The New Orleans native saw for himself the devastation of the city and the suffering of those who took refuge in the Convention Centre, and has recorded his thoughts in the song All These People.
“There was no power, no food, no water, no plumbing,” he told The Times. “The smell in the bathrooms was nauseating. I saw two dead bodies outside, but inside it was full of people, some white, some black, most old, all asking, ‘When is someone coming?’"
The jazz singer/actor, whose new album My New Orleans is a tribute to the city, added. “My personal history was destroyed; it’s still standing, but it has to be torn down because you can’t live in it. Recently, I went to the house I grew up in, in Lakeview, only a few blocks from where the levee broke. The door was open and I walked in; it is all there, but it is covered in mould and it stank.”