"It's not if you can afford to care for musicians, it is if you can afford not to."
Dr. Jack McConnell, founder, New Orleans Musicians Clinic

Two long time New Orleans based performers join a coalition of Baltimore musicians, as le bon temps roulez in a fabulous night of music, comedy and cuisine benefiting an effective, innovative New Orleans clinic working hard to offer medical assistance, prescriptions, and other social services to the city's musicians.

Pianist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist David Roe has been an iconic figure on the streets of New Orleans for many years performing with his rolling piano, often joined by native Southerner Chris Chandler, an unpredictable, dynamic performance poet. Comedian and kids' TV star Bob Heck (aka Bob the Vid Tech on MPT,) his long time collaborator pianist David Zee, musician Nick Newlin (of Jamnation,) cartoonist and musician Tom Chalkley, and musician Bob Friedman (of Mambo Combo,) mime and juggler extraordinaire The Queen of Whimsey join a host of other area musicians to present a night of "Nawlins" music and performance benefiting the displaced New Orleans Musicians Clinic. The all star line-up will coalesce into Bayside Nation performing many great songs from the Big Easy. Numerous names will be added to the bill in upcoming days. Nancy Longo of Pierpoint Restaurant will reinterpreting recipes by her friend Chef Paul Prudhomme and offering Louisiana culinary delights to benefit the cause. Creative Alliance is donating the venue --The Patterson -- as well as production and promotional services. The performers are volunteering and all proceeds will go directly to NOMC.


The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic (NOMC) is an innovative not-for-profit occupational medicine and wellness partnership offering comprehensive health care on a sliding scale to the community's most precious resource: our musicians. NOMC's sponsors are the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the LSU Health Care Network. Dedicated on May 2, 1998, NOMC became the first such health initiative in the United States, addressing the health care needs of musicians and their families, an under-served segment of the population. To date NOMC's dedicated consortium of service providers has treated more than 1000 local musicians providing everything from prescriptions to gasoline to rent assistance to school uniforms. NOMC and the Daughters of Charity Services were flooded out of their headquarters on the LSU campus in downtown New Orleans as a result of Katrina. Temporarily relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana, NOMC is working hard to help the city's desperately challenged musicians even as the organization fundraises to build new quarters in New Orleans.