Over the years we’ve shown off the impressive audio and video handiwork of Funk It Blog’s Randy Bayers. Bayers headed to the Crescent City for Jazz Fest and wound up catching 29 bands in five nights, and that doesn’t even include the time he spent at the actual Fairgrounds. All in all, Randy came through the festival with over 300 gigs of video. It’ll take him some time to process it all and post it on Funk It Blog, but recently he shared a sampler.

This incredible 25-minute video features a sampling of the impressive acts Bayers caught in New Orleans. Included among the bands featured are Dumpstaphunk, Dr. Klaw, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe w/ Zach Deputy & Jon Cleary, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, The Revivalists and G.A.B.E (George Porter Jr, Anders Osborne, Billy Iuso & Eric Bolivar). We’re especially in awe of G.A.B.E.’s take on Mr. Charlie.

While we wait for more of Funk It Blog’s videos to surface, here’s the sampler…

Here’s the tracklist of what you can see in the above video…

READ ON

Yesterday, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell performed at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans with The Meter Men as part of the final day of Jazz Fest. Portions of McConnell and The Meter Men’s set, which focused on Meters material, was aired on AXS TV live from The Crescent City.

[Photo via @NYCJamgal]

Our friends at Cheesehead Productions have captured People Say from McConnell’s Fairgrounds set with Meter Men Leo Nocentelli, Zigaboo Modeliste and George Porter Jr. Take a look…

This weekend AXS TV will air live and taped highlights from Jazz Fest in New Orleans starting each day at 3:30PM ET. HT faves Willie Nelson, Phoenix, Galactic, Gary Clark Jr., Bonerama, The Meter Men with Page McConnell and Widespread Panic are among the acts that will be featured.

Here’s the list of which acts will air on each day:

Friday @ 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT: John Mayer, Willie Nelson & Family, Ben Harper and Charlie Musslewhite, The Nevilles, Gipsy Kings, Laura Bell Bundy, Marc Broussard, Marcia Ball, The Mavericks and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk

Saturday @ 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT: Phoenix, Little Big Town, Better Than Ezra, Cowboy Mouth, Galactic, Anders Osborne, Gary Clark Jr., Bonerama, Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes, New Orleans Bingo! Show, and Allen Toussaint

Sunday @ 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT: Irma Thomas, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Meter Men featuring Zigaboo Modeliste, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr. with special Guest Page McConnell, Widespread Panic, Aaron Neville and Wayne Toups & Zydecajun

Also of note on the tube this weekend…

• Friday @ 11:35PM – New Order on Jimmy Kimmel Live
• Saturday @ 11:30PM – Of Monsters and Men on Saturday Night Live
• Saturday (Check Local Listings) – Norah Jones on Austin City Limits

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival finished its first weekend of action on Sunday at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City. Sunday saw performances from the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Calexico and the Gypsy Kings as well as New Orleans royalty The Nevilles, Kermit Ruffins and Big Sam.

[All Photos by Dino Perrucci]

Photographer Dino Perrucci was on hand and has filed a number of stunning shots…

READ ON

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is well underway at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City on this first weekend of the two-weekend event. Yesterday saw performances from the likes of national acts such as Billy Joel, Andrew Bird, Jill Scott and Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper as well as New Orleans legends Allen Toussaint, Michael White, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and Jason Marsalis.

[All Photos by Dino Perrucci]

Photographer Dino Perrucci was on hand and has filed a number of stunning shots…

READ ON

We’re just a few weeks away from Jazz Fest and from April 26th through May 5th, Nolafunk will present a full slate of shows as part of the 2nd Annual Jazzfest Series. Page McConnell and the Meter Men, the Everyone Orchestra, The Black Angels and Leftover Salmon are just a few of the acts scheduled to play the Republic and The Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans under the Nolafunk banner. It all starts on April 26th with the 2nd Annual Nolafunk Jazzfest Series Kick-Off Party.

George Porter Jr., John Gros (Papa Grows Funk), Craig Klein & Mark Mullins of Bonerama, Brian Stoltz (Funky Meters), and Terrence Houston (Runnin’ Pardners) will perform as Tryptophunk on April 26th at Republic for the Kick-Off Party. As if that isn’t enough, New Orleans natives The Soul Rebels and the incomparable Marco Benevento will open. Tickets are available through TicketWeb.

