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This column touts my picks of the latest records, and I usually try to cull the most decent of the recent. I’d like to keep picking, but this month with a twist. This edition of Gumbo should come out right before the second weekend of Jazz Fest (the most won-der-ful time…of the year), and I want to give you my preferences on all four remaining days. And by “preferences”, I mean those acts who remain after the hard choices are made, what with the simultaneous bounty of goodness all over the Fairgrounds (and with hardly any cheating).
Thursday’s back in play after a couple years’ hiatus after Katrina. Known unofficially as “local day,” it’s usually the least crowded day but with plenty to offer. Why not start things off (after inhaling the sights and smells) with HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF on the Acura stage, another in a very long line of NOLA immigrant bands. Tart and sweet country folk and not a little sass will grace your ears as Ms. Alynda Lee Segarra fronts a talented band of strummers and pickers. A little unusual for a band with this much buzz holding down the opening slot. OTRA is a local band playing a very engaging brand of Afro-Cuban jazz. Featuring the mighty Brent Rose on sax, they will win you over by the second number at the latest (Congo square stage at 12:20).
After grazing at one of the food booths, you should check out THE HONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND (Acura, 2:25), another local product forged in The Storm’s aftermath. They play a solid, in-the-pocket brand of Louisiana rock ‘n soul, and take no time at all to take a shine to. After that, the women take over, with a stone cold dilemma presented by REGINA CARTER playing her violin in a world music/jazz fusion mode (“Reverse Thread,” she calls it), and she will mesmerize those catching her in the Jazz Tent at 4:15. Smack up against her at the Fais Do-Do stage is the indomitable ANI DIFRANCO, displaying her righteous babe persona in a cozy venue that no doubt will be packed with the faithful.
Another feminine standoff comes next when FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE (Gentilly stage) goes head-up against ESPERANZA SPALDING and her Radio Music Society ensemble (Congo Square). Ms. Florence is a Brit with Adele-sized pipes and drama to spare, while Ms. Spalding is the large-haired bassist who won the Best New Artist award at the Grammys two years ago, enraging Justin Bieber’s legions. She is ridiculously talented and now wants to broaden her appeal way past the cloistered jazz monastery to the general public, all the while not dumbing down her art – totally unfair.
Friday has country megawattage in THE ZAC BROWN BAND (closing at Acura) and a lot of tried-and-true locals, such as WAYNE TOUPS (Acura, 12:35), MARCIA BALL (Acura, 1:55) and TERESA ANDERSSON (Gentilly, 12:40). If you want to step out a bit you could sample BONERAMA, our own local brass insanity ensemble (Gentilly, 3:45) and rap legend MYSTIKAL (Congo,3:55). Gun to my head, I’d hit super-young and freakishly talented siren and picker SARAH JAROSZ (Fais Do-Do, 4:20), and then finish off with a wildly eclectic Latino flourish — RODRIGO Y GABRIELA AND C.U.B.A., closing at Gentilly.
Saturday brings the rock god royalty of THE EAGLES (closing Acura), but you’d find me at either the Gentilly stage then (where MY MORNING JACKET holds court) or the Jazz tent (where HERBIE HANCOCK will dazzle, whether he plugs in or stays acoustic) or at the Blues tent, where WARREN HAYNES w/ special guest, DR. JOHN, will be fanning the flames and running the voodoo down. But you can’t clone yourself yet, so the conundrum awaits. Before all those heavyweight closers, however, plenty of joy abounds. THE MALONE BROTHERS (Tommy of the subdudes and Dave of the late Radiators) will get their fraternal groove on at the Acura stage at 12:15, where NOLA Lord of R&B ALLEN TOUSSAINT follows with his glorious mix of funk, sweet soul and effortless suavity. Aging but not mellowing hardcore troubadour STEVE EARLE will prowl the Fais Do-Do stage at 4:15 to get you primed for one of the aforementioned closing acts. One of the strongest days of the whole Fest.
That is, until you see Sunday’s line-up. The Queen of Everything, BONNIE RAITT, will be all ready to sashay and rump-roll her way through her set on the Gentilly stage at 3:45. She’s got a brand new killer album to show off (Slipstream) and she’s still got all her moxie and mojo, as evidenced on her late-night TV tour the last week. That personal highlight aside, I cannot recommend GALACTIC highly enough (Acura, 1:25), as they’ve hit their stride as the embodiment of rock-hard funk NOLA has always harbored. They contain multitudes, and they have the most kick-ass drummer on the planet in Stanton Moore.
Rockists will flock to the FOO FIGHTERS (Acura, 3:10), but I’ll be in post-Bonnie bliss when I flip a quarter to decide to stay at Gentilly to hear THE PRESERVATION HALL BAND and FRIENDS (said to include Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Bonnie, Trombone Shorty, Allen Toussaint and Jim James) or go to the Blues Tent to hear the mighty wind that SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS will make with all their vintage tube equipment and Ms. Jones’ glorious lungs and perpetual motion wheels. If you can find the time and space to catch ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL (3:45 @ Fais Do-Do), your swinging soul will be nourished.
Whew.
When I consider all the artists I will have missed by making decisions to stay or go, I get wistful. But then the memory of the frissons I got while listening to the acts I was so fortunate to hear comes rushing back, and I already grow eager for next year.
– Dave Norman is a local attorney who has written or participated in various critiquing endeavors in the past (movies, restaurants) but who believes now has found his real niche as a music critic. In his opinion.
Guitarist Jeff Raines, drummer Stanton Moore, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonist Ben Ellman and keyboardist Richard Vogel comprise Galactic.
Regina Carter shot in Manhattan on March, 5, 2010 © 2010 Rahav Segev /Photopass.com Mandatory Photo Credit.
