Day 4 of Jazz Fest, the end of the first weekend, and we were still ready to roll. That said, a couple of days off will be nice for sure. Once again, no problems getting up and out on a beautiful morning. No problems with the shuttle, either, and we were at the Fair Grounds before you could say, well, something or other.
The temperature was again 75 when we left the hotel this morning. The high was 80 around 2 p.m., and when we were out this evening it was 71. Warm, but not oppressive. Some morning clouds had mostly burned off by noon. Humidity is creeping up a bit, but still, for here, tolerable. A light breeze picked up this afternoon to a steady 12 to 14 mph, which always helps. After Thursday's rain delay we have had three near-perfect days.
No mega-acts were on the schedule today, so the Fair Grounds were busy, but relaxed. Here are today's cubes.
Food! Cajun chicken and tasso with Creole rice
Jeff
Had Before: Day 2 in 2017.
TJ's Gourmet catering are the same people who make that awesome shrimp remoulade po'boy. The shredded chicken and tasso "ham" (actually from the pork butt or shoulder, but smoked and cured like ham) are served on absolutely perfect rice. It is fiery hot, intensely spiced, and has a lot of texture. A smattering of scallions tops the dish. It's really good.
Food! Couscous with yogurt sauce
Laurie
Had Before: Day 3 in 2012, Day 11 in 2015, Day 9 in 2017, Day 4 last year.
This cool dish is served by the Gambian Foods team of Tejan Jallow and Charlie Mendy, who have been cooking and serving at Jazz Fest for more than 20 years. The bowl they serve has a good-size portion of chilled couscous topped with a vanilla yogurt sauce and plump golden raisins.
We continued walking around the walkway in the infield to start our day at the Acura stage, which today was going to end with Bonnie Raitt and then Van Morrison, so it was a pretty mellow crowd.
Corey Henry and the Tremé Funktet
Jeff and Laurie, at the Acura stage
Seen Before: Day 9 in 2013 and Day 3 in 2017. We also see Corey Henry often as a member of Galactic and the Midnite Disturbers.
Trombonist Corey Henry hails from a family full of noted drummers including his grandfather, Chester Jones; his uncle, Treme Brass Band leader Benny Jones; and an uncle who played with Tuba Fats and his Chosen Few Brass Band. Even Corey played drums when he was first coming up and when, in the late 1980s, he formed the Li'l Rascals Brass Band. So why didn’t Henry follow the drumbeat?
"First, New Orleans is a great city for trombone players," says Henry. "Back when I was coming up, there were so many young cats that were real hot trombone players, like Keith 'Wolf' Anderson. He played with the Rebirth and a couple of other brass bands during that period. He was one of the guys who really stuck out. I just loved the way he voiced the trombone and posed. His whole style was real attractive to a young musician."
Those fans and friends who know Henry are well aware of his deep respect for Fred Wesley, the trombonist best known for his work with James Brown and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. It might come as a surprise, however, that Henry was first introduced to Wesley's sound not via these funk masters but on the trombonist's fine 1988 jazz album, To Someone, on which he leads a quartet. "It touched me in a way that nothing had ever touched me," Henry said. "He's probably my greatest influence on trombone."
Several years after founding the Li'l Rascals, Henry made the switch to trombone, and he has dedicated himself to that instrument ever since. It suits him especially well as it marries his two primary musical specialties, brass band music and funk, which is reflected in the Funktet.
"It speaks a ton of funk," Henry declares. "It has its own effect on the music and it definitely has a heavy sound. You can do great things in funk music on the trombone and do things that other instruments can't do. With the slide we create different sounds."
"It's one of the most popular instruments to play right now especially in New Orleans," he says. Like many others who follow social aid and pleasure club parades, he has noticed the increased use of the instrument in the young brass bands. He points out, too, that the huge success of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, whom he calls "a talented young genius," has probably spurred its prevalence among up-and-coming musicians. Henry naturally credits the wealth of trombonists -- "the ones that came before us" -- like Waldren "Frog" Joseph, Freddie Lonzo, Charles Joseph, Revert Andrews, and others for the instrument's traditional importance in the music. "We're just happy to be connected to it," Henry sincerely offers. "We walk with the torch a little bit and offer what we can to the music."
In 2012, after an extended stint playing with Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, a gig Henry thoroughly relished, he put together the Treme Funktet. It's just a gas in the way it brings together the power of the street sounds and New Orleans' version of funk that incorporates the freedom of jazz music. "Brass band music is a kind of funk music as well," says Henry, whose playing verifies the truth of the statement. Schooled by his elders and intense personal study, the trombonist commands a certain brilliant sophistication in his approach to his horn.
Henry modeled aspects of his band's sound, he says, to be reminiscent of the JB's, the horn section that backed James Brown, with Wesley on trombone and the legendary Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker on sax. "It comes out more like we're living in New Orleans," Henry explains. "That's what you've got to stick to."
The Treme Funktet, which is well-named in celebrating its musical roots, includes the amazing guitarist June Yamagishi, who tears it up every outing; bassist Manus Tilton, the nephew of the late great bassist Richard Payne with whom Henry performed many times during his days with Ruffins; drummer Walter Lundy, known for his work with Bonerama; keyboardist Beck Burger; and violinist Donald Surtain, who, in this setting, becomes one with the horn section. Vocals were provided by teresa B, and there were two trumpet players, Jazz Henry, who happens to be Corey's daughter, and Maurice (Mo' Betta) Brown, who I'd encounter several more times on this trip. Also LaQuay Frazier and someone I couldn't ID playing sax.
