Groove Interrupted: Loss, Renewal, and the Music of New Orleans

What happens when New Orleans, a city whose cultural identity is linked to its musical heritage, loses many of the artists that make the city vital? Keith Spera answers this question by recounting the Katrina stories of eighteen of New Orleans's greatest musicians. Well-known musicians like B.B. King, Aaron Neville, Terence Blanchard and Kermit Ruffins share their stories alongside those of newer artists like Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Master P. Spera accompanies reclusive Fats Domino as he rambles around Manhattan to promote a post-Katrina tribute CD. He talks with Alex Chilton who spent his final years living anonymously in a battered New Orleans cottage and listens as rapper Mystikal describes his recent release from the Louisiana prison where he sat out Katrina. As Spera weaves the individual stories together one common theme is clear: the unbreakable Crescent City spirit and desire for renewal will always be found through the music and artists that fill the streets.