Pianist Monty Banks remembers the bench outside the Apple Barrel, a sidewalk institution whose removal marked the end of an era.
MB: I just want to talk about what a cultural, anthropological institution that [bench] really was. It was the only chance I’d ever seen where I could hang for long times in a comfortable social environment and just hear stories and ask questions about New Orleans music, music in general.
It was really the best place to learn about music. The best place to learn that I’d ever seen. Really, really experienced people would be up there, but you felt like everybody was kind of on an even playing field. It was comfortable. And since there were tons of different musicians there, people would [always look around and] say stuff like, ‘Wow, music is incredible, because it can cut through different cultural… bla-blas.”
I’d felt like all these golden eras were all in the past. I figured, “I’m never gonna see what it was like in New York when Charlie Parker came out, I’m never gonna see what it was like to be in World War Two and the big swing bands, my life is just crap because I’m never gonna see a golden era.” But then when I was out there, I’d look around and be like, “You know, this is my golden era.”
And it really was, talking to Coco and Uncle Lionel and learning that stuff.
[Stay tuned for the long-form interview, with Monty and his partner, Monica da Silva!]