Audio/Video: Here is my video and another from today's show at the Acura stage, and here's a full show from Tipitina's later this year. There's some good stuff in front of the Funktet in the Tipitina's video (James Martin and Soul Project) as well!
We just love this band. It has so many great musicians and the music has you moving from beginning to end. It's always a great time. Afterward, Laurie headed to the WWOZ tent and from there I knew not what her goal was, but we ended up meeting for an unplanned great experience. But first I went to the Fais Do Do stage.
Jambalaya Cajun Band
Jeff, at the Fais Do Do stage
Seen Before: Day 4 in 2014, Day 9 in 2015, Day 3 in 2016, Day 11 in 2017, and Day 5 last year.
Terry Huval on fiddle and Reggie Matte on accordion are about as good as it gets when it comes to Cajun music. Along with Bobby Dumatrait (guitar), Ken David (bass), and Tom David (drums), these guys have distinguished themselves as mainstays in the genre. This same lineup has been playing at Jazz Fest for more than 25 years. Now I must admit that, to me, some of their appeal was because they always included the dearly missed D.L. Menard in their sets at Jazz Fest. That said, the band's traditional tunes, modern arrangements of older songs, and new songs prove that they can stand on their own, as really they always have.
When they started today, Huval was nowhere to be seen until you looked down in front of the stage and saw a red chapeau moving around the crowd during the first song!
Audio/Video: Here's my video of the Jambalaya Cajun band from today's show.
I was settling in for a good long Jambalaya fix when got a text from Laurie, who had been heading over to join me when she passed by the Rhythmporium tent and was pulled into that venue. The Rhythmporium was just a place to buy CD's when we first started to attend Jazz Fest. Eventually they added a wine bar, and this year they added a small stage. Today, when Laurie passed by, one of our faves, the awesome Helen Gillet, was playing in there. I headed over there immediately and found Laurie right up front. To say this stage is intimate would be an understatement!
Helen Gillet
Jeff and Laurie at the Rythmporium stage
Seen Before: Day 10 in 2015, Day 8 in 2016. Also with the Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra on Day 2 in 2013 and the Gloryoskis on Day 9 in 2014.
When cellist Helen Gillet performs, you can expect three things: complex (though irresistibly catchy) songs, loops that allow the solo artist to build walls of sound, and mistakes. The latter because Gillet welcomes the happy accident as part of each performance.
"If it wasn't for mistakes or the mutations that happen as part of being an organic, living, breathing creature on this planet we wouldn't have the variety of life that we have on this earth," she says. "The chaos factor of a mistake is an important element to unlock something that you would never have thought of. Embracing the chaos and the unknown is a part of being a creative person."
To call her creative would be a gross understatement as she melds her classical training with serious improv chops, all the while wielding foot-pedal looping technology. But as we watch her build a song on stage, you see that she is in complete control. Often she will start with a bowed melody, something mellow, perhaps reminiscent of the French songs she grew up with in Belgium. Percussive hand slaps against her instrument's hollow body may follow, or the soft sliding rub of her palm on the wood, which, when looped, form a rhythmic base for pizzicato and more bowing and her deep vibrato-laced vocals, all building to complex harmonies replete with the rhythmic variations we have come to expect in New Orleans.
In New Orleans since 2003, Gillet identifies and frequently collaborates with jazz and funk musicians, and even Mardi Gras Indians. She came to this from her roots in classical music by way of North Indian Hindustani music. The ragas she worked with rely on improvisation. That set her on a path into free jazz, where she discovered "there are no mistakes. Everything that you're doing is something that's contributing to the next thing you're going to create.
"I'm very organic when I'm performing now and I'm just in the moment," says Gillet. "I am thinking about certain things being a certain way but inevitably my hand may drum on the cello a little bit differently, or my strings might be getting a little older so they're duller and something happens that I wasn't expecting and a new rhythm will pop out. A new set of harmonics will be looped. And I live for that, for those moments where it kind of fits together in a way that then unlocks a different rhythmic pattern."
The undeniable pop sensibility in Gillet's music represents her return to her roots, reclaiming her earlier love of pop, funk, and punk artists. "I grew up listening to a lot of beautiful songs that were more poppy and folky," she says. "With Prince in my ears all the time. Maybe this is a rite of passage that a lot of people go through, where I just became truer to who I was."
The result is music that welcomes loops of all sorts and plays with the happy accidents that create new melodies and rhythms that reach beyond anything you might expect.
Audio/Video: Here is my video from this interesting new performance space, and here is her YouTube video page, where you can see much more of this extremely creative artist. For good measure, here's 25 minutes from the WWOZ studios last year.
After this I lost track of Laurie, although not for very long, it turns out. Over the next half hour or so I caught a bit of two great acts in the tents.
Mdou Moctar
Jeff, in the Blues Tent
Seen Before: First Time!
Mdou Moctar is one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar and have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. Back home, he's celebrated for his original compositions and verbose poetry, an original creator in a genre defined by cover bands. Outside Africa, where Saharan rock has become one of the continent's biggest musical exports, he's earned a name for himself with his guitar moves. Mdou shreds with a relentless and frenetic energy that puts his contemporaries to shame.
