Bluenote Barbershop - Original Art

TREME—The Bluenote Barbershop sits at 1036 Henriette Delille Street in the Treme neighborhood, 6th Ward. Inside you’ll find proprietor and New Orleans native Invee Burrell. I went to Bluenote for a haircut after moving to a place on Rampart this past summer. There I got the cut I wanted, and a refreshing dose of knowledge from Burrell about the evolution of the surrounding neighborhoods and wards.

Burrell, a jazz-loving man of faith who uses his vocation as a way of expressing his faith has been present in the downtown area of New Orleans since the 70s. Burrell spent his early childhood at the intersection of St. Bernard and St. Claude at 1736 N Rampart Street. An area we all refer to now as The Marigny, but to Burrell “it was just the seventh.”

Burrell offered his perspective from growing up in New Orleans before Katrina, recounting less concern about neighborhoods and more inclination towards use wards and landmarks to describe where they’re coming or going from in the city.

“They say Marigny, but once you cross Elysian Fields, you’re really in the 8th Ward. And those of us who grew up here it was 8th Ward. ‘Where you live in the neighborhood?’ I live on a Marigny Street. I live on Mandeville. I live on Arts. I live on Music,” explains Burrell.

He goes on to reference the Bywater, “Yeah. It’s the 9th Ward. It was never… What they call it now? Bywater. That sign been there for decades,” he chuckled. “Nobody called it the Bywater.” I asked Burrell if he remembered when folks started calling it the Bywater. “After Katrina, yeah.”

Your local Treme Barber Invee Burrell named his shop Bluenote as an ode to Miles Davis. One of his favorite musicians. “Miles Davis is my favorite Jazz artist, I named Bluenote in reference to his album Kind of Blue which is my favorite Jazz album. Favorite song: All Blues.”

I think it’s important to remember that this city is rich in history beyond the iron balconies, Romeo spikes, and shotgun houses. Perspectives like Burrell’s need to be shared, and that’s how I hope to use my local artwork more to be a catalyst for that.

If you’re in need of a good barber consider getting your next cut from Burrell. A man of the city.