The Andrews, Nelson, and Hill family invite the public to participate in the celebration of life for Lois Andrews from November 19th to 20th. Andrews died at the home of her family in New Orleans on November 10, 2021. She is 69 years old.

Andrews occupies a unique position in the cultural community of New Orleans. She is one of the few jazz funeral marshals in the city and the driving force behind the traditional revival of babydoll masks. She co-founded Lady Money Wasters Social Aid and Pleasure Club in 1975, and co-founded Dumaine Street Gang in the 1990s. In the same decade, she encouraged the formation of Gold Digger Dolls and other groups, a tradition that flourished in the carnival celebrations of the early 20th century, but almost ceased to exist before she promoted the revival.

The visit will be held on Friday, November 19th from 4pm to 6pm at the Rosary Chapel located at the Charbonnet-Labat Funeral Home at 1615 St. Philip Street. After the visit, a music tribute event will be held, and only invitees are allowed to enter. On Saturday, November 20, 2021, the public is invited to visit from 8 am, and then a funeral will be held at the Maharia Jackson Performing Arts Theater at Armstrong Park (1419 Basin St) at 10 am. A traditional jazz funeral parade will follow. The burial place was at Mount Olivet Cemetery, 4000 Norman Meyer Ave. All public events require a vaccination certificate or a negative test for COVID.

Invitations to social assistance and entertainment clubs, Doman Street Gang social assistance and entertainment clubs, Tremé Sidewalk Steppers and all social assistance and entertainment clubs, brass bands, and former and current employees of Place D'Armes and Hampton Inn hotels .

In the biographies provided by the family members, Andrews is described as “the cultural icon of the sixth district; born in culture, carrying culture, nurturing culture, and rejuvenating culture. She is everyone’s aunt, she is the queen of Tremé. She was born from 4. I started doing second-line work at the age of 8 and accepted Christ at the age of 8."

In 2019, Andrews was appointed as the ruler of the Krewedelusion parade and chose the appropriate title of "Mother of Music" for himself. In her royal military parade, she asked people to "respect each other, judge slowly, and support the saints."

Andrews' home and workplace became a hotbed for a whole generation of brass band musicians. She makes ceramics to buy musical instruments for the children playing in her house, and runs the shop and practice space The Shop, encouraging children to form bands and practice parades in the streets of Treme community. In the early 1990s, she transformed the 6th Ward bar room on the corner of St. Philip Street and North Robertson Street into a community center. She named it "Trombone Shorty's", thus creating a venue for budding brass bands. Her youngest son. Today, thanks to her efforts, many bands that constitute the backbone of the city’s music scene exist, including the Rebirth Brass Band, the Newborn Brass Band, Lil Rascals Brass Band, Soul Rebellious Brass Band, Tremé Brass Band, and few choices. Her brass band, and countless other groups, including her own children’s group.

As she told the photographer Eric Waters, “If you go out for a parade, you don’t have to worry about not getting sick.”

Andrews was born on August 8, 1952. She is the daughter of the late R&B singer Jessie “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” Hill and his wife Dorothy, and the granddaughter of the guitarist Walter Nelson who played in the Alphonse Picou band. Andrews is the eldest girl of 12 children, and her 9 siblings survived. She has been married to James Andrews Jr. for 45 years and is the mother of seven children: James "12" Andrews III (Karen), Bruce "Fot" Nelson, Terry Nelson, Temeca Andrews, the late Dane "D-boy" Andrews, Troy "Trombone Short" Andrews and Deja Andrews. She has 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Before Andrews died, her father, a son and two brothers Louis "Fritz" Nelson and Terry "Bow" Hill.

In Andrews’ words, “The whole world must unite and be free. New Orleans is a gumbo that combines all these different cultures, and I am honored to be part of it. I know how to bring all the world’s Evil and hatred are underfoot. I like to have fun; when you have fun, it will make life better. I want to stop the hatred. Let us teach the world to march together in a New Orleans style and let the good times roll Come!"

400 Esplanade Avenue (at the New Orleans Jazz Museum), New Orleans, LA 70116

© 2021 OffBeat Magazine website provided by Westguard Solutions