The next series he hopes to produce for HBO is about musicians reconstituting their lives in New Orleans, he told The New Yorker for its issue hitting newsstands Monday.
Simon, whose dramas are known for their authenticity and detail, has been spending time there researching the music scene.
"This show will be a way of making a visual argument that cities matter," Simon said. "'The Wire' has never done that. I certainly never said or wanted to say that Baltimore is not saving, or that it can't be saved. But I think some people watching the show think, Why don't they just move away?"
A goal of the show will be to celebrate the glories of an American city, and "why we need to accept ourselves as an urban people," Simon said.
"At the Macy's parade, when they show New York, they gotta get the dancers from Broadway shows out in the streets doing a kick line," he said. "In New Orleans the musicians are already in the streets."
The fifth and final season of HBO's "The Wire" begins in January, this time focusing on layoffs at The Sun — where Simon once worked — and how newspapers fail to capture certain complex truths. Previous seasons of the acclaimed drama have featured drug dealers, struggling longshoremen, city politicians and inner-city students.
The drama is actually about "the decline of the American empire" and the failure of postmodern institutions, Simon said. He is also working on an HBO miniseries called "Generation Kill," based on the 2004 book, about a Marine platoon in Iraq.
WILLIE TEE
While we are here, we should pay respects to Willie Tee, a real favourite musician / singer of ours and one of the New Orleans legends. Willie passed away last month.
Wish I could put some music up here (we're working on it) but instead, trust me, and go find "Walkin' Up A One Way Street", "The First Taste Of Hurt" and "Teasin' Me".
When I heard the news I reached for a record by someone else, the great Harold Battiste. Check "Me & Willie Tee" on his album "Next Generation" (it's up on U.S. webstores) . It's a killer slice of N.O. jazz from the mid '90's and a fitting tribute.
