“Reluctant Ambassadors” is not the name of a new band, but perhaps it should be. It is the position that New Orleanians often find themselves in when away from their city. I am not referring to our reading at Get Lost Books, last week in San Francisco, which was small but wonderful. In that case I had volunteered to be a spokesperson for our city, and there was a receptive and interested group. No, I am referring to those times when us folks from New Orleans suddenly find ourselves speaking for a city — in a coffee shop, in a random conversation, while checking into a hotel, maybe even with family — wherever it might be.

I sat in an Irish bar in Sonoma, California, drinking a beer in wine country. A woman asked where I am from, and after hearing the answer she says, “I can’t stand New Orleans.” I was in a good mood, so I didn’t say to her what I felt like saying. Instead, I found myself telling her what is great about the city, explaining that it isn’t all Bourbon Street or what you see on TV. I found myself explaining why the city should fight to survive and why the government should help.

As though any of that needs to be explained. I felt like I was in another country. In truth, I really was, except for accepted boundaries.

At the bar at the hotel in San Francisco (my sister-in-law once asked if all my stories begin with “In a bar …”), I overheard a man talking, in a group of four or five suit-and-tie wearing people. It was clear that he was the only one from New Orleans. They politely listened as he said how great Jazz Fest is, how inspiring it is to see the city come back to life and so on. They were conspicuously silent.

These are the moments when New Orleanians find themselves turned into reluctant ambassadors. We didn’t sign up for this job. We just can’t stand it when people so ignorantly dismiss our city.

Another day, driving across the Golden Gate Bridge (nowhere near a bar, Yuko), a New Orleans tune came on the radio — Ellis Marsalis with Irvin Mayfield, playing a tune that I remember from Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. I believe it is from a CD soon to be released. Alone with this music, I was reminded of how great our city is. It speaks for itself.

No videos from that one yet, but I am looking forward to that CD. For now, who better for Music Friday than that family of ambassadors, the Marsalis’? Behind the cut is Ellis Marsalis with a couple of his sons, “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and trombone fans should keep watching after the song — listen to Branford call the trombone a “crappy instrument” and Delfeayo proving him wrong: