Jazz Fest on the first Thursday? Aren't you supposed to be roaming the city and relaxing to prepare for the whirlwind of music and food to come? Well, normally yes, but today was the extra day added to appease those who couldn't (or wouldn't) afford to go on the second Thursday, the premium Rolling Stones day. Which ultimately didn't happen, but we've been through that already.
We moved our Jazz Fest morning routine up a day, no problem. However, because it was cloudy and threatening, we had to prepare for r#@n. We met Rachel in the lobby of the Staybridge right on time, but sure enough, just as we were about to leave the skies opened up and one of those New Orleans downpours let loose. If we had left a minute or two sooner, we would have been drenched. All totaled, an inch of rain fell.
As we waited in the lobby assessing our options, Jazz Fest announced that its 11 a.m. opening would be delayed until further notice. All well and good from a weather standpoint, but no so good from a food standpoint because we were counting on brunch at Jazz Fest as usual, plus we had business to do, as Rachel needed bus tickets and had to pick up her Brass Pass. So, when the downpour eased to just rain after a half hour or so, we splashed over to the Sheraton on Canal Street to get started.
Bus tickets? Check, no problem. Food? Check, scones and muffins at the Starbucks in the lobby. Brass Pass? Well, the people selling the bus tickets said no problem, a Brass Pass can be picked up at the Will Call booth where the shuttle bus drops us off. After hanging around in the lobby for a while longer, Jazz Fest announced it would open at 12:30 and the buses began to roll.
So far, so good. We got off the bus and went to the Will Call booth where (trombone slide) they didn't have a clue about Brass Passes. After a few calls, it was determined that we needed to go to the Sauvage Street entrance to pick up Rachel's pass. After an e-mail exchange later with WWOZ, we learned that they would have brought it over to her, but things just weren't that organized at that point, so they get a (ahem) pass. Besides, we had never entered Jazz Fest by any other means than the shuttle, so this would be an adventure.
The friendly New Orleans police assigned to the shuttle area let us slip out of the bus exit onto Belfort Avenue, and we joined the crowd walking and dodging the mud and puddles along Gentilly Boulevard, eventually walking by the Gentilly entrance to the Fair Grounds, and turning onto Fortin Street, more or less a pedestrian mall during Jazz Fest. We walked a couple of blocks, essentially the entire length of the Grandstand, finally reaching the Sauvage Street gate. It was quite the operation, with Brass Pass, Will Call, and VIP stations, plus security screening and ticket scanners. I can see why they don't do this at the Gentilly entrance, because the crowd would probably overflow onto the street. This way it can overflow onto Sauvage and/or Fortin.
Rachel got her Brass Pass, and then, after waiting to get through the security check, as we waited in the "express" line for pass holders, they announced that the scanning equipment wasn't accepting Brass Passes. I think the staff on site by this time, given the rain delay and the usual first-day confusion, was as good-naturedly frustrated as everyone else, so they just let Brass Pass people pass through. We were finally in. Quite the adventure.
It was a little after 1 p.m. We obviously missed the music that was scheduled during the rain delay and most of the new first cube after that. Here are the original and revised cubes for today. The Fair Grounds were very wet, but it's just something one has to be prepared for every once in a while. And we were.
And there was still plenty of good music left! And food! So it was all good. Except, Mother Nature had other plans for the next hour or two. Laurie and Rachel immediately headed for the WWOZ hospitality tent for a refresh. I grabbed a beer and split off toward the Jazz and Heritage stage, because I just couldn't wait to get started. As soon as I arrived, ready to enjoy Smitty Dee's Brass Band, it began to r@#n again, light at first but picking up in intensity. I had the umbrella, which I popped, but I could tell this was not going to be a spring shower (it never seems to be in New Orleans!). So I hustled to the nearest shelter.
I got into the Economy Hall tent just before the downpour began. Here's what it looked like from Economy Hall, and here's the scene around the Acura stage as the gates opened and the r#@n began. Once this r@#n eased up, Laurie and Rachel showed up at Economy Hall, too. I eventually headed out, thinking I would go to the Gentilly stage to see Amy Helm. As soon as I left, however, still more rain caused me to do a U-turn and head to the Jazz Tent instead. Between sets there, I needed a break and some food, so, in light rain, I stopped at the portable facilities along the track at the Acura stage and then headed across the Acura field toward Food Area II. Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters were playing on the big stage.
