The musical magic of New Orleans can be found all over the city, including its Bywater neighborhood.
In this very small chunk of the 9th Ward that survived Hurricane Katrina, a ragtag group of artists called New Orleans Airlift first constructed “Dithyrambalina,” in 2011. It’s now better known as the Music Box: a village of small structures, each one playable as a musical instrument.
Various incarnations of New Orleans’ Music Box attracted musicians from all over the world: producer/composer Arto Lindsay, drummer Hamid Drake, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and members of Wilco. That’s not to mention all of the famous locals drawn to perform together at Dithyrambalina.
Now Sarah Howard, University of South Florida curator of public art and social practice at the Institute for Research in Art, has helped deliver the most recent version of the Music Box to the Community Stepping Stones site at Sulphur Springs’ Mann-Wagnon Park.
“We don’t have that same rich population of world-renowned musicians here,” Howard said. “But we do have talented musicians in the bay area, and they’ve helped us make this new Music Box about our community.” CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article in the Tampa Bay Times…
Or watch this video of the Tampa Music Box in action!