Moctar hails from a small village in central Niger, in a remote region steeped in religious tradition. Growing up in an area where secular music was all but prohibited, he taught himself to play on a homemade guitar cobbled together out of wood. It was years before he found a "real" guitar and taught himself to play in secret.
Soon he was seen as a star by the village youth. Somewhat surprisingly, his songs began to win over local religious leaders with their lyrics of respect, honor, and tradition.
Moctar trades in unrelenting grit and has no qualms about going full shred. His style is to draw on both modern and traditional sources and combine elements into new forms. He reaches back into Tuareg folklore for inspiration, riffing on the hypnotic loops of takamba storytellers, or borrowing vocal patterns from polyphonic nomad songs, and combines them with his signature guitar. There is an urgency his music, and the fury of the tracks are matched by poignant messages.
Audio/Video: Any time an oppotunity to see a Tuareg guitarist from North Africa presents itself, I'll be there. At Jazz Fest, so will a whole lot of other people, especially on a weekend day, so I did not attempt any video. Here is one that somebody took at the Cultural Exchange Pavilion another time and here's 45 minutes from the KEXP studios in Seattle. And for the live experience, here is a full concert from this year in Portland, Oregon.
The musicians bringing traditional Tuareg music into today's music are simply sensational, like nothing else you're going to hear, and it's great that Jazz Fest brings them to us. After this ended, I hurried down to the Jazz Tent some equally fresh music of a different type.
Maurice "Mobetta" Brown
Jeff, in the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: First Time!
Trumpet sensation Maurice "Mobetta" Brown orbits simultaneously through three worlds: contemporary jazz, blues-rock, and cutting-edge hip hop. He's a mastermind as a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and producer. When he picks up his horn, his soulful melodies soar into a rarefied space that uniquely blends be-bop, hip-hop, and rock, producing his own distinctive sound.
This could be seen in full force at this year's Jazz Fest, when we saw him with Corey Henry and his Treme Funktet (this morning), in this show as leader of his own jazz quintet, with the mighty Trumpet Mafia doing a tribute to the late Roy Hargrove (coming up on Wednesday), and with modern jazz sensation Kamasi Washington (this coming Friday). And he was probably other places as well!
Brown was born in Harvey, Illinois, and grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. He met and was encouraged by Wynton Marsalis when in the 8th grade while attending a seminar attended by Marsalis. Showing a remarkable affinity for the trumpet, Brown performed with Ramsey Lewis at the Symphony Center in Chicago while still a student at Hillcrest High School. When he was 19 he won a national trumpet competition.
Brown began college with a full scholarship at Northern Illinois University, then transferred to Southern University in Baton Rouge, studying under jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste. He relocated to New Orleans shortly thereafter, sitting in with numerous jazz veterans, including Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Ellis Marsalis, and Lonnie Plaxico, as well as recording as a sideman with Curtis Fuller, Fred Anderson, Roy Hargrove, Michelle Carr, and Ernest Dawkins, among others. He led a regular Tuesday night residency at the Snug Harbor jazz club and released his first album, Hip to Bop in 2004 (listen here).
Recorded in New Orleans, the album hinted at Brown's unique talent for creating fresh bop-inflected jazz with an urban pulse. Unfortunately, the devastation of the Federal flood following Hurricane Katrina forced him to leave New Orleans. He relocated to New York, where he established himself by recording with Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Macy Gray, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Donald Harrison Jr., Lettuce, and The Roots.
His second album, The Cycle of Love, was considered one of the best records of 2010. Brown embraced his be-bop roots with hip-hop hooks and laid raw his dogged insistence on charting his own musical course after a life uprooted post-Katrina.
Shortly afterward, Brown was invited to join the newly formed Tedeschi-Trucks Band with whom he won a Grammy Award for his horn arrangements on the band's debut album, Revelator, in 2011. His trumpet was a wailing counterpoint to Derek Trucks' searing guitar wizardry and became a staple of that band's sound.
Brown’s immersion into hip-hop as musician, producer, and lyricist culminated in the 2014 release of Maurice vs. Mobetta. This groundbreaking alter-ego album remixed The Cycle of Love with fresh and innovative hip-hop beats. Brown's jazz roots were enhanced through the lens of a hip-hop perspective.
He left the Tedeschi-Trucks Band in 2015 to reignite his solo career as a musician and producer. His third album, The Mood, mixed his instinctive jazz roots, soulful melodies, and vocals, including the politically charged "Stand Up," with guest artist Talib Kweli and Brown trading vocals powered by his potent trumpet. Recently he partnered with jazz megastar Kamasi Washington for his run of sold-out shows at the Hollywood Bowl and Barclay's Center (not to mention Jazz Fest). Most recently, he composed the horn arrangements for several tracks on Logic's latest album.
The Mobetta sound has become mainstream as he charts his own musical course with constant evolution and crossover fluidity, coupled with an intuitive vision that lights a fire under traditional jazz, adds sonic brass to rock, and creatively pushes the production envelope in hip-hop. He is an incredible talent.
Here is my video from the Jazz Tent today. Munck Music has excerpts of all the songs in today's set here. For something longer, here is a show during Jazz Fest at the (recently closed) Prime Example Club in Mid-City in 1, 2, 3 parts. The band is Chelsea Baratz (tenor sax and vocals), Marcus Machado (guitar), Takaniro Izumikawa (piano and keyboards), Parker McAllister (bass), and Joe Blaxx (drums).
