elvis, the Beatles and the Stones, but Cheap Trick, Heart and Devo [and the Rolling Stones] have all had hits with NOLA music.” Never mind that it created jazz and has influenced jazz musicians everywhere, including Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa, as referenced in May 2005’s Village Voice (FYI, Abhi highlighted this article back then):

Iyer’s triumph is in understanding that composition and improvisation each have something to gain when they overlap … examples include “Song for Midwood,” which proves 7/4 can be funky, and “Infogee’s Cakewalk,” which reconfigures a hip-hop rhythm into New Orleans second line.

Perusing NOLA music history online, I ran across this gem:

The four shaggy haircuts onstage at City Park back when new episodes of Bonanza aired and show tickets cost only $5? Wow, wonder what that was like. Ooooh, I can’t wait to share this with my mother … on second thought, there are many activities I’d rather participate in than listening to her rendition of “I Vant To Hold Your Hand.”

Incidentally, IACPA reports that a photo exhibition of The Beatles In India just wrapped up at the Win Henstock Gallery in Oakville, Ontario. Check out the online gallery of John, Paul, George, Ringo and a bevy of goras at a Rishikesh ashram. My favorite is Lennon sniffing his guitar while Paul wonders, “Wot’s ‘e doin’?”

If you’re interested in helping New Orleans musicians make it back home or in their new cities, please visit WWOZ 90.7 FM’s Musician Aid list and give what you can. Worthwhile causes, in my opinion, are the Musicians’ Clinic, which provides affordable healthcare, and the Relief Fund, which helps displaced musicians and has the lowest administrative overhead of the various music charities that have sprung up in the last year.

You are also more than welcome to visit New Orleans and offer physical help to the aforementioned Habitat for Humanity Musicians’ Village and the incomparable Arabi Wrecking Krewe (read their About section and peruse their gallery to find out how cool they are). Here is a friend’s narrative of his first gutting experience with Sheik and the gang.

The house belongs to Mrs. Cora Foster, 84, who is a distant relative of Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden, and who has as uncles trombonist Honore Dutrey and coronetist Sam Dutrey. Miss Cora lived in this house in the Hollygrove neighborhood for 59 years; since Katrina she has been living with her daughters in Detroit.

I hope this answers a question someone had about the fate of New Orleans music and also serves as one example of why this city is a tremendously special place. If you don’t get it, come here. If you do, come back.