1) New Orleans jazz ambassador Pete Fountain passed away on Saturday, August 6 at the age of 86. Local music writer Keith Spera recently published a fitting memorial piece on Fountain in the Advocate, calling him a "one-of-a-kind New Orleans character." Well worth a read. Fountain's funeral will be held on Wednesday, August 17 at the St. Louis Cathedral. Visitation will be from 9a-11:30a. Following 30 minutes of remembrances and eulogies, a Mass will begin at noon. Afterward, a second line procession will end at Hotel Monteleone, where Fountain's Half-Fast Walking Club concluded its annual Mardi Gras morning stroll for decades.

2) Big Queen Mercedes "Miss Mercy" Stevenson of the Wild Tchoupitoulas became an ancestor earlier this week. Miss Mercy masked with the Wild Tchoupitoulas beginning in 1974. She was also a member of the Emerald Social Aid and Pleasure Club and masked as a Baby Doll with the Sophisticated Ladies and the Ladies of Wales. For more on Miss Mercy's rich life, listen to the WWOZ interview with her, conducted in early 2015. The funeral will be held Saturday, August 20, at Austerlitz Street Baptist Church (819 Austerlitz St.). Viewing will begin at 9a, and the service will be at 10a. She will be interred at the St. Patrick Cemetery and Mausoleum and honored with a traditional jazz funeral. 

3) Local gospel singer and music champion Jo "Cool" Davis passed away on Friday, August 5 at his Central City home after an illness. He was 63. Jo Cool was known for bringing gospel music to a broad audience through his tenure on the stage at the Gospel Tent at Jazz Fest, which began in 1978. He also spent nearly 30 years as doorman and emcee at Tipitina's, and hosted the House of Blues weekly gospel brunch for years. His funeral will be held Saturday, August 13 at Trinity Episcopal Church. 

4) Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Week continues with the Crystal Feather Honorees Awards Reception Dinner on Saturday, August 13, and the 17th Annual Memorial and Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 14 at Ashe Cultural Arts Center from 3-5p.. The reception will be held at Basin Street Station (501 Basin St.) from 6-8p. Immediately preceding the awards ceremony will be an intimate conversation with the Hall of Fame's 2016 Elder Statesman Honoree, Frank "Running Deer" Nelson, Jr. of the White Eagles. See the full schedule for the remainder of Hall of Fame Week at WWOZ's Takin' It To The Streets.

5) This week's new music spotlight focused on longtime New Orleans group Bamboula 2000 as they celebrate their 22nd anniversary with a new CD and a show at Cafe Istanbul. Bamboula 2000 integrates a modern soul sound with African, Caribbean, and jazz influences. Their anniversary show will feature songs from their latest album, Up From Congo Square. Catch it Sunday, August 14 at Cafe Istanbul from 6-10p. Check out the video we captured of their performance at Congo Square Rhythms Festival in March.