I stayed for as much of this performance as I could, but did have to leave before it was over because I joined Laurie for my annual audience with the Soul Queen of New Orleans, the fabulous Irma Thomas. I even skipped the usual opening rendering of "Uptown Funk" by Irma's band, the Professionals. That's how good Maurice Brown is!
Irma Thomas
Jeff and Laurie, at the Acura stage
Seen Before: Day 4 in 2012, Day 11 in 2013, Day 4 in 2014, Day 4 in 2015, Day 9 in 2016, Day 10 in 2017, and Day 5 last year. Also in the Gospel Tent on Day 9 in 2014 and Day 11 in 2017. Also in the B.B. King Tribute on Day 11 in 2016 and the Fats Domino Tribute on Day 4 last year.
Irma Thomas is known to R&B fans all over the world, but she's most beloved in her home town of New Orleans. Everyone in New Orleans calls her Irma. And everyone knows her songs, like "It's Raining." Irma sang the 1962 R&B classic at Tulane University's 2018 commencement ceremony a couple of weeks ago. She received an honorary degree from the school during that ceremony as well.
"Well, why not? I'm there," she says. "A few extra minutes won't hurt anything. I mean, if it will bring some more joy to some more people, why not?"
Irma is well known for giving her fans what they want. She's been recording and performing for more than a half century and she always sings requests. One song she always dedicates to her fans is "Forever Young."
"I have fans who've been fans of mine for the better part of my career, and they have brainwashed their children with my music that they have become fans," she says. "So when I sing 'Forever Young,' I'm thinking about these people, who have been with me all these years with this youthfulness about them. And it always makes me well up when I sing it."
Irma has outlived most of her New Orleans musical contemporaries, including Allen Toussaint, songwriter and arranger extraordinaire, who died less than three years ago and wrote many of her early hits. Toussaint often referred to Irma as his muse. "When I wrote every song that I have written for Irma, she was sitting there at the time, so I had instant gratification," Toussaint said during a 1998 interview outtake with public radio program American Routes. "It made it hard on judgement because I couldn't judge whether a song sounds good or bad; she just sounds good on everything."
Scott Billington has been Irma's record producer for 30 years. "Her voice, that kind of molasses quality -- it just envelops you. It's like putting a warm blanket on when you hear Irma sing," Billington says.
That voice was recognized early on. Irma won first place in a talent show when she was in the sixth grade, but by the time she was 14, she was married and pregnant. "When I was coming up, a teenager who was pregnant was not allowed to attend school," Irma says. "So I didn't drop out. It wasn't a choice I had."
After Hurricane Camille devastated New Orleans in 1969, Thomas moved to California. By then, she was a single mother of four children singing at night and working at Montgomery Ward by day selling sewing machines. She would cut out dress patterns for her children and would sew them at work as demos for the sewing machine. "They say, 'Work smart.' And that's what I was doing: working smart," she laughs.
She was also getting smart, too. When she moved back to New Orleans, Irma enrolled in Delgado Community College to earn her GED. Between her kids and her career, it took Irma 15 years to get an associate's degree in business.
"I started at 45 and I didn't graduate until I was 61 'cause I was stopping and starting," she says. "I was touring and I was doing homework on the plane or wherever I was, so it took me a while to get through it, but I didn't stop. I wanted to graduate! And yes, it is a wonderful feeling."
Irma even puts the feeling of earning her degree above receiving a Grammy Award, which she did in 2007 for her album After the Rain.
"I feel you earn Grammys, but then you have to depend on your peers to vote for you, and when you go get your education, you've earned that," Irma says. "You don't have to depend on nobody but you."
That's one reason why Irma returns to Delgado every semester. Melanie Deffendall is a professor at Delgado and also the director of the Irma Thomas Center for W.I.S.E. at the college. W.I.S.E. stands for "Women in Search of Excellence." Deffendall knows that Irma understands the struggles of the women in the center. "She was them: working, going to school, and raising children," Deffendall says.
At Tulane's commencement, Irma also added another degree to her resume: Honorary Doctorate of Letters. But even though you can now refer to her as Dr. Thomas, chances are that title will never replace the one officially conferred upon her in 1989 by New Orleans' then-mayor: "Soul Queen of New Orleans."
Irma was sharp as ever today. Midway through her set, she reminded us that "Time On My Side" wasn't a Rolling Stones cover. She released her version first in 1964, months ahead of the Stones. "For all you youngsters out there," she said, "I'm singing Irma Thomas."
She then sent good wishes to Mick Jagger, still recovering from the heart surgery that forced his band to cancel its Jazz Fest show. "I'd like to take a moment to wish Mick Jagger a speedy recovery. I know he enjoys singing that song, 'cause time is on his side, too. ... But I did it first. You can go home and do your research. You'll find it."
History lesson complete, she sang more Irma Thomas in the form of "Ruler of My Heart," "I Done Got Over," and what she described as the New Orleans national anthem, "It's Raining." At 78, Thomas' voice is as rich as ever, and more than up to the task of savoring a ballad like "Even Now."
