Jazz Fest Über Alles

At the Library in May
May 1, 2013
Andrew J. Cantrelle
May 2, 2013
At the Library in May
May 1, 2013
Andrew J. Cantrelle
May 2, 2013

The beloved New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (brought to you by Shell, Acura, and other assorted Really Big Corporations) continues to tinker with its formula (bad: much bigger gated areas in front of the main stages for the one percenters, no rolling soft ice chests allowed; good: the music! the food! the lovely people!). With the first week successfully in the books, seasoned pilgrims and rookies alike look forward to the second weekend and its bounties.

Herewith a very narrow guide to the final four days at the Fairgrounds. I offer two suggested itineraries for each day: the first a layout at one stage for the settled among you and the other a nomad’s trek for the more adventurous and attention-challenged. Know the pain of deciding a direction and the consequential loss of those not seen/heard – c’est la vie, and revel in those you do catch.


THURSDAY:


Known as “Locals’ Day,” the lineup’s lack of big names should result in the relatively low turnout that was envisioned – a day to walk and sample the entire Fest’s pleasures with ease of movement.

The Layout: Er, Gentilly


Really, either the Acura stage or Gentilly has its charms, but gun to the head, I suppose I’d go with Gentilly in light of my indifference for Widespread Panic and my curiosity to hear Patti Smith (raise an underarm!). Before Ms. Smith, you’ll see The Mercy Brothers, a new band headed by Lafayette’s Mark Meaux (of Bluerunners’ fame), featuring tongue-in-cheek hillbilly gospel stompers; Salio of the Republic of Georgia, an indie rock act from the former Soviet state (not Chechnya or Kyrgyzstan); Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, a South Dakotan transplant swinging early 20th century jazz tunes with a brass band accompaniment; Henry Butler and Friends, the blind pianist leading an all-star revue; Theresa Andersson, the lovely and talented Swedish chanteuse whose chameleon-like restlessness leaves one wondering what persona or lineup she might appear with – the only constant being her excellence; and the aforementioned Patti Smith, whose New York poetic starkness brings to mind Lou Reed’s urban toughness.


The Trek:

I’d still start with The Mercy Brothers, as I’m intrigued by their pedigree and other-world view; next, head on over to Acura and catch Mia Borders, a New Orleanian whose vocal chops and songwriting skill are used to great effect when she delivers her rock and soul oeuvre; catch about 20 minutes’ worth of Kidd Jordan’s avant-garde jazz in the Tent, then bop over to the Blues Tent to cleanse your palate with Johnny Sansone’s rock-steady blues, making the form fresh again with his conviction and mighty harp; then be-bop back over to the Jazz Tent to hear Blended Voices featuring Philip Manuel, Germaine Bazzle and Leslie Smith, who, separately, are not to be missed and, together, promise to induce swinging bliss to the jazzbos in attendance; Shamarr Allen and the Underdawgs at Congo square will get your booty in shaking mode, which will either put you in mind to continue the rump-rolling at the Fais Do-Do stage to the hot zydeco of Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers or the smooth urban soul stylings of Kem at Congo Square. You may also want to catch The Honeypots, a women’s collective of stirring folk framed with minimal backing (12:55 at the Lagniappe Stage).


FRIDAY:


The Layout: Gentilly, again

Gentilly gets the nod again, by a whisker – I could easily make the case to camp out at Congo, the reasons for which later. The stage has a definite twang and roots coloring today, starting with Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, a crowd-pleasing golden-voiced singer with an excellent backing band (rumored to be coming to Houma’s Best of the Bayou Fest in September); she’s followed by Hank Williams Sr.’s granddaughter, Holly Williams, who’s got two fine albums of real country and folk music under her belt; New Orleans’ own Iguanas, lifers in the music trenches, dole out their special mix of literate (and sometimes deliberately dumb) rock and Latino stylings – they’re a dependable treasure; The Mavericks storm on next on the heels of their spanking new album. They’re a juggernaut of a band with a force of nature out front in lead singer Raul Malo; Marcia Ball plays Jazz Fest every year as if it was her own personal Super Bowl (and hey, I can relate), and she is irresistible here; Willie Nelson takes the crowd out with his still-intact sui generis voice and persona.


The Trek:


Gal Holiday still gets the opening honors, but you can slide over to Congo for some of Corey Henry and Treme Funktet’s blood-stirring groove; would I miss Los Hombres Caliente’s set at Congo next? What a dumb question, and I’m a little surprised you would ask it. I’d still motor back to the Iguanas to settle in a good up front spot for The Mavericks after that; I’d be sorely tempted next to catch some of the fetching Ana Popovich’s set in the Blues Tent, and then head back to the Fais Do-Do to see dobro wizard Jerry Douglas sling his magic over the amazed crowd; hot-footing it back to Congo for Jimmy Cliff’s iconic reggae would not even be up for discussion – it would be mandatory. His new comeback album is tough skanking stuff of the first order.

