Ted Hearne – Katrina Ballads
November 14th, 2010
In August 2005, the costliest natural disaster in United States history battered New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina: 175 mph winds, failed levees, a submerged city, at least 1,836 dead and scores more left homeless. On the fifth anniversary of the catastrophe, Ted Hearne’s Katrina Ballads, a 70-minute cycle of 10 songs and two instrumental interludes, blows into town to offer a musical retrospective of the damage. Prominently featured is an odd combination of vibrato-laden, operatic singers belting out non-lyrical, direct quotes from survivors, relief workers, politicians, celebrities and news accounts of the disaster, and the Bush administration’s bungled response.
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Posted by Arcane Candy