Maple Leaf Bar

The Rebirth Brass Band has played every Tuesday night at the Maple Leaf since 1989. Thirty-six years of showing up, same room, same night. That kind of constancy is rare anywhere — in New Orleans it amounts to a public trust. The room itself is low-ceilinged, pressed tin overhead, a postage-stamp dance floor that shakes when the brass section hits. Opened February 24, 1974, the Maple Leaf books New Orleans music played by New Orleans people for an audience that knows the difference. Andrew Hall's Society Jazz Band played the first night and came back every Saturday for seven years. On any given night the genre could be zydeco, jazz, funk, or brass band — sometimes all four. Frequent performers have included James Booker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Henry Butler, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Papa Grows Funk, and The Radiators. George Porter Jr. still holds a Monday night residency with his trio. The bar has been an incubator for young bands formed by students at Tulane, Loyola, and the University of New Orleans. The late poet Everette Maddox was so closely tied to the venue that his ashes are buried in the patio. The Maple Leaf hosts poetry readings and fashion shows. The Krewe of OAK starts and ends its parades here. On September 30, 2005, Walter "Wolfman" Washington played the Maple Leaf's first post-Katrina show. The band's equipment ran on a diesel generator because electricity had not yet been restored to most of the city. Police and the National Guard shut the concert down because the city was under curfew. Electricity was restored about a week later. The room reopened and kept the calendar. Most shows start at 10pm. Cash bar.