A few years back a lament began being heard around certain precincts in New Orleans– why aren’t there any new Mardi Gras songs? It seemed all of the songs associated with our unique celebration where written decades ago. The roots of this complaint were found to be among aficionados of Carnival music in other places- particularly Trinidad and Brazil.
Overseas Carnival has many similar cultural traditions to those in New Orleans save one big exception. In those places, new music is part of the celebration. The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro features a massive samba parade in which clubs compete in several criteria including best new song. In Trinidad, they have the annual road march, which includes a song competition as well.
Lately new Carnival songs have been released in New Orleans and this season, J. the Savage offers one of the best. It is called, “Skippin’ at the Mardi Gras” and is available here for free.
http://soundcloud.com/the-vinyl-district/j-the-savage-skippin-at-the
