Description
*Oversized book – International customers must contact us at factorymessage@gmail.com for a shipping quote*
Release Date: 2025
Publisher: Independent
ISBN: 9696
Softcover, 238 pages
The book, Donna’s Bar & Grill New Orleans, contains first person narratives that bring stories of the “Brass Band Headquarters” to life through the sharing of memories and memorabilia. Extensive photographs and taped interviews of the musicians and patrons of the iconic French Quarter music venue are the foundation of the author’s articulation of the club’s influence on the evolution and promotion of brass bands and Mardi Gras Indians into New Orleans club venues in the 1990s and early 21st century.
At the time of this writing, many have achieved fame and recognition on the national and international stage as well. Also included is the history of the many New Orleans artists whose musical careers began in a brass band and morphed into straight-ahead jazz (bebop) and/or classical or other genres such as Zydeco and Blues/Rhythm and Blues. This book, a personal form of documentation about a real place and its events, contributes a memorable perspective to the cultural history of the remarkably unique New Orleans style of music which has influenced other musicians and composers around the world.
Dr. Donna Poniatowski Sims, educator (K-12 and university level), and her husband, Chef Charlie Sims, were restaurateurs and owners of the music club, Donna’s Bar and Grill (which was noted for playing brass bands), and located at 800 N. Rampart for almost 18 years (1993-2010). Donna already knew many of the jazz musicians from her previous restaurant/music club, Janek’s, at 711 Bourbon which she co-owned from 1976-1980 with her first husband, John Poniatowski (deceased-1991). Donna has also been published as a photographer and has written numerous curricula for educational purposes. Charlie was the chef for Donna’s Bar and Grill and Head Chef for Amtrak’s “City of New Orleans.”
