Fan Fest

Thursday, May 3, 2007, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

What: Fan Fest

When: Thursday, May 3, 2007, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Lafayette Square Park

How much: Free admission

Who: Willie Tee, backed by an all-star band of Stanton Moore and Robert Mercurio of Galactic, Robert Walter, Will Bernard and Donald Harrison, Jr.

Featuring a special guest appearance by Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias

Plus the Charmaine Neville Band

Also plus the Heritage School of Music Jazz Band

Fan Fest:

Free May 3 Celebration Features Willie Tee, Charmaine Neville and More

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc., will produce a new event, Fan Fest, a free concert to be held in Lafayette Square on May 3.

The concert is the Foundation’s “thank you” to the hundreds who have joined the nonprofit organization’s membership arm, Fans of the Fest. Contributions to Fans of the Fest are tax-deductible and support the Foundation’s year-round efforts to encourage the musical and artistic culture of Louisiana.

To join Fans of the Fest online, please see: www.jazzandheritage.org.

Fan Fest will feature a legend of New Orleans rhythm and blues, Wilson “Willie Tee” Turbinton. Best known for his 1965 hits on Atlantic Records, “Teasin’ You” and “Walking Up a One-Way Street,” he has worked with such luminaries as Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Nat Adderley, Herbie Mann, Joe Zawinul’s Weather Report, Carl Anderson, Dr. John and many others. He had a small part in the Oscar-winning movie “Ray.” After Hurricane Katrina, he spent a year as artist-in-residence at Princeton University.

Willie Tee is also beloved for his contributions to Mardi Gras music. He was the bandleader and arranger for the 1974 self-titled debut by the Wild Magnolias, which featured such perennial favorites as “Handa Wanda,” “Smoke My Peace Pipe,” “Two-Way-Pak-E-Way” and “Corey Died on the Battlefield.”

At Fan Fest, Willie Tee will be backed by an all-star band that includes: drummer Stanton Moore and bassist Robert Mercurio of Galactic; keyboardist Robert Walter; guitarist Will Bernard; and saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr. The set will also feature a special guest appearance by Bo Dollis, lead vocalist of the Wild Magnolias.

Fan Fest will also include a performance by the Charmaine Neville Band. Neville, a daughter of Neville Brothers saxophonist Charles Neville, is a hero of New Orleans music in her own right. She is a versatile and dynamic singer whose repertoire spans jazz, blues, R&B, reggae and more.

Also appearing will be the Heritage School of Music Jazz Band, a student group from the Foundation’s signature educational program, the Don Jamison Heritage School of Music. The Foundation has sponsored the Heritage School since 1990. This year, the Foundation expanded the free, after-school program from one to three campuses.

Fan Fest will be held in the same space as n and is largely modeled on n the highly successful Wednesdays At the Square concert series. Indeed, the Foundation is collaborating with the Young Leadership Council, which produces Wednesdays at the Square, to produce Fan Fest.

Fan Fest is also supported by the Downtown Development District and the City of New Orleans.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, proceeds from which support the foundation’s various community development activities. Programs of the foundation include: radio station WWOZ 90.7-FM; the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Archive; the Don Jamison Heritage School of Music; the Tom Dent Congo Square Lecture Series; the Jazz Journey concert series; the Community Partnership Grants program; the Raisin’ the Roof low-interest loan program for first-time home buyers; and the S.E.E.D. micro-loan program for entrepreneurs. The foundation also produces community events such as the New Orleans Blues Festival, Fiesta Latina, the Down By the Riverside Thanksgiving concert and others.

For more information, please call the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation at (504) 558-6100.