I didn't get far before I realized I had left the umbrella in the portable facility. I turned around and was face-to-facility with a very long wall of portable toilets. Which one had I been in? I opened door after door to no avail. Finally, feeling like I might be seen as some kind of pervert, I gave up. The umbrella was gone. As I made my way across the Acura field, another hard rain began, so I got out the poncho thing from the rain kit, fumbling around with it in the rain and the wind. It is after all just a piece of plastic with some holes in it. It helped, but by this time I was quite wet. I got my food, ate it under one of the Food Area II tents. Here's what that looked like. Then I headed back to the Jazz Tent to dry out and wait out the r@#n, which was soon over. The weather was not a problem the rest of the first weekend, and I replaced the umbrella at the Nordstrom Rack at the Riverwalk Outlet Collection during the Daze Between.
So that's how Jazz Fest 2019 started. Different for sure, and if this wasn't our eighth year, these things might have been very frustrating. Experience, however, has taught us to just go with the flow at Jazz Fest. New Orleans just operates at its own pace and on its own schedule, not getting too worked up over anything, and humans are, after all, essentially waterproof!
The way this is going to work this year is that, after a brief introduction (today's was probably a bit longer than most will be, obviously), I'm going to try formatted summaries of the day's music and food. I hope it works and speeds up the process. If it doesn't you'll never know because I will have given it up in favor of the old format. Here goes.
Weather: R@#n, obviously, a total of around 2 inches between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Temperature around 70 in the rain when we set out this morning, and it stayed there until around 3 when the sun came out. By 5 p.m. it was 77, falling back through the 70s when we were out after sunset this evening to around 68 when we were walking back to the hotel between midnight and 1 a.m. Humidity very high throughout the day. Winds 20 to 25 mph during the rainstorms, 7 to 10 mph the rest of the day.
Cubes: Original cubes here, revised cubes here. The Fair Grounds map this year showed a few changes. They added a new Miller Beer Bar at the back of the Acura field, more bleachers at the back of the Acura field, a new performance space in the Rhyhmporium, and the Chouval Bwa human-powered carousel from Martinique (video here) at the Cultural Exchange Pavilion. There used to be a tent for book sales, but it has been moved into the exhibit are in the Grandstand. A misting tent and a tent for Live Recording sales (the ones I link to occasionally) near the Acura stage are gone; the recordings are now next to the Rhythmporium. Some of these changes were probably to accomodate the Rolling Stones concert.
So here we go!
Smitty Dee's Brass Band
Jeff at the Jazz and Heritage stage
Seen Before: Parade on Day 4 in 2013
I wasn't around to see much of this traditional New Orleans brass band because r@#n began almost as soon as I got there, so I more or less just passed by on my way to shelter in Economy Hall. This band was first organized in October 1991 by Dimitri K. "Smitty Dee" Smith, who plays tuba. Before that he played tuba in Dejan's Olympia Brass Band (video from 1988 here)for some 10 years and organized the Young Olympia and Olympia Kids brass bands as extensions of that band. The current band plays for conventions and weddings and other events in New Orleans, so you could see them on the streets at any time.
Audio/Video: I didn't get any video today, so here’s my video of the parade in 2013 and here is a YouTube playlist that doesn't have anything live but has a lot of great brass band music from these guys.
This would have been a great way to kick off the rain-delayed start of Jazz Fest 50, but Mother Nature apparently disagreed!
New Orleans Swamp Donkeys Traditional Jass Band
Jeff and Laurie in Economy Hall
Seen Before: In Economy Hall on Day 3 in 2016. Lots more info there.
I ducked in here to get out of what turned into a torrential downpour while the band was still setting up. Laurie (and Rachel) joined me for a while after the storm moved on. Led by trumpeter James Williams, who sounds a whole lot like Louis Armstrong, this band plays the kind of music that started it all at the end of the 19th century.
By the way, "jass" is not a typo, nor is it the way "jazz" was referred to in its early days in New Orleans, as has been reported, even by me. It turns out that it is really just an alternate spelling.
This music has been experiencing a revival lately, largely due to young bands like the Swamp Donkeys. They throw in a lot of modern touches, and their interpretation is anything but reverent. The fun-loving Swamp Donkeys are breathing new life into this timeless music, attracting young people to it and keeping it alive and vital. Members of the band are James Williams trumpet and vocals, Ricardo Pascal on sax and clarinet, Miles Lyons on trombone, Joseph Faison on banjo, Joshua Marotta on percussion, and Jonathan Gross on sousaphone.
Audio/Video: Here’s my video from the storm-darkened Economy Hall and here they are doing "Muskrat Ramble" and "I'm Confessing That I Love You" last year at The Hamilton in DC.
