Chicago Tribune toots New Orleans' horns

Jazz critic Howard Reich spent some time with the St. Augustine high school marching band and wrote a great story about their struggles to perform up to pre-storm standards.

The story can be found here .

Before the storm, the locally celebrated band -- once the training field of players like Terence Blanchard -- could play Stevie Wonder tunes in what seemed like 36-part harmony. Now, they have half as many members and have been forced to accept new players with far fewer skills. But like with so many rebuilding New Orleans stories, their motivation to persevere is equal parts symbolism and painful practicality.