And when, as it always does, "I Done Got Over" detoured into "Iko Iko" and "Hey Pocky Way" -- also potential New Orleans national anthems -- she presided over her customary mass handkerchief and hat waving celebration. In an addendum to her usual riff about New Orleanians celebrating alligators, mosquitoes, divorce, separation and "when your pregnancy test comes back negative," she noted that "We're also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jazz Fest."
Audio/Video: Here is my video of the scene today at the Acura stage, and here are "Wish Someone Would Care and "Time on My Side."
I have said it before and I say it again: as long as Irma Thomas is at Jazz Fest, I will be there. She is a treasure.
At this time I sort of lost track of Laurie. I know the acts that she saw and what she ate, but I do not have the exact order, and certainly not how it synched with what I was doing, so I'm just going to recount our late afternoons separately.
Roddie Romero and the Hub City All Stars
Laurie, at the Fais Do Do stage
Seen Before: Day 10 in 2015 and Day 11 in 2017. We've also seen Roddie playing with various other Cajun musicians over the years.
Roddie Romero and the Hub City All Stars are a Louisiana heritage band, born and raised in South Louisiana. They've been nominated for Grammy Awards three times now, twice for their 2016 album Gulfstream, and once for their 2008 album The La Louisianne Sessions.
Romero, who sings and plays accordion, and Eric Adcock, who plays piano, are the drivers of the five-piece band. The other members are Chad Viator, who plays guitar; Gary Usie, who plays drums; and Chris French, who plays bass guitar, upright string bass, and tuba. They are well known not only for their authenticity when performing or recording traditional Cajun and Creole music indigenous to South Louisiana, but also for their original songwriting, which stays true to Louisiana inspirations. Thus they celebrate both the heritage and future of the New Orleans and Louisiana music scene.
Audio/Video: I couldn't find any video from Jazz Fest today, but Munck Music has an excerpt of each song they did here. Here are 1, 2, and 3 from a festival later this year in Rhode Island.
Laurie was staying at the Fais Do Do stage, but I know there was food this afternoon, so I am sgueezing it between those sets.
Food! Caribbean Fish with Steamed Vegetables
Laurie
Had Before: Day 3 in 2012, Day 11 in 2015, Day 9 in 2017, Day 4 last year.
Palmer's Jamaican Cuisine of New Orleans serves nicely cooked pieces of fish that complement the steamed veggies (cabbage, carrots, and squash), and it's all on top of a bed of rice. Palmer's knows what it is doing; the flavor is really authentic Jamaican.
Indigo Girls
Laurie, at the Fais Do Do stage
Seen Before: First Time!
The Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, near Atlanta. They started performing as the Indigo Girls as students at Emory University, performing weekly at The Dugout, a bar near the campus. They released a self-produced, full-length record album in 1987, and contracted with a major record company in 1988. After releasing nine albums with various labels from 1987 through 2007, they have now resumed self-producing albums with their own IG Recordings company.
Outside of working on Indigo Girls–related projects, Ray has released solo albums and founded a nonprofit organization that promotes independent musicians, while Saliers is an entrepreneur in the restaurant industry as well as an author; she also collaborates with her father in performing for various causes.
The Jazz Fest people might have underestimated the enduring popularity of the Indigo Girls, scheduling them on the Fais Do Do stage. The crowd spilled over into the Folklife Village — past the Houma Nation's fry bread stand and all the way to the blacksmith demo tent — clogging up the dusty walking paths. Fans were gathered shoulder to shoulder. Their acoustic set, accompanied by violinist Lyris Hung, included new songs and classic crowd-pleasers.
Near the beginning of the set, Sailers introduced "Elizabeth" as a "Where is she now?" college love song about a girl Sailers was in love with at Tulane, "in that way you love someone when you're in college," she says. It's one of her many New Orleans memories that brought the Indigo Girls back to Jazz Fest this year.
After that was "Become You" and what Ray called a traveling song, "Get Out the Map," a very earnest road trip narrative. The violin plays a central role in the set, with an instrumental break as an acknowledgement of the Cajun music leanings of the Fais Do Do stage. The jam ended up in "The Wood Song," with a beautiful violin lead. At the end of the set, they played the song everyone was waiting for, "Closer to Fine," in a big singalong.
Audio/Video: Here is a video of the Indigo Girls at the Fais Do Do stage today, and here is the entire show, but it's only for listening because you can't see the stage for the lighting.
Laurie was off to the Jazz and Heritage stage to end her Jazz Fest day, but offset all of the benefits of the Caribbean fish and steamed vegies with ...
Food! Creole cream cheese cake
Laurie
Had Before: Day 11 last year.
Prepared by Minnie Pearl Pies and Pastries, the slice of Creole cream cheese cake is large enough for two, but that did not stop Laurie. The cheesecake, made with Creole cream cheese, is covered with those ripe local strawberries, which are just coming into season down here this time of year.
Creole cream cheese is a form of farmer cheese that is traditional in the New Orleans area. It is made from skim milk, buttermilk, and rennet. With a mild, slightly tart, slightly sweet taste, it is frequently mixed with cream, sugar, and fruit and served as a dessert. It is also used to make Creole cream cheese ice cream. In homes it was traditionally eaten for breakfast and served with cream, fruit, or sugar. It is also served savory, on toast with butter, salt, and pepper.