SATURDAY:


Major decisions are forced upon us – we gird our loins and march on, looking not backwards but on the road ahead. Also, we’re a little punch-drunk by now.


The Layout: Blues, baby

Not just for variety’s sake will I tab the Blues Tent as the place to park it. You’ve got a stellar line-up starting with the rousing Sharde Thomas and his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band to shake off any doldrums, followed by the razor-sharp electric blues of Baton Rouge’s Kenny Neal to serenade you, then Roddie Romero and the Hub City All Stars, an unsung guitar hero who will surprise with his fresh take on Cajun blues; Eric Lindell comes next with his amiable take on Moondance-era Van Morrison R&B, and then comes Jonathan “Boogie” Long’s Baton Rouge guitar pyrotechnics before you get seduced and blown away by America’s Best Band, Los Lobos.

Huh!

The Trek:

Hard to go wrong on the penultimate day of the Fest, traditionally the most populous day of the total seven. The deck is stacked. The Revivalists would be a nice start at Gentilly, what with their fresh take on roots rock done in a Crescent City style. JD and the Straight Shot come from New York but have a NOLA connection by way of their new album, a rockin’ tribute to the city. You could then scamper over to the Lagniappe stage for some old-soul folk from troubadour Luke Winslow King, another immigrant. The Jazz Tent would next be a good respite from the sun and the chance to catch what looks great on paper – Fleur Debris, a correctly self-described super band made up of the original Meters’ rhythm section (Zigaboo Modeliste and George Porter), trumpeter Nicholas Payton and pianist David Torkanowsky. If you had the energy to motor over to Gentilly to see Galactic, you’d be jamming with New Orleans’ premier rock ‘n’ funk band and be in prime shape to sidestep to the Fais Do-Do to see the fabulous country traditionalists Little Willies, with no less than Norah Jones on keys and co-lead vocals and the awesome Jim Campilongo on twang-centric guitar.

The sadistic Fest schedule-makers top themselves with the closing acts – the aforementioned Los Lobos are in direct conflict with legendary Fleetwood Mac at Acura, French popsters Phoenix at Gentilly, NOLA’s own R&B giant Frank Ocean at Congo, bass colossus Stanley Clarke and his running partner George Duke throwing down some funky fusion at the Jazz Tent and Shreveport’s criminally overlooked roots rocker Kevin Gordon at Lagniappe. We need Solomonic powers to make this decision, and he’s not walking through the door.

SUNDAY:

Oh, God, do I have to decide? This day is so ridiculously great that even my sister (who doesn’t share my obsessions in this area, let’s just say) would be hard-pressed to screw it up. Buck up, Norman, and just finish this thing.

The Layout: Anywhere.

Seriously, you could walk in blindfolded, stop at any random spot, and be in music Nirvana. Okay, Acura.

The trek:

Start with NOLA’s Cuban jazz honchos OTRA at Acura. Or with the Creole String Beans at Gentilly. Or D.L. Menard at Fais Do-Do. Next, choose Brass-A-Holics at Acura and beat yourself up for missing the NOLA R&B revue featuring Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Frankie Ford and Robert “Barefootin’” Parker at Gentilly. The Meter Men (all the Meters except for Art Neville) at Acura is can’t miss, unless you miss them to see Irma Thomas at Gentilly. I’d like a round-trip airlift to the Blues tent to see this Brushy One-string from Jamaica guy and then back to Acura to see The Black Keys. At his point the cloning option would be taken so I could also catch saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the world’s premier jazz ensemble in the tent and also super cool blue-eyed soul legends Hall and Oates. And again the closers are uniformly superb – Trombone Shorty at Acura, Aaron Neville doing his doo-wop at Gentilly, Taj Mahal at the Blues tent and Del McCoury with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Fais Do-Do. Let’s call that a game-time decision.

And then silence. Blessed silence.

And then it’s time to savor the memories, enough to last ‘til next year.

Dave Norman is a local attorney who has been smitten with music since he could hear his first transistor radio turned to WTIX, and is thankful for his ability to share his love with you.

The French pop band Phoenix closes the Gentilly Stage on Jazz Fest’s second Saturday. They play opposite the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Los Lobos and Frank Ocean, creating the typical Jazz Fest dilemma. Instead of scrambling around blindly, take Gumbo Entertainment Guide music critic Dave Norman’s advice on who to see on the fest’s final four days.

COURTESY PHOTO