As part of our Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program, we’ve got a pair of tickets to attend the 2nd Annual Nolafunk Jazzfest Series Kick-Off Party at Republic on April 26th to giveaway. Simply leave a comment below telling us one song you’d like to see Tryptophunk play on the 26th as a comment below. We’ll pick one entry at random at 3PM ET on April 18th. You can enter a second time by leaving a similar comment on the Hidden Track Facebook Page and a third time by following @hidden_track and tweeting your request at us. You must include both @hidden_track and #htnolafunk in your tweet.

Here’s the fine print…

READ ON

Four new shows have been added to Nolafunk’s 2nd annual Jazzfest Series of concerts that will take place while the New Orleans Jazz Fest is in session. Republic will host all of the added shows, as well as every concert in the series, with the exception of a Leftover Salmon gig at The Howlin’ Wolf.

Widespread Panic keyboardist JoJo Hermann and The New Orleans Suspects will present Down on the Bayou IV: A Benefit for the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic on Thursday, May 2nd. The New Orleans Suspects and the Bonerama Horns will act as the house band, while Dr. John, Jojo Hermann, Marcia Ball, Col. Bruce Hampton, John Gros, Harry Shearer and Christine Ohlman are among the other performers on the bill. A special Everyone Orchestra performance has been booked for Friday, May 3rd. EO’s Matt Butler will lead an ensemble that includes keyboardist Marco Benevento, drummer Johnny Vidacovich, DJ Logic, bassist Reed Mathis, horn players Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman of the Trey Anastasio Band and lap steel wiz Roosevelt Collier of The Lee Boys.

Other performances added to the Nolafunk Jazzfest series are The Main Squeeze performing the music of Stevie Wonder and other tunes in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 28th and psych-rock faves The Black Angels slated to play Republic on Wednesday, May 1st.

Here’s the full rundown of Nolafunk’s Jazzfest Series with ticketing info…

READ ON

Those of us who can’t make it down for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this spring will still be able to keep tabs on some of the action going down at The Fairgrounds. For the first time in the event’s 43 year history Jazz Fest will be televised thanks to Mark Cuban’s AXS TV network.

AXS TV will start broadcasting from Jazz Fest on April 26th where the plan is to include live segments in the channel’s nightly AXSLive program. Then, for most of the second weekend of Jazz Fest, Friday the 3rd through Sunday the 5th, AXS TV will air three days of continuous live coverage from the Fairgrounds.

Jimmy Cliff, Phoenix, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson, The Black Keys, Aaron Neville, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue and Hall and Oates are just a few of the hundreds of acts set to perform during the second weekend of Jazz Fest. AXS TV will unveil its full Jazz Fest lineup in the coming weeks.

Last week we reported on a benefit called Fiya Fest that will be held in New Orleans on May 3rd. Remember this lineup? GABE (George Porter Jr., Billy Iuso, Eric Bolivar and Anders Osborne), Dragon Smoke (Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio and Eric Lindell), Dr. Klaw (Eric Krasno, Nigel Hall, Ian Neville, Adam Deitch and Nick Daniels), Karl Denson with The Dirty Dozen Horns (Nikki Glaspie, Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, Robert Walter and Eddie Roberts), The New Orleans Suspects and the Bonerama Horns, Funky But Better (Terrence Higgins, Nigel Hall, Big Sam, Roosevelt Collier, Khris Royal, Doug Wimbish and Eric McFadden), The Revivalists and Artists-At-Large Mike Dillon, Corey Glover and Skerik. Today, the event’s promoters announced Fiya Fest will be held in a bigger venue.

Fiya Fest will take place at at the Grand Ballroom and Outdoor Plaza at Mardi Gras World on the East Bank which is located at 1380 Port of New Orleans on the Mississippi River. Tickets will be available to the public at fiyafest.com starting at noon this Friday, March 8th. Tickets include 10 hours worth of music, liquor, beer, soft drinks, water and  The ticket will be for a 10 hour all-inclusive music, liquor, beer, soft drinks, water, crawfish and other food. Proceeds will benefit The Roots of Music.