According to Kenny Mauthe of Mauthe's Progress Milk Barn, an artisan dairy credited with helping resurrect the dish, Creole cream cheese originated in the 1800s among people of French ancestry. Instead of forming the curds, they are said to have hung the clabber in a mesh bag in a tree and let the whey drain off. Back then Creole cream cheese was served in a bowl and cream was poured over it. Mauthe remembers it being eaten on French bread in some areas and on cornbread in other parts of the South.
The use of Creole cream cheese declined during the second half of the 20th century and it became difficult to find. The Gold Seal Creamery that was the last Creole cream cheese factory in New Orleans operated from about 1920 to 1986, and its blond-brick building constructed in 1954 was converted into loft apartments.
More recently, Creole cream cheese has had a resurgence, sparked by a cheesecake recipe from the Mauthe (pronounced Moh-tay) family. The Mauthe Family Dairy’s roots are in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where Kenny Mauthe's grandfather first began milking cows. The farm moved to Folsom, Louisiana, when the city expanded and the Ninth Ward became more residential.
Eventually Kenny and his wife, Jamie, established their own farm on an impossibly green tract of land in located in the small community of Progress in Southwest Mississippi, about three miles from the Louisiana line and where they raised four children -- the fourth generation of Mauthe dairy farmers.
Over time, Kenny and Jamie transitioned from milking 150 cows and selling all their milk to a gigantic co-op, to milking just a couple dozen cows, processing the milk themselves, and selling it to customers directly at farmers markets under the name Progress Milk Barn. When they downsized, around 2000, the Mauthes also resurrected the old Louisiana dairy farming tradition of producing Creole cream cheese. While there was one other small producer in the area at the time, many locals credit the Mauthes' product with saving Creole cream cheese from extinction. Progress Milk Barn was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but reopened in 2010 and carries on today.
New Breed Brass Band
Laurie, at the Jazz and Heritage stage
Seen Before: Day 3 in 2017, Day 10 last year.
New Breed is a young brass band, but they have a great pedigree, as several of the players are part of the Andrews clan with James, Glen David, and Troy (that's Trombone Shorty) in the previous generation. With a background like that, you know they are going to be good.
The New Breed infuse funk, rock, jazz, and hip-hop into a custom-made enhancement of second-line brass band tradition. But even with all those modern influences, they still live and breathe the culture of New Orleans. They cetainly had the Jazz and Heritage crowd going this afternoon!
Audio/Video: Here are one and two examples of this great brass band.
That was it for Laurie. As for me, I got my late afternoon started by following the legendary Irma Thomas with another legendary artist.
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles
Jeff, at the Jazz and Heritage stage
Seen Before: Day 4 in 2016, Day 4 in 2017, and Day 5 last year. Also with the Voice of the Wetlands All Stars in 2013, 2017, and last year (and this year).
Not many people who participated in the first Jazz Fest are still active in the festival today, but one of them is Joseph Pierre Boudreaux, Big Chief of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians.
Every year, Boudreaux leads a set at the Jazz and Heritage stage, joined by members of his family, who sing and play percussion behind him, plus a non-Indian backing band usually made up of a funk rhythm section and a noted New Orleans electric guitarist. Last year, keyboardist Tom Worrell added significant texture to Boudreaux's mix.
But most importantly to this performance is Boudreaux’s phenomenal ability to tell the stories of Mardi Gras Indians in his own distinctive way, incorporating pieces of history from his own life experience and observations on the evolution of the Mardi Gras Indian phenomenon. He is a true griot in the African tradition. At the same time he embraces his Creole roots as a Native American, making him a living embodiment of the Mardi Gras Indian history of people from African American neighborhoods in New Orleans offering homage to the Native American brothers and sisters who aided them in their struggles against slavery.
In 1970, for the first Jazz Fest, festival organizer Quint Davis asked Boudreaux and his good friend Big Chief Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias to lead a parade of Indians through the French Quarter to the jazz festival, which was held that year in what is now Armstrong Park. Mardi Gras Indian parades have continued to be a feature of the festival to this day.
This year, Boudreaux performed several times at the Fair Grounds. His biggest showcase was coming up with the Voice of the Wetlands All Stars, where he will come out to sing the spectacular "Lightning and Thunder." Boudreaux is a charter member of the Voice of the Wetlands band, formed by Tab Benoit to raise public awareness about the disappearing wetlands in southern Louisiana. Some of the wetland territories are sacred grounds for Native Americans, and Boudreaux has been an outspoken critic of the policies that are condemning these lands to submersion in the encroaching gulf.
It was a joyous affair at the Jazz and Heritage stage today, with the big crowd dancing and singing along to favorites like "Dance With Me," "They Don't Know," "Indian Red," and "Little Liza Jane." Resplendent in his sky blue suit dappled with bright red gems, Boudreaux demonstrated his mastery of the Mardi Gras Indian idiom with a version of "Shallow Water" that started out as a medium tempo chant, then went into a double time section with Monk rapping a story about heading out to mock battle on a Mardi Gras morning. His grandson J’Wan Boudreaux, Spy Boy of the Golden Eagles and leader of the Grammy-nominated Cha Wha band, took a turn singing Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." Worrell was back to lend outstanding musical support of the Indians on keyboards.
Audio/Video: Here is my video of Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles at the Jazz and Heritage stage today. Here are full takes of "Liza Jane" and "Indian Red" from today, and here they are doing "Sew Sew Sew" earlier this year at the Congo Square Festival in Armstrong Park. Munck Music provides an excerpt of each song from today here.
