Monday Night Super Jam at Maison

“Manic Monday ” gets a bad rap. We all agree with The Bangles. We wish it was Sunday. Monday is officially the start of a dreaded 5-day work week. Poor Peter Gibbons suffered his co-worker’s comment, “Somebody has a case of the Mondays” on “Office Space,” the cult movie that way too closely resembles cubicle life.

But I’m here to defend Mondays. I love Mondays in New Orleans. Monday nights at Maison on Frenchmen Street have been some of my favorite musical experiences in New Orleans.

Monday Night Super Jam

Best known as the Monday Night Super Jam, Monday night is an open-mic jam session. But in New Orleans, using the term open-mic might be misleading. It’s not a 20 year old emo kid who wrote a 3-chord song about his high school girlfriend’s mini skirt. It’s more like super-magical hard-core no-one’s-messing-around open-stage, with some of the best musicians in town filling it.

It’s a guaranteed good time. There’s always a full house, a dancing crowd of locals and visitors alike anticipating each composition of musicians who are there to play in community. No one is forcing, no one’s hogging the stage.

I love watching pick-up music for this reason alone: the audience gets to watch the musician’s participation. I see them talk to each other: subtle eyebrow raises turn into a bass riff or a drum solo or a sea of horns roaring together. It’s a true collaboration.

Stormy Monday

From what I understand, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, drummer Gene Harding began hosting the Monday Night Super Jam, originally as a way to keep tabs on which musicians were back (or still) in town after the storm. And what a group of revelers!

Gene does an amazing job of directing the revolving door that brings world-class musicians out of the crowd to jam on songs that everyone knows.

From song to song, you may have seven horn players or one harmonica player or a singing drummer. I’ve seen rappers and blue singers. Gene isn’t often on the drums, more likely setting the stage for others to shine, or sometimes pulling out a beat-up horn to thrown an extra log on the fire.

The Heart of New Orleans Music is Still Beating

What Gene Harding does for Monday nights at Maison is incredible. He essentially produces an original show, full of heart and soul, Monday after Monday. Of course, Gene isn’t alone. Zena Moses is a big presence as well (both of whom you can see all over town playing with the sweet Soul Project). A Jill of all trades, she’s directing and singing or playing fierce beats on a plastic tip jar to rile the crowd.

Monday’s Super Jam is evidence that the New Orleans weekend is essentially a mirage. There is no end of the week, it’s just a constant flow of music-filled night after music-filled night.

What’s your favorite Monday-music cure?

Maison
508 Frenchmen Street
(504) 371-5543

Tagged as: Frenchmen Street, Gene Harding, La Maison, New Orleans, Soul Project, Zena Moses