Economy Hall is a weird venue. Because of its sideways rectangle configuration there is virtually no standing room in the back (especially when it is raining) and it is hard to see the stage from the sides, where there is standing room. It has a low ceiling so it feels rather claustrophobic, especially when the skies are darkened by weather. And then there is the matter of the grass floor. The place is definitely not conducive to rainy days. I moved on after about half of the show. My plan was to see Amy Helm on the Gentilly stage, but as I left Economy Hall the rain, which had let up somewhat, was picking up in intensity again, so I did an about-face hustled over to the Jazz Tent.
Jason Marsalis
Jeff, in the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: Day 3 in 2013 (more info there) and Day 11 in 2015. Also with Branford Marsalis on Day 11 in 2013 and with Ellis Marsalis on Day 3 in 2014
Jason Marsalis is an outstanding percussionist, accomplished on both drums and vibes. Today he was on drums, with Eric Benny Bloom on trumpet, Ricardo Pascal on sax, Stephen R. Gordon on piano, Jasen Weaver on bass, and Alexey Marti on percussion. Later on, his daughter, Marley Maralis, joined in to tap rhythm on a cowbell before the group started a seond line around the Jazz Tent. I would see Jason again on Sunday with his father Ellis and brothers Wynton, Branford and Delfeayo.
The story in his biography linked above, on how he got started with the drums is great. Dolores and Ellis Marsalis began to cultivate Jason's interest in music early on. He says, "When I was three, my parents bought me a toy drum set and the used to introduce me to an imaginary audience. They would say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the fabulous Jason!' and I would come out and start banging away, much to my parents delight. I enjoyed it to the point that I started to go up to my parents unsolicited and say, 'Dad, introduce me again!'"
By age six, not only had Jason gotten his first real drum set, but he was also taking lessons from the legendary New Orleans drummer James Black (video here). At age seven he was sitting in with his father’s jazz group, as well as playing with his trombonist brother Delfeayo. Jason was progressing so rapidly as a drummer that in 1984 his father started using him consistently on engagements. He was becoming a seasoned road veteran before he was nine!
Audio/Video. Here's my video from today, and here is the Munck Music page with short samples of every song the group played today. It's hard to find video of Jason on the drums, as lately he has been recording and touring with his vibes band. Here's a brief excerpt from a concert with pianist Marcus Roberts at Jazz Ascona in Switzerland. (The week-long Jazz Ascona emphasizes New Orleans music and artists.) Here he is in the Thomas Pol Quartet with Ian Cleaver (trumpet) and Timothy Banchet (piano).
The end of this performance began my misadventure that involved leaving the Jazz Tent for a break, losing our umbrella in one of the portable facilities, getting caught and pretty much soaked in another downpour, looking like an idiot trying to get my poncho on in the wind and rain, grabbing some food, eating it under one of the tents in Food Area II as it poured rain around me, and returning to the Jazz Tent. See above for the whole story.
Rockin' Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters
Jeff, at the Acura stage
Seen Before: At the Rock 'n' Bowl on Day 3 in 2013, with John Fogerty on the Gentilly stage on Day 11 in 2014, and at the Fais Do Do stage on Day 9 in 2015. Much more information is at the 2015 entry.
I hadn't really intended to see Dopsie, and I can't say that I actually did see him all that much, but he was performing while I was using and then searching for our umbrella in the facilities alongside the Acura stage, while I was walking across the Acura field toward Food area II, and while I was struggling with my poncho during the sudden downpour. So I heard a lot more than I had intended, and there is not a thing wrong with that. Dopsie, along with his brother Anthony on the accordion, are up there with the best in the zydeco business.
No videos in the rain during this performance, but here they are at El Sid-O's club in Lafayette, the place to see zydeco in southwestern Louisiana.
Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns
Laurie, in the Blues Tent
Seen Before: On the Gentilly stage on Day 8 in 2013. Much more info there.
The tattooed and sassy Meschiya Lake and her Little Big Horns do a completely modern take on classic swing music. Meschiya knows her stuff, having great knowledge and love of traditional jazz and vintage blues. She says, "I guess I just got kind of lucky, you know. I didn't know what else to do with myself, and I just had so much passion for it." As far as New Orleans is concerned, "I fall in love with it every day, in one way or another. I am just so happy to live in a place where, if a guy rides by on a bike in full red body paint at 2:00 p.m. on a Monday, he isn't considered weird." Is it any wonder Laurie likes her? Oh, and the woman can sing, too.
No video that I could find from the Blues Tent, and that's probably a good thing given the sound in that place. Here she is in the WWOZ studio during their fall membership drive this year.
Food! Creole's Stuffed Bread
Jeff
Had Before: Day 8 and Day 11 in 2015, Day 8 and Day 11 in 2016, Day 3 and Day 9 in 2017, and Day 3 last year.
I love this little bundle of deliciousness from Creole's Lunch House in Lafayette. It's homemade bread stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, sausage, onions, and spices. It is served to you by Ms. Merline Hebert, owner of the Lunch House and just the most delightful person you'd ever want to meet. You break open the top of the bread and squeeze in a healthy amount of Mr. Hebert's secret-recipe jalapeño sauce. It's delicious, even if you do have to eat it while sheltering from a rainstorm like I did today.
Food!
Fireman Mike's Shrimp and Grits
Laurie
Had Before: Day 8 in 2013, Day 10 in 2014, Day 3 in 2015, and Day 5 last year.
Mike Gowland is a longtime New Orleans firefighter who spun his firehouse cooking skills and Louisiana family recipes first into a side business at Jazz Fest and later into high-profile appearances on cooking TV shows. His award-winning shrimp and grits are perfectly cooked and full of flavor.
Forgotten Souls Brass Band
Jeff, at the Jazz and Heritage stage
Seen Before: First time!
I stopped for a few minutes at the Jazz and Heritage stage to see the Forgotten Souls Brass Band. It was still raining, but I was already wet, and by now I had my poncho nicely arranged, meaning my arm wasn't going through the place where my head was supposed to go and vice-versa.
The Forgotten Souls were formed in 2000 and still have essentially the same group of people they started with, which is rare. Among the players are Kirk Joseph of the original Dirty Dozen Brass Band and a true innovator on sousaphone. Others are Charles Joseph of the original Dirty Dozen on trombone, William Smith from the Charles Barbarin Sr. Memorial Brass Band (originally the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, founded by Danny Barker) on trumpet, Efram Towns of the original Dirty Dozen on trumpet, Roderick Paulin, formerly of the Rebirth Brass Band on saxophone, Revert Andrews, formerly of the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth on trombone, Keith Frazier of the Rebirth on bass drum, Ajay Mallery, formerly of the Rebirth on snare drum, and Henri Petras, founder of the Forgotten Souls, on percussion.
The Forgotten Souls' blend of traditional New Orleans jazz, New Orleans R&B, and Mardi Gras Indian music make them somewhat unique among the established brass bands in the city. They have recorded original music in all of these areas and always include traditional New Orleans jazz in their performance, which is not something that all other brass bands at Jazz Fest do. However, given their background, members of the band are well steeped in the history of brass band music and feel that they should give the people not only the sounds of New Orleans, but the feeling of New Orleans. As time goes by and New Orleans loses more and more of its musical treasures, the band feels a responsibility keep their spirit alive
Audio/Video: Here's my brief video that shows the scene at the Jazz and Heritage stage, and here are nice versions of two classic brass band tunes from Jazz Fest a few years ago: "It Ain't My Fault" and "Palm Court Strut" (both without rain).
I'm not real sure how we've missed this band at Jazz Fest. They have been playing every year we have been here. Next time we'll make a note to catch an entire set!
Jolynda "Kiki" Chapman and Friends
Jeff, in the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: First Time!
Back to riding out the rain, I returned to the Jazz Tent to see this enormously talented singer, whose mother is the iconic New Orleans vocalist Topsy Chapman. She sings with her mother and sister Yolanda Windsay in Topsy's group Solid Harmony. Her voice is simply stunning, and her stage presence reflects the confidence of a professional who literally grew up on the stage. Her program today consisted of original compositions as well as some great arrangements of traditional and modern jazz, blues, and gospel.
Audio/Video: Here’s my video of the group doing "Every Day I Have the Blues." And here she is singing "All These Things" on Stanton Moore's album of songs by the great Allen Toussaint. And, to see what she's like with Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony, here is "Ain't No Sunshine."
This was time well spent, and a real surprise, for I really like Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony. I had no idea Jolynda was also a solo artist. And, when I left the Jazz Tent, my spirits continued to rise, as the rain was done and the sun was shining brilliantly on the white tents with the dark gray clouds behind. That's the picture at the top of this page. Just beautiful. There would be no more rain this weekend, just some leftover mud.
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet
Jeff and Laurie, at the Fais Do Do stage
Seen Before: Day 9 in 2013 (more detail there) and Day 3 last year, also at the Wolf Trap Swamp Romp in 2014.
With the sun now warming the Fair Grounds and the standing water beginning to soak in and dry out, it was a perfect time to be at the Fais Do Do stage to hear the great Cajun fiddler Michael Doucet along with Chad Huval on accordion. The sound of fiddle and accordion together is to me something really special. David Doucet, dressed for the weather in his shrimp boots, played guitar and mandolin. Bill Bennett played bass guitar and Billy Ware handled the percussion.
Throughout a career spanning four decades, dozens of albums, and hundreds upon hundreds of gigs, Michael Doucet has fueled the beating heart of Cajun music. As a fifth-generation Acadian, he remains a staunch advocate for the culture as a whole as well. The National Endowment of the Arts exalted his work with a prestigious National Heritage Fellowship. "My aura, my life, and my music are wrapped up in this culture," he says. "I want to lay a groundwork for young people to learn about it. The culture permeates me. That's my philosophy. I'm being true and transparent."
"Why are we here? To have a good time. That's why we're here. It's pretty simple when you break it down."
Audio/Video: Here is my video and here is a good one from Festivals Acadiens et Creoles in Lafayette in 2017. Here is the Munck Music page with short samples of every song the group played today.
BeauSoleil is always a good time, simply wonderful music, creatively crafted and expertly played. And with the sun out, it was Beau Soleil in more ways than one! Laurie split for the Congo Square stage, while I headed over to the Heritage Square area and the Blues Tent.
New Orleans Female Hip-Hop Experience
Laurie, at Congo Square
Seen Before: First Time!
This revue featured Mia X, the Ghetto Twiinz, 3D Natee, Keedy Black, and Briki Fa President, with DJ Westbank Red and Downtown Lesli Brown. It's an annual affair at the Congo Square stage, although this was the first time it featured exclusively female artists. Their experiences and backgrounds are varied as you might expect, but a common thread that runs with them all is the difficulty faced by female artists in this genre.
Mia X (aka Mia Young) is doing her best to change that with her new title of Professor X. She is now teaching hip-hop in the Loyola University School of Music Industry. In 2016 she was diagnosed with cancer but has beat it. See Mia X here.
The Ghetto Twiinz, twin sisters Tonya and Tremethia Jupiter, do reality rap as their genre. "We rap and talk about what was happening in our hood and what we experienced. It's hard for a lot of females to relate to what we are talking about because a lot of them never lived it from our perspective. We chose not to be victims," says Tremethia. See Ghetto Twinz here.
3D Na'Tee, Samantha Davon James, began her musical endeavors with a series of mixtape releases littered with unique and soulful life experiences via hardcore lyrics that reflected her upbringing. Hardships in her home life served as defining moments. Using music like her own personal diary, she penned songs as gritty as her surroundings, which led her to become one of the premiere lyricists in the New Orleans rap scene. See 3D Na'Tee here.
Growing up in the Magnolia housing projects, Keedy Black was a gifted writer and poet. She now performs widely as a bounce emcee. She is also a community organizer, helping to raise awareness about gun violence by leading protests and events in her community and beyond. See Keedy Black here.
Briki Fa President started writing poetry when she was 8 years old and then started adding beats and rhythm to her poems. By the age of 13 had recorded her first rap song. She says her main focus is to be the best at what she does and to be viewed as original, not your typical female artist. See Briki here.
Audio/Video. You can see a sample from each of these artists at the links above.
Laurie did this hip-hop review with male and female artists on Day 2 in 2015 and Day 10 last year. As a song writer, she enjoys the poetry, and does not mind more contemporary music in her Jazz Fest experience at all.
Toronzo Cannon
Jeff, in the Blues Tent
Seen Before: First time!
Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon defies all expectations. He is a blistering guitarist, a soulful vocalist, a singular songwriter ... and a city bus driver for the Chicago Transit Authority. His muscular, rock-inspired blues guitar playing blends perfectly with his original, keenly detailed slice-of-life songs. His songwriting is inspired by his deep Chicago roots, the wisdom of his grandparents and his years of observing the public while driving a bus. They tell timeless stories of common experiences in uncommon ways.
"It's not about the solos," Cannon says, "It's about the songs. People get used to everyday life, so it's easy to miss the things around them. I write about those things. I know the problems of Chicago, the hardship, 'cause we're always a scapegoat. But I choose to love and respect the city because of the Chicago blues giants that came here from down south. I'm proud to be standing on the shoulders of every great Chicago blues musician who came before me."
Cannon was born in Chicago and grew up in the shadows of the notoriously tough Robert Taylor Homes. Nearby was Theresa's Lounge, one of the city's most famous South Side blues clubs. As a child, he would stand on the sidewalk outside the door, soaking up the live blues pouring out while trying to sneak a glance inside at larger-than-life bluesmen like Junior Wells and Buddy Guy.
He also heard plenty of blues growing up in his grandfather's home, and listened to soul, R&B, and contemporary rock on the radio. He bought his first guitar at age 22, and his natural talent enabled him to quickly master the instrument. Although his initial focus was reggae, he found himself increasingly drawn to the blues. "It was dormant in me. But when I started playing the blues, I found my voice and the blues came pouring out." He absorbed sounds, styles and licks from Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Hound Dog Taylor, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix, J.B. Hutto, Lil' Ed, and others. Although influenced by many, Cannon's biting, stinging guitar sound is all his own.
Here is my video of Toronzo Cannon in the Blues Tent today, and here are 40 minutes from the 2017 Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas.
This guy was good. Would love to see him a more intimate club setting. The cavernous Blues Tent, with the constant stream of people, the incessant chatter, and even beer and peanut vendors, is sometimes a very trying place to listen to the musicians. But when they let loose, like Toronzo Cannon did today, it's worth it.
Earth Wind and Fire
Laurie, at the Acura Stage
Seen Before: Day 9 in 2017
Now approaching their 50th year of recording and touring, EWF remains a force of nature as a live band. The nine musicians kept the large Acura stage crowd dancing and singing along in the muck. Three founding members remain: Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson. The group also includes a second generation in Philip Bailey Jr. Add the three-piece horn section, drums, and percussion, and EWF is a honed, toned, and enthusiastic band, one that pours zest into their many hits.
Audio/Video: Here are four from today's performance: "Sing a Song", "Let's Groove", "Shining Star", and "September".
Laurie stayed for a good part of this before heading off to the Gentilly stage.
Craig Adams and Higher Dimensions of Praise
Jeff, in the Gospel Tent
Seen Before: Day 12 last year
Craig Adams is one of the best keyboard players in New Orleans, and not just gospel.
That said, when he is in the Gospel Tent, it's his voice that does the preaching. He is a big man and has a big voice that dominates the proceedings. Along with his great band and choir, both of which are close to gospel music perfection, this is one inspiring and entertaining performance.
Audio/Video: Here's my video. The man has no web presence whatsoever. Here and here are solo performances from the WWOZ Piano Night concert this year.
I loved the Adams group's performance last year, and this year's even more, with a great version of "I Want to Know What Love Is." I suspect I will be seeing them again. After this I headed to the Jazz Tent. But on the way ...
Food! Shrimp Remoulade Po'Boy
Jeff
Had Before: Day 4 last year
I don't know what took me so long to try this tasty sandwich from TJ Gourmet Foods, a catering company from New Orleans. It has a whole lot of cold shrimp cooked in a crab boil and bathed in a remoulade sauce with a sharp horseradish bite and placed on top of a crunchy slaw in a fresh roll. It's really delicious.
James Carter Organ Trio
Jeff, in the Jazz Tent
Seen Before: First Time!
I'll see an organ trio any time I can. James Carter blew me away. From ballads to funk workouts to very cool post-bop, Carter, an outstanding alto saxophonist, delivered an unbelievably wide-ranging set. And a Hammond organ and swinging drums are just the right backing for his sax.
"It's compact and soulful," Carter says, explaining why he digs an organ trio's chemistry so deeply. From jazz radio to neighborhood cookouts, growing up in Detroit meant plenty of B-3 grooves, he reflects. "That sound was always in the background." "You'd hear Jimmy Smith while somebody's passing the baked beans and the ribs and all that other good stuff. The organ has always been a part of the African-American Diaspora," he continues, "coming up through the spirituals and on into soul, neo-soul. It's always been an integral part of the landscape."
Joining Carter were Hammond B-3 virtuoso Gerard Gibbs, a protégé of Richard "Groove" Holmes, whose playing has internalized the stylistic underpinnings of all the heaviest organ voices; and Alexander White, a wildly versatile young drummer, equally adept at old-school shuffles and breakbeats and odd time, who "brings new breath, new life into our playing, a different youthful fire," Carter says.
Carter learned to play under the tutelage of Donald Washington, and was a member of his youth jazz ensemble. He first toured Europe with the International Jazz Band in 1985 at the age of 16. Jazz violinist Regina Carter, who I've seen and will see at Jazz Fest this year, is a cousin. He has performed, toured, and recorded with her, as well as Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Frank Lowe, the World Saxophone Quartet, Cyrus Chestnut, Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the Mingus Big Band (Part 1 and Part 2). He is also an authority on vintage saxophones, and he owns an extensive collection of them.
Audio/Video: Here is my video from the Jazz Tent and here is a full concert from a club in Paris. Here is another 40 minutes, all Django Reinhardt tunes, from the International Saxophone Meeting in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, in July 2016.
I love B-3 jazz, and there was more to come tonight! It was hard to leave this, but I wanted to spend at least a few minutes with the great Taj Mahal in the Blues Tent, as did Laurie.
Alanis Morissette
Laurie, at the Gentilly stage
Seen Before: First time!
It should come as no surprise that Laurie would want to see some of the performance by this alt-rock singer-songwriter. She wasn't alone; there was a raucous crowd there, mostly women, many of whom were not born when Jagged Little Pill was released more than 20 years ago. Well, she was painfully spot-on about the angst and anger of growing up female, a precursor to the #MeToo movement if ever there was one.
Morissette is pregnant with her third child, but that sure didn't slow her down. Marching, sashaying, and side-stepping her way across the stage throughout the entirety of her nearly 90-minute set, a smiley Morissette avoided chatter. She stayed true to the recorded sound of much of her music, and nobody appeared to mind.
Audio/Video: Here she is doing "India" at Jazz Fest, and here are "Forgiven" and "Ironic" from theaters in Texas a couple of nights later.
Not content to end her day with this, Laurie headed over to the Blues Tent to officially end the day with Taj Mahal, as did I.
Food! Pistachio Gelato
Laurie
Had Before: First time for this one, other sorbets, gelatos, and affigatos from this place too numerous to mention
The gelato/sorbetto stand of La Divina is located near the Fais Do Do and Gentilly stages and Economy Hall, and now the new Rhythmporium stage as well. It's a very convenient place to stop for a cooling treat after seeing a performance on one of these stages. Laurie topped off her shrimp and grits from earlier and her time with Alanis Morissette with this treat. Of course, she had plenty of fresh fruit in the WWOZ hospitality tent during the day, too.
Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band
Jeff and Laurie in the Blues Tent
Seen Before: Surprisingly, first time!
Taj Mahal is a towering musical figure, a legend who transcends the blues not by leaving them behind, but by revealing their magnificent scope to the world. He is someone we have always wanted to see perform live, and we both made it to the packed Blues Tent to do just that. I have no idea where Laurie was, but I was crammed into the standing room area at the back of the huge tent. No matter, it was still a thrill.
Taj Mahal is an innovator, for sure. "The blues is bigger than most people think," he says. "You could hear Mozart play the blues. It might be more like a lament. It might be more melancholy. But I'm going to tell you: the blues is in there."
He is a brilliant artist with a musicologist's mind, and has pursued and elevated the roots of beloved sounds with boundless devotion and skill. Then, as he traced origins to the American South, the Caribbean, Africa, and elsewhere, he created entirely new sounds, over and over again. No one is as simultaneously traditional and avant garde. Quantifying his significance is impossible.
Taj Mahal's exploration of music began as an exploration of self. He was born in 1942 in Harlem to musical parents. His father was a jazz pianist with Caribbean roots; mother was a gospel-singing schoolteacher from South Carolina. Together they cultivated an appreciation for both personal history and the arts in their son. "I was raised really conscious of my African roots," he says. "So I was trying to find out: where does what we do here connect to what we left there?" In the early 1950s, his family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts––a microcosmic melting pot for immigrants from across the globe: the Caribbean, the American South, Europe, the Mediterranean, Syria, Lebanon. "Music was everywhere," he says. "Things were different in those days. There weren't a lot of places that African Americans had to go out to entertain themselves. So people did a lot of entertaining in their homes. Friday or Saturday night, you'd move the furniture, mop and wax the floor, and set things up so people could pop over and hear all the music.
From the beginning, he found the blues magnetic, even as most artists around him in the Northeast were exploring other sounds. "I could hear little strains of the blues coming through––you could feel that energy in the music that was being played," he says. "I could also feel that energy of the blues inside myself." Piano lessons didn't stick. "I'd already heard what I wanted to play," he said, so when a blues guitarist from North Carolina moved in next door, he found an early mentor and was off.
He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, studying agriculture and animal husbandry. "I knew I'd like to connect myself to something on this planet that's meaningful," he says. "That's why I was interested in agriculture and music. Those were the two things that I recognized even as a very young child that people are never going to do without."
After moving to Los Angeles, he formed a six-piece band called the Rising Sons, which included Ry Cooder (video here). In 1967, his self-titled debut announced the arrival of bold young bluesman. The following year his sophomore album The Natch'l Blues dropped. In 1969, full of music and only just beginning, he released Giant Step / De Ole Folks at Home, a massive double album that hinted at his refusal to be boxed in.
In the 1970s and 1980s he experimented with global fusions and flirtations, signaling to listeners his restless intention to discover both new and old and disregard commercially imposed boundaries. In the 1980s, his gritty blues began to incorporate Latin, reggae, Caribbean, calypso, Cajun, jazz, and more, all layered over the distinctly Afrocentric roots base he'd been raised to rediscover.
His 1990s were incredibly prolific. "I noticed that when it came to complicated pieces of blues music, they'd never get played," Taj says. "It's one of the reasons we put Señor Blues out––to say, 'You guys, you know there is more that just the same old [imitates a beat] di da di di di da.' It's good when you believe it when you're playing it. But just to play it as a cliche? That's real boring. And real tiring." Collaborations with Hawaiian, African, Indian, and other musicians helped define his decade.
Over the years, Taj had also emerged as a mind-boggling, multifaceted player. In addition to the guitar, he has become proficient on about 20 different instruments, and counting. "There weren't an awful lot of people still playing these instruments that came from my culture," Taj explains. "Not that they didn't before, but nobody was playing them in the time I was. But I wanted to hear them. So I watched people play, got one, sat down, remembered the music that I was listening to, and started picking it out on the mandolin or banjo or 12-string."
The man didn't slow down as he entered the 21st century, and his highly anticipated collaboration with Keb' Mo'––TajMo––netted his third Grammy (check out the outstanding full concert video from the Jazz San Javier festival). He remains excited by fresh young voices trying new things and exhumed treasures that have been buried too long. As he thinks about the dozens and dozens of albums, collaborations, live experiences, and captured sounds, he finds satisfaction in one main idea. "As long as I'm never sitting here, saying to myself, 'You know? You had an idea 50 years ago, and you didn't follow through,' I'm really happy," he says. "It doesn't even matter that other people get to hear it. It matters that I get to hear it––that I did it."
Audio/Video: Here's my video, and someone else's, with "Rock Me to My Soul" (Jon Cleary on keyboards) and "My Heart Feels So Blue." And here's a full concert with his classic trio (Bill Rich on bass and Kester Smith on drums) from another festival in Spain.
Taj Mahal. It's about time. We want more. A great day at Jazz Fest for both of us, and Rachel got right into it as well. What an initiation for her with the rain and the mud ... and the music!
So that ended Jazz Fest Day 1, the first First Thursday we've experienced. It was great, even with the rain, and it was great to know there were still three more days to go in just the first weekend. The shuttles were very efficient in getting us back downtown, and we even had a bit of time to regroup before the three of us headed across the French Quarter on Decatur Street.
Our first stop was an old standby, the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen in the French Market area in front of the back of the Old U.S. Mint. I had the house special spaghetti with three very large meatballs and a spicy sauce. Laurie had mussels and a spicy Creole sauce over capellini. This place is always consistently good, a real hidden gem with good service and reasonable prices.
We then headed over to Frenchmen Street and the Snug Harbor jazz cub for our annual appointment with the mad scientist of the Hammond B-3, Dr. Lonnie Smith, accompanied by the great Donald Harrison Jr. on sax, Detroit Brooks on guitar, and Joe Dyson Jr. on drums. Absolutely outstanding.
We've seen this group before at Snug Harbor on Day 6 in 2015, and with Harrison and Brooks but Herlin Riley on drums on Day 9 last year. We've also seen Dr. Smith (the title is just something he has given to himself) at the Blue Nile on Day 6 in 2013, and I saw him at Jazz Fest on Day 8 in 2014. He is masterful on the Hammond.
It is such a thrill to see these four great musicians play off of one another by visual and musical cues, and have such a great time doing it. Smith really enjoys mixing it up and trying to keep the proceedings a bit off balance, but the other three have had a lot of experience with him and pretty much know what's up. It is just a great couple of hours of music, worth staying up for an 11 p.m. show and the long walk back across the French Quarter in the wee hours.
The Snug does not permit photos or videos, and when asked in a listeners club like this I always comply. Here is an hour concert with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, who plays regularly in a trio with Smith, which sometimes includes Dyson, although not here. The drummer here is Jonathan Blake, who I've seen with Kenny Barron on Day 10 in 2017. You'll get an idea of what an experience this show was, although Harrison's sax really adds to the music.
That all made for a very long and eventful day, but one that was every bit as varied and enjoyable as a trip to New Orleans should be. We're back!