The Golden Eagles and Wild Magnolias always provide rollicking sets of unadulterated funk music, but the history of the two bands provides great emotion as well. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (and next week, Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr.) are can't miss at Jazz Fest, no matter how many years go by.
Stephanie Jordan Big Band
Jeff, at the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: First Time!
Stephanie Jordan is consistently praised for her poise, elegance and soulful articulation. She draws frequent comparisons to her inspirations, the legendary jazz singers Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Lena Horne, Nancy Wilson, and Carmen McRae. Her performances feature jazz standards from the Big Band era, including highlights from her "Tribute to Lena Horne" recording that honors the legendary singer and film star.
The Chicago Tribune's leading critic Howard Reich once proclaimed, "The woman can sing, bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it."
Stephanie is a member of New Orleans' renowned Jordan family of jazz. Her father is Kidd Jordan and siblings include musicians Kent, Marlon, and Rachel Jordan.
Audio/Video: Here's my video of Stephanie Jordan in the Jazz Tent today. Unfortunately, from where I was standing, I could not see the band. Here are 1 and 2 from a tribute to Lena Horne a few years ago, and here's a YouTube page with an entire recording for listening to some great vocal jazz. Munck Music provides an excerpt of each song from today here.
From the sophisticated jazz of Stephanie Jordan, I now headed over to Economy Hall for some completely different big band music.
Tribute to Louis Prima with Louis Prima Jr. (and some of the Witnesses), John Boutté, Meschiya Lake, and Wendell Brunious
Jeff, at Economy Hall
Seen Before: First Time! However, have seen all of the players before, both at Jazz Fest and around town.
Louis Prima Jr. presented his father’s signature standards complete with the stage antics and Sam Butera style saxophone by Marco Palos. It was a rousing performance and the audience not only jumped, jived, and wailed, but took to its feet to salute the memory of this remarkable musician, composer, and entertainer. Local vocalists John Boutté and Meschiya Lake and Wendell Brunious and some members of his band also participated.
Louis Prima was an icon of the Big Band era, but ironically, much of his reputation was cemented in the 1950s, following the Big Band decline, when he began working the lounge at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. It was likely a humbling experience for a man used to playing enormous concert halls, but with the funky arrangements of New Orleans saxophonist Butera and the stage chops of his fourth wife, singer Keely Smith, Prima created one of the classic shows of Vegas nightlife.
Keely and Louis were a team for the ages, famous for their riffing duets. She would play the straight man, staring ahead and singing with a near poker face (as in the Sam Butera video above), while Prima adopted a caricature-worthy persona that was grounded in the hustle of a Sicilian kid from the Quarter: growling scat, shuffling dance moves, rapid fire improvisation.
Louis Prima Jr. and the Witnesses are bringing Prima music into the 21st century. Not content to sit on the legacy they so passionately protect, Prima Jr. and the band are taking a page from his father's playbook, by wailing "Prima-style" for the future. It's energetic and over-the-top and continues the ever-changing musical journey that Prima Sr. began in the 1930s.
Audio/Video: My video was truly awful, so here are some complete songs from today's set: "Old Black Magic", "Angeline" and "Just a Gigolo." Singing the latter with the crowd in Economy Hall and seeing the outpouring of affection for Louis Prima Sr. afterward was one of those special Jazz Fest moments that keeps us coming back year after year. It absolutely brought the proverbial house down. Here’s the original with Prima Sr. and Keely Smith.
That was really cool. Jazz Fest does such a good job with these tributes. It was so good that I worked up an appetite for a late afternoon snack.
Food! Creole's stuffed bread
Jeff
Had Before: The second one this weekend (see Day 2).
Almost everything at Jazz Fest is good, but this is probably my favorite. The friendly lady serving it may have a lot to do with that.
Onward to the Jazz Tent for something even more special than Louis Prima Jr. doing his father's music.
Family Tribute to Ellis Marsalis with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, and Delfeayo Marsalis
Jeff, at the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: This surely doesn't happen all that often, so ... no. Have seen Ellis, Brandford, and Jason before, both at Jazz Fest and around town.
I watched this show from outside the Jazz Tent, from a spot I have found where you can see over the people passing by straight through to the tent's video board. Not ideal, but the tent was jam packed, and they have speakers outside.
As the show began, Delfeayo Marsalis, on behalf of his assembled brothers, thanked their father Ellis, and their late mother, Dolores, for their existence and ongoing musical camaraderie: "It's a credit to them that we're up here."
For trombonist Delfeayo, saxophonist Branford, trumpeter Wynton and drummer Jason to share a stage with their father is a rare occurrence. But this set was not about spotlighting the sons. It was about saluting their father by showcasing his elegant compositions.
On the opening "Crescent City Strut," their solos -- first Delfeayo, then Branford, Wynton, Ellis, and finally Jason -- were in keeping with the song's spry, stately nature. Branford and Wynton were more adventurous on "Tell Me." The family settled back down for the romantic vibe of "Orchid Blue." Harmonies abounded.
Branford also made note of his and buddy Harry Connick Jr.'s post-Hurricane Katrina project, the Musicians' Village in the Upper 9th Ward, a partnership with Habitat for Humanity that has provided housing for dozens of musicians and others. The centerpiece of the Village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, a performance and educational space. As an extension of the salute to Ellis, a trio of young students from the center that bears his name took center stage for some tunes.
