Madonna, The Wusband, & School of Rock – Happy Hour – It’s New Orleans

One of the great things about New Orleans is, you never know who might be standing in line with you at the supermarket, or sitting next to you at the bar. A perfectly normal, unassuming person turns out to be, in this case, the photographer who took the iconic images of, among others, Tina Turner, Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper, and is the author of the book A Portrait of M, the pictorial authority on Madonna. The guy s name is Curtis Knapp. And there s the other quiet, unassuming guy. Who turns out to be CR Gruver, keyboardist in the band The New Orleans Suspects, and next in line in the lineage of great New Orleans piano players, from Professor Longhair through Dr John and Jon Cleary. And on top of that, CR has recently opened a NOLA franchise of the famous School of Rock the same one Jack Black made famous in the movie is a real thing and CR is the local Jack Black. Ali James took violin lessons so she could get a violin, took ballet so she could get tap shoes, and got married so she could get health insurance. She no longer has the vioin or the shoes and the husband has tirned into a “wusband” who she keeps stashed away in the shed at the back of her Mid City house. Photos at Wayfare by Jill Lafleur.