Roots of Music

Roots of Music, Inc., is a non-profit educational organization based in Orleans Parish, New Orleans. The organization operates an after-school program which provides academic tutoring and music mentoring for at-risk middle school students ages 9–14. Students are transported by bus from about 40 schools in Orleans Parish Monday through Thursday to the group's headquarters in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans.

For the first hour and a half of the after-school program, the students receive assistance with homework assignments and academic tutoring in core subjects as needed. The remainder of the time is dedicated to music education, song rehearsal and field practice (marching). Members of the Rebirth Brass Band and other New Orleans area music professionals support the program through mentoring and marching practice.

After music education and rehearsal, the students receive a hot, nutritious meal provided by Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, a member of the Feeding America network of food banks. After the meal, the children are transported via bus to their homes across Orleans Parish.

There is no after-school program on Fridays, but the group practices on Saturdays, focusing wholly on music education, marching and field routines. The students receive a hot meal after Saturday practice and are transported home via the program's buses.

Aside from academic and music education, the organization strives to instill self-discipline, offers mentoring and guidance counseling and has the support of mental health professionals. The program is completely free to the participants and relies on grants and private and corporate donations for sustainability. Roughly 25% of the program's budget is earmarked for transportation services. Lack of transportation was cited as one of the issues plaguing the families of at-risk children in regard to their ability to participate in extra-curricular activities. 

Roots of Music, Inc. holds a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and if you want to help, click here. This is a wonderful program that supports the youth and culture of New Orleans!

French Quarter Festivals, Inc.

French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) annually produces three festivals: French Quarter Festival, Satchmo SummerFest, and Holidays New Orleans Style. FQFI is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the Vieux Carré and the City of New Orleans through high quality special events and activities that showcase the culture and heritage of this unique city, contribute to the economic well-being of the community, and instill increased pride in the people of New Orleans.

French Quarter Festival was first produced in 1984 as a way to bring residents back to the Quarter; following the World’s Fair and extensive sidewalk repairs in the French Quarter. More than 20 stages throughout the French Quarter celebrate local music and represent every genre from traditional and contemporary jazz to R&B, New Orleans funk, brass bands, folk, gospel, Latin, Zydeco, classical, cabaret, and international.

New Orleans great restaurants serve food and beverages in Jackson Square, the Jazz Museum at the Mint, JAX Brewery, and Woldenberg Riverfront Park during French Quarter Festival weekend; Satchmo SummerFest hosts New Orleans restaurants with Louis Armstrong-inspired dishes and great local cuisine. Louisiana restaurants are invited to participate in these festivals. FQF employs more than 1,700 local musicians during Festival weekend, and hosts over 60 local restaurants which make up the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch” at the Festival. FQF employs only local companies during the Festival (sanitation, stages, sound, security, etc.). All money spent to produce the festival stays within the local economy.

French Quarter Festival has been consistently voted “favorite festival”, “favorite food festival”, and “favorite event open to the public” by locals. Click here for more information.

Backstreet Cultural Museum

The Backstreet Cultural Museum exists to preserve and perpetuate the unique cultural traditions of New Orleans' African American society through collections, exhibitions and publications, public programs, and performances. These cultural traditions include Mardi Gras Indians, Skull and Bone gangs, Baby Dolls, jazz funerals, social aid and pleasure clubs, and other related activities, rituals and celebrations.

The vision of the Backstreet Cultural Museum is to foster the appreciation of New Orleans’ African American processional traditions as important to American history and contemporary visual culture. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is a gathering place of memory, celebration, and communion that uses art and culture to enrich and sustain its community. Click here for more information.

New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic has provided medical care to musicians and performing artists in New Orleans for more than 21 years. They offer occupational and comprehensive health services for musicians, performers, cultural workers and tradition bearers of New Orleans (Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid & Pleasure Club Members). They serve any patient over the age of 19 and their family, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Their mission is to keep New Orleans music ALIVE by sustaining members of New Orleans’ traditional music cultures. They do this by providing cost-efficient access to comprehensive and preventive health care, wellness education, mental health services and social services.

The Musicians’ Clinic is funded through donations and grants to the New Orleans Musicians’ Assistance Foundation. Due to the fact that most of the NOMC’s funding comes from individual contributors, we have the freedom to focus on what matters most – providing quality care to the performers who keep New Orleans’ culture ALIVE, regardless of their financial situation. NOMAF is the 501(c)3 non-profit organization which supports and expands the mission of the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. Click here for more information.