Following up the announcement of a super group Fiyawerx Productions put together called Fiya Powa! for a May 2nd gig at One Eyed Jack’s in New Orleans comes a lineup that tops even that one. Check out this over-the-top list of artists that will play Fiya Fest on May 3rd at The Old Ironworks: GABE (George Porter Jr., Billy Iuso, Eric Bolivar and Anders Osborne), Dragon Smoke (Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio and Eric Lindell), Dr. Klaw (Eric Krasno, Nigel Hall, Ian Neville, Adam Deitch and Nick Daniels), Karl Denson with The Dirty Dozen Horns (Nikki Glaspie, Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, Robert Walter and Eddie Roberts), The New Orleans Suspects and the Bonerama Horns, Funky But Better (Terrence Higgins, Nigel Hall, Big Sam, Roosevelt Collier, Khris Royal, Doug Wimbish and Eric McFadden), The Revivalists and Artists-At-Large Mike Dillon, Corey Glover and Skerik.

FIYA FEST 2013 is a crawfish boil/benefit for the Roots of Music Marching Crusaders that is expected to run from noon to 10 PM on May 3rd at The Old Ironworks in New Orleans.

This is the time of year when many Jazz Fest late nights get announced, so for promoters of these events it’s not easy to make a big splash when announcing your gigs. Unless of course you’re assembling a batch of ridiculously talented musicians for a one-time performance as is the case for a May 2nd late night billed as “Fiya Powa!”

This show brings together drummer Stanton Moore (Galactic), bassist Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk), keyboardist Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk), saxophone wiz Skerik (Garage a Trois), lap steel performer Roosevelt Collier (The Lee Boys) and guitarist Andrew Block (Big Sam’s Funky Nation). Can’t beat that lineup. Keep your eyes on the venue’s website for ticketing details.

The granddaddy of music festivals, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, will take place on April 26-28 and May 2-5 at the Fairgrounds in the Crescent City. Today the lineup has been revealed and it features literally hundreds of bands. As far as national acts, Billy Joel will make a rare performance, Fleetwood Mac has added the fest to their schedule, Phoenix will make their Jazz Fest debut and Widespread Panic will return to the Fairgrounds for the first time since 2010.

Other HT faves on the bill are The Black Keys, the Dave Matthews Band, Hall & Oates, Gary Clark Jr., Band of Horses, The Del McCoury Band with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Page McConnell and The Meter Men, Allen Toussaint, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, Dumpstaphunk, Willie Nelson, Patti Smith and Dr. John.

Single day tickets as well as VIP packages are available here.

Here’s the full day-by-day rundown of the New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013…

READ ON

New Orleans. N’awlins. NOLA. Crescent City. The Big Easy.

I’ve heard the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, referenced in so many ways over the years, but after spending five nights there for the world famous Jazz Fest, only one word comes to mind: Love.

I devoured meal after meal at restaurants and the Jazz Fest Fairgrounds, so I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves. What struck me the most about eating in this city was how much pride goes in to cooking every dish. There is very little pretension, even in the best restaurants in the city. Restauranteurs are extremely proud of their local ingredients, as they should be.

THE FAIRGROUNDS

READ ON

This past Saturday at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Warren Haynes Band took over a set that was originally supposed to feature the Levon Helm Band. Warren paid tribute to the late The Band drummer by closing his guest-laden set with a cover of The Weight. Joining Haynes and his band for this fantastic rendition were New Orleans musical royalty Dr. John, Ivan Neville and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s Roger Lewis, Kevin Harris and Efrem Towns. Check it out…

Warren Haynes Band w/ Guests – The Weight

Last Friday night in New Orleans, the Nolafunk Jazz Fest Series kicked off at Republic, where one of the night’s main events was a superjam featuring guitarists Fred Tackett and Paul Barrere of Little Feat with Anders Osborne and members of his band. Take a look as Osborne, Tackett, Barrere, Billy Iuso, Carl Dufresne and Eric Bolivar jam on the Grateful Dead’s Fire On The Mountain…

Little Feat/Anders Osborne – Fire On The Mountain

The series continues tonight at Republic, with EOTO and Wyllys and the New York Hustlers.