He was really our last connection to a bygone time in the history of New Orleans.

Before the storm we were musical ambassadors of New Orleans, and now we've become cultural ambassadors for the faith of post-Katrina renewal.

All of us had our worlds completely turned upside down. That's a really powerful thing to happen overnight. We take so many things for granted.

We celebrate people's memories here. We acknowledge death through the celebration of people's lives.

We've never lived more than a few miles from each other.

They're not carpenters. There's not a lot of need for jazz trombone players in Shreveport, La.