The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Festival is the long-running and venerable celebration of all things musical that takes place each Spring in The Big Easy. Perhaps only SXSW eclipses it in number of bands, but New Orleans may trump SX in terms of the variety of bands performing there, including many wonderful local groups that never tour out of NO. The big guns of contemporary music will be there: Springsteen, the Eagles, Eddie Vedder are there, along with Feist, Bunny Wailer.
I was overwhelmed by the lineup, and can only highlight one day……….even one day showcases more bands than anybody could ever hope to dream of seeing in a single place.
On Sunday, May 6th enjoy well known artists like Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, Eddie Vedder, Preservation Hall, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and other top bands that occasionally bless Los Angeles.
But you’ll also find groups that rarely come here or anywhere outside home town: The seminal zydeco-funk of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, The Wild Apaches Mardi Gras Indians, George French & the New Orleans Storyville Jazz Band, and a tribute to one of New Orlean’s musical godfathers, Harold Batiste, featuring Ellis Marsalis–patriarch of the great jazz family–with Jesse McBride and Germaine Bazzle. There’s another tribute to the another NO great, Allen Toussaint. And there’s Terence Simian, The Zion Harmonizers, the great singer Irma Thomas, a tribute to early blues singers Bessie Smith & Ma Rainey, and the hot Cuban/New Orleans sizzle of Los Hombres Calientes featuring veteran percussion master Bill Summers and Irwin Mayfield. Rockin’ Dopsie & The Zydeco Twisters. Multiply this roster by about 50x and you’ll get an idea of what an amazing panoply of groups are playing.
Somebody’s going to win a very special sweeps, and a time to really enjoy all the things that make New Orleans a musical and cultural mecca. But don’t just take my word for it.
But remember—–the only way you can win this special trip is by joining (or renewing) KCRW as a member by April 3rd and to do so at KCRW.com/join
Check out the lineup in the link here: http://www.nojazzfest.com/. Good luck!!!!!
