Another Jazz Fest, another round of easy target practice with Quint “Redfish in a Barrel” Davis. In today’s Times-Picayune “Lagniappe” insert, Davis, the festival’s chief producer, is quoted as saying, “We have a great national lineup. … We’re different than the other kid festivals … because we’re a festival for grownups.”

Ugh. Most people who still harbor misgivings about the fest’s puzzling inertia regarding national headliners — a sideways shuffle that’s led us from Al Green, Jimmy Buffett and Widespread Panic in the early 2000s to, um, Al Green, Jimmy Buffett and Widespread Panic in 2008 — stopped voicing them years ago, once it became clear that if Davis and Co. were indeed aware that new pop and rock music had been produced outside Louisiana since the year 1990, they probably didn’t care. Now we have Davis shooting blanks at, presumably, the Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals, all of which have national lineups that make Billy Joel look like the stale, ‘80s radio relic that of course he is. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro de los Rios

And what better way to get pumped up for the big game than by checking out this video of Byron Scott’s son’s Hornets rap song (video via: Deadspin). Or, maybe you could go read about how Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban’s legal troubles thanks to one crazy inmate. Of course, the best pre- and post-game analysis can be found over at Hornets247.com (plus you can check out some cautious optimism over at HornetsHype). Although, I’m not so sure how, um, sober the Hornets247 analysis will be tonight considering there are watch parties at Gordon Bierch downtown AND ACME Oyster House in Covington featuring the Honeybees and free swag.

The same day Billy Joel performs at Jazz Fest, his wife Katie Lee Joel will be holding a book signing for her new cookbook “The Comfort Table.” The event and potential celebrity sighting takes place at the Garden District Book Shop tomorrow, April 26, beginning at noon. Mrs. Joel’s book focuses on recipes for Southern-style “comfort food” and was published earlier this month. Piano man Billy Joel headlines on the Acura Stage later that afternoon.
Meanwhile, at the Fair Grounds itself tomorrow, the book tent will host signings by authors of two New Orleans cookbooks and one New Orleans food memoir.

The lineup begins at noon with a visit from Kit Wohl, a local writer and publicist for Arnaud’s Restaurant, who is promoting her latest cookbook “New Orleans Classic Seafood.” Read the rest of this entry »