The thunder rolled, the rain poured down and the fans danced and sang, bringing the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to a joyously muddy conclusion. For the past few years, the Fest has lucked out with decent weather; and for the most part, the three day weekend was lavished with partly-sunny skies, some late afternoon breezes and typical sweat-conjuring humidity. So the raindrops were long overdue and not unexpected, if you paid attention to local forecasters all week.
But one thing about this event called live music: rain or shine, if the music is happening, it gets into your groove thing and nothing can spoil it. From NOLA’s own funky Flow Tribe opening the Fest on Friday morning to BB King’s luminous blues guitar soliloquy to close out Sunday’s festivities, the grounds were thumping with horns and throbbing with bass beats every minute of the day. You could literally walk from one end of the Fair Grounds to the other and hear Jazz one minute, Zydeco a few feet later, R&B to your left and gospel to your right. John Mayer on the main stage, George Benson around the curve and Band Of Horses at the most popular stage – all at the same time one night; while Billy Joel piano-maned in front of thousands, Ben Harper dueted with harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, Jill Scott serenaded and Charles Bradley out-James-Browned James Brown, the following night. More often than not, it was hard to choose where to be at any given time. I guess you just followed your musical GPS.
With so many artists playing each day, it is hard to say who was the best, who was the most fun, who surprised and who even disappointed. But here are some special highlights from the first weekend.
Band Of Horses tearing up the Gentilly Stage on Friday with “Knock Knock,” “Laredo,” “No One’s Gonna Love You” and ending with a revialistic “The Funeral.” Fans didn’t want them to stop and were very vocal about it.
Anders Osborne’s electrified set featuring the remarkable Luther Dickinson (Black Crowes/North Mississippi Allstars) accompanying on guitar. If you haven’t discovered Osborne yet, now is the time to do so. The man has never sounded better. And Dickinson looked to be having the time of his life.
Glide Preview Pick Kristin Diable, a beautiful vision in Cleopatra gold, is definitely outgrowing the smaller Lagniappe Stage. It’s time to move her into the sunlight so more people can witness this up & coming singer-songwriter.
With fans like Rolling Stone’s David Fricke in attendance, the horntastic Bonerama blasted through Zeppelin’s “The Ocean,” and new tunes like “Funky Brown Shorts” and “I Don’t Wanna Play Guitar,” in which trombone player Craig Klein sang alongside his daughter.
New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint paying homage in song to BB King while it stormed outside the blues tent, and King giving the home of the 2010 Super Bowl champions some love with “When The Saints Go Marching In.”
The Blues Masters featuring Big Al Carson revving up a Sunday morning with “Hold On I’m Coming” and “Pride & Joy.”
Some wonderful blues guitar: Gary Clark Jr opening his set with “When My Train Comes In;” BB King still taking your breath away on “The Thrill Is Gone;” John Mayer slow-burning on “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room;” Ben Harper on slide, with Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, on the title track from their new collaborative album Get Up!; Little Freddie King still getting it at 72, Tab Benoit with the Voices Of The Wetlands All-Stars and the aforementioned Dickinson hanging back on rhythm but sauntering up for some killer chords.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band joining Billy Joel on “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” and completely overshadowing the piano player.
Summoning the rain with “Still Water” and getting maybe more than he bargained for with “Don’t Drink The Water,” the Dave Matthews Band worshiped the weather and got soaking wet with the legions that never budged an inch to leave their sacred spots, except to dance and sing in the mud with strangers.
Jazz Fest Part Deux begins Thursday, May 02 and runs through Sunday, May 05. Headliners include Fleetwood Mac, Maroon 5, Willie Nelson, Widespread Panic, Phoenix, Trombone Shorty, Patti Smith, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos and Frank Ocean. Other artists include the Black Keys, BeauSoleil, Hall & Oates, Galatic, Mia Borders, Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Mutemath, Pete Fountain, Pokey LaFarge, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and many more.
