Monday 10^th April

This morning we headed out of town to the Honey Island Swamp for a boat trip led by jazz pianist, Captain John Royen. John has excellent knowledge about flora and fauna and dedicated to preserving the swamp and the animals that inhabit this beautiful area. The rest of the day was spent with the group either relaxing by the pool, visiting the Garden District, taking a Mississippi steamboat cruise or one of the many of the other places of interest.

Tuesday 11^th April

Today we embarked on a walking tour around the French Quarter. The Le Monde Creole tour is an interesting and fun way to experience local courtyards, St Louis Cemetery and other areas that are not generally open to the public. This evening Louisiana Music Factory, a local music store, very kindly opened their doors for us and put on a band ‘The Loose Marbles’ featuring Marla Dixon. The music was great and many thanks to Barry Smith from the LMF for hosting us.

Wednesday 12^th April

Free morning, before we headed out over Lake Pontchartrain causeway to Mandeville and to the very special Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall. This historic dance hall is where the likes of Buddy Pettit, Bunk Johnson and George Lewis played. We were also very privileged to have Sally Young from WWOZ travel out on the coach with us, special thanks to Sally for being such a wonderful tour guide for the trip.

This day is always so special, catching up with old friends and the ‘Ladies of the Church’ who kindly provide us with a fabulous lunch.

The music was sensational and the band consisted of Gregg Stafford – trumpet, Dr Michael White – clarinet, Frankie Lynn – banjo, Tyler Thomson – bass, David Harris – trombone and Barry Martyn – drums. Thank you to Barry for all his help in making this such a special event.

Thursday 13^th April

For most of the group, it was the last full day before heading home and still the sun continued to shine. A small group took a coach trip out to the beautiful plantation – Oak Alley. We enjoyed a guided tour that revealed fascinating stories of the home and its history as well as seeing the unbelievable quarter-mile long alley of twenty eight magnificent oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss; straight out of Gone With the Wind’. The evening was spent either catching the band with Tim Laughlin at the Palm Court or visiting the spots on Frenchmen Street or spending the last evening in Fritzels.

Friday 14^th April

Our last morning was spent doing the final souvenir shopping or catching those last few camera shots before heading out to catch the direct overnight flight home!

What our clients have said:-

“A small note to say a great big THANK YOU!! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the French Quarter Jazz Festival”.

“Thank you so much for all of the work involved in giving us a wonderful holiday in New Orleans. We loved listening to the older musicians, but were thrilled with the exuberance of the young bands”.

“The Jazz Tour was amazing, what really made it for us was your individual attention. The programme of events laid on by Southern Sounds couldn’t have been better and we really appreciated your daily recommendations of where to go”.

“Loved the whole New Orleans experience, hard to imagine how the tour could be done any better”.

“The Dew Drop was so unique and special we were delighted to have been able to attend, something we couldn’t have done on our own. The parade fulfilled a long held dream and couldn’t have been done without your organisation – THANK YOU”.

“As someone who vaguely knew she liked jazz, I really appreciated all the background and the introduction to the various bars and clubs as well as the arranged events. I loved the overall ambience of jazz in New Orleans and listening to the bands”.

“Thanks for a wonderful tour which exceeded our expectations – after the fond memories of 2000. I wondered if it would actually be that good a second time. It was! Thanks for looking after us so well, and that obviously includes Pete and Heather. What a great team you are”!

Details for 2018 will be available later in the summer, please give us a call on 01342 811782 to register your interest.