Jazzman relocated to Kansas by Katrina thanks community with concert

Published: 2006-02-10

TOPEKA, Kan. (CNS) -- Holy Name School and Parish in Topeka extended a helping hand last fall to a New Orleans jazz musician and his family whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. On Feb. 3, Carlos Martinez said thank you in the way he knows best -- by bringing a jazz concert to the school free of charge. Martinez, a percussion drummer, said he worked in the 1990s with the Neville Brothers on "Valence Street," an album that was nominated as best rhythm and blues vocal performance in 2000. Valence is an uptown street in New Orleans, and the Neville Brothers are one of New Orleans' most famous and popular music groups. After his arrival in Topeka, Martinez won a grant from the Jazz Foundation to put displaced New Orleans musicians back to work. He assembled a six-piece band made up of fellow jazz musicians from the Big Easy, as New Orleans is known, and it's now touring schools and nursing homes in the area. Before the concert, Martinez thanked the more than 400 people assembled in the gymnasium for their help in relocating his family to Topeka.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .