“I first came up with the idea for the
song in 2010 while working with the
students at the D.R. Batiste Cultural Arts
Academy,” Eloise explained. “Those children
and their teachers were a wonderful
inspiration. I was hoping to create a music
and arts educational curriculum that
paired professional artists and teachers
to work with students to create their
own version of the song.” Unfortunately,
however, the school closed due to problems
with the building before that idea
came to fruition.
The song presents a melange
melange
of New Orleans Second-
condas
Line and Hip-Hop, as
well as styles that evoke
e
images of marching
bands playing during
Mardi Gras. The
track bursts with
sounds of brass
and woodwinds,
and features a beat
made by engineer
and producer, Ben
Lorio, recording
himself bouncing a
a
basketball and squeaking
akleum
his shoes on linoleum
to simulate the sound nd of a
a
basketball game.
The song is performed by a diverse
group of some of New Orleans’ top
musicians. T’Shaun “Blac Sol” Taylor’s
deep voice resounds in the rap’s
entrancing cadence and lyrics, while
vocalist Michaela Harrison belts out
liquid vocal stylings that float above.
Musicians playing on the song include
Alfred “Uganda” Roberts on congas and
percussion, Joe Krown on Hammond B-3
organ, Ian Smith on trumpet and valve
trombone, Jeffrey Hills Sr. on Sousaphone,
Jeremy Phipps on slide trombone and
Jeff Watkins and Cindy Mayes on saxophones.
PHOTOS BY AB SYKES PHOTOGRAPHY
t
ude
d
3
e
e,d
Backup vocals are by Big Chief
Alfred Doucette; Les Leonard, Eloise’s
husband; and Eloise herself. Leo “Slick
Leo” Coakley, Leroy “Whistle Monsta”
Mitchell and Christine Curphey contributed
sound effects.
COVER STORY
Does Eloise think the song will bring
good luck to a team with an overall
610–686 won/loss record and inspire it
to fight for a playoff spot in 2020? Eloise
laughed and said, “I don’t know what I
can do about that, but it would be nice.” A
graduate of Georgetown University, home
to one of the nation’s top NCAA basketball
teams, Eloise was in the same class
as NBA Hall of Famer Alonzo
Mourning, during the
ring ng she
PHOTO BY LES LEONARD
golden years of Hoya hoops. “I’ve always
loved basketball,” she noted.
Aside from her Pelicans song, which she
plans to be heavily promoting, Eloise plays
electric bass with a number of local bands
and she has an impressive journalistic
background as well. Born in Los Angeles
and raised in Washington state, she was
educated at Georgetown from 1988-92.
As a classically trained undergraduate, she
played cello in the university’s symphony
orchestra and composed and performed
a 3-movement duet for cello and viola,
her first original musical composition.
Then she moved to Miami “just in time
for Hurricane Andrew,” she noted.
During her 10
years in south
Florida, she served as an
editor and writer for
a number of publications,
including
an
num
catio
the
I l
the Palm Beach
l u s t r a t e d
m
a g a z i n e ,
B
u s i n e s s
i
in Broward
m
magazine and
s
several others
in in
the West
Pa
Palm Beach,
For
Fort Lauderdale
and
Miami region.
According Accor
to Eloise,
she inte
interviewed some
interesting
people during
that time, inc
including actor
Michael Mi h l Caine,C i Jesse J
Jackson,
Donald Do
Trump and Maya Angelou,
w
who smiled and said to remember that
p
people from diverse backgrounds are,
“
more alike than unalike.”
That statement embodied the exact
reason why Eloise majored in international
affairs in the first place. “I
r
n
th
ma
c
you’
sam
diff
A
feel
thought it would be more expedient to
make people realize how much we had
in common through music because when
you’re a musician you’re already part of the
same family before realizing that you have
different opinions,” she said.
After a few more years, Eloise began
feeling the pull of her first and biggest
love – music – and the cultural climate of
the region in which she was living wasn’t
conducive to that pursuit, she lamented.
“I wanted to play music,” she said.
“And so that’s what brought me to New
Orleans,” she continued. “I wanted to be
somewhere where there was culture. New
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