With that, the stage was back in the hands of the Marsalis family and bassist Eric Revis, a longtime member of Branford's band (and a former student of Ellis at the University of New Orleans). Branford introduced "After" as "a beautiful ballad (Ellis) wrote before we were born."
With the clock winding down, Wynton uncorked the razzed trumpet opening of the Mardi Gras anthem "Second Line, Pt. 1." Delfeayo pumped his fists, the audience rose as one, and it was on. Delfeayo, Branford, and Wynton marched offstage, still playing, into the densely packed crowd in front of the barricades. They made their way across the width of the tent, finally returning to the stage at the opposite side, as drummers Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell joined in. It was the exclamation point for the Marsalis reunion and the first weekend of the 50th Jazz Fest.
Watching them play felt like sitting in the Marsalis family living room. But instead of fighting for attention like most kids do, they each worked to make the other sound best. Ellis, at his piano bench with his children standing in front of him, obviously sat a the head of the table.
Audio/Video: Here is my video, which shows the video board in the Jazz Tent from outside the tent. Unfortunately the breeze really picked up about this time, so it does interfere a bit with the recording. But you'll get the idea. This was a really awesome event. Here are inside-the-tent videos of "Orchid Blue" and "Tell Me" and another short one of a Wynton solo.
This could easily have ended the day, but I managed to catch a couple more snippets of music on my way to meet Laurie and Rachel at the back of the Gentilly field.
Pastor Terry Gullage and Kingdom Sound
Jeff, at the Gospel Tent
Seen Before: Day 2 in 2017
Pastor Terry Gullage is a native of New Orleans, the eighth 12 children in his family. At the age of seven, he was baptized at the Canaan Baptist Church by his grandfather, Rev. James Powell Sr. From an early age, he exemplified a special talent in music.
As his interests broadened, he began leading and preparing others for the music ministry. At the age of 15, he organized the Avondale Community Choir, a group which traveled throughout the United States and recorded with several artists. As his music career continued, his leadership abilities along with his gifts to write, arrange, and direct music were even more evident.
He received a scholarship in music and attended Delgado Community College and Xavier University. He also attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Hilliard Vocational Bible Institute. He has served as Minister of Music and Choir Director at several large churches and currently is Minister of Music at Beacon Light International Baptist Cathedral in New Orleans.
Audio/Video: Here's my video from the Gospel Tent today, and here are three more on his Facebook page.
It's always good to get some gospel, especially on Sunday. As well, a little zydeco couldn't hurt, either, so I decided to spend a few minutes at the Fais Do Do stage.
Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble
Jeff, at the Fais Do Do stage
Seen Before: First Time!
Louisiana native Curley Taylor has been around music all of his life. Born into a musical family, drums were his first instrument, and he began his professional career at age 16 by playing drums in his father's band, Jude Taylor and the Burning Flames, a band deep in Louisiana blues, soul, and zydeco.
By the age of 25, Taylor had played drums with some of Louisiana's musical legends, including C.C. Adcock, Steve Riley, Blind John Hart (here with Rockin' Dopside), Lil' Bob and the Lollipops, and his uncles, Lil' Buck Senegal and Wayne "Blue" Burns. He toured with C.J. Chenier, son of the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, and a zydeco legend in his own right.
While traveling with C.J. Chenier's band, he became interested in playing the accordion and found he really enjoyed it. Within six months he had learned to play.
At this point his friends and fellow musicians Keith Clements (keyboards) and Eric Minx (drums) encouraged him to start his own band, but he received a job offer to play drums for one of the most popular zydeco bands in Louisiana, Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie. So he put his ambitions for his own band on hold to play and tour internationally with Delafose for several years. During this time, he continued to practice the accordion and write music.
In 2003, Curley made the move and launched Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble. Their debut recording, Country Boy, got rave reviews. Artists familiar with zydeco compared Curley's music to that of the late, great Beau Jocque. Six more recordings have followed.
Taylor's bluesy, soulful vocals and the band's hard driving zydeco beat blend to create high-energy dance music for all audiences. Their music is true to its roots in zydeco and blues, but contemporary enough to appeal to a broad range of music lovers. And like most zydeco bands, when they are performing the music never stops.
Audio/Video: Here is my video from the Fais Do Do stage this afternoon, and here is a longer performance from the great Swamp 'n' Roll TV show out of Lafayette.
It was fun to see some of this band to close out a great Jazz Fest weekend. Hey, zydeco is always fun! I found Laurie and Rachel easily at the Gentilly field, and we were back downtown very quickly.
We regrouped at our respective hotels and, once again not wanting to venture too far, the three of us walked over to Canal Street and Brennan's Palace Café.
This is a really nice place, located in a former music emporium. The service is always great, friendly but not overwhelming. And the food at any Brennan family restaurant is really good, very creative.
I had another Urban South Holy Roller IPA and sheepshead (a Gulf fish) pan-roasted with andouille breadcrumbs and served with seasonal vegetables, crystal beurre blanc, and chive aioli.
Laurie had cauliflower gratin with brie and pecan romesco, topped with an arugula salad. We split a shortcake with those wonderful fresh Louisiana strawberries. A very good dinner indeed.
The Daze Between have now arrived. That means three days to rest, recharge, and check out some other activities around the city. And eat (what else?)
