{"id":2719,"date":"2019-12-06T14:22:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T14:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowlifejournalism.com\/?p=2719"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:47:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:47:19","slug":"jean-bayou-serendipity-at-willies-chicken-shack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/?p=2719","title":{"rendered":"Jean Bayou: Serendipity at Willie’s Chicken Shack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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[Photo by Ad\u00e9 Salgado]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

JB<\/strong>: I was wandering around down on Frenchmen late on a Wednesday night, not too long ago. I hadn\u2019t been down there in quite a while. In fact, the last time I had<\/em> been there, I was surprised to see a mini bulldozer inside the Praline Connection and the floor all torn up. So now there was a brand-new, brightly lit Willie\u2019s Chicken Shack right there on that corner… Made me go ‘Wow.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I was hungry, so I decided to see what was on the menu….as I waited in a pretty slow-moving line, a young good-looking guy came along behind me and we started chatting about the new place and the line and had a few laughs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was dressed really nicely, and of course I had to ask him why. He said he had just finished a gig at Snug Harbor with Delfeayo Marsalis\u2014was a horn player. I told him I was a songwriter and we talked about music for a minute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next thing I knew, I was next in line, placed my order and was getting ready to pay when he insisted on picking up my tab.  This just blew me away ….I thanked him profusely. A bit later I realized I\u2019d never even gotten his name, but I will certainly always remember his kindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This project always makes me think of a song Jean wrote about that expression \u201cBack in the day...\u201d Most of the stories in the collection take place at least a decade ago, when (depending on which decade and who's talking) Frenchmen was a tight-knit neighborhood, an international music mecca, a blissfully piractic Wild West. The late 70s, the mid 90s, the early 2000s ... I have slightly insufferable Miniver Cheevy tendencies at the best of times, and of course these are all Frenchmen \"days\" I dearly wish I could have been a part of. But it's also nice to remember, as the song says, that \"this is<\/span> the day<\/em>.\" (And you can still go out on Frenchmen and occasionally meet a handsome chicken-buying stranger<\/em>.)<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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