Best Of New Orleans Blog

by Sam Winston
When they came onto the Gentilly Stage in front of a thin crowd on what was otherwise a very packed last Sunday, I really had no idea what to expect. Then they picked up their guitars and absolutely dominated.

The Raconteurs basically put forth a hard cutting though soulful rock and roll that usually doesn’t slip past the baby-boomer funk loving talent net of the Jazz Fest. Led by Jack White of the White Stripes with Brendan Benson to his right on vocals and guitar along with the rest of the band behind them, they rocked the set so thoroughly that the leftovers from Galactic and early birds for the Radiators just looked at them and said “huh?” (more…)

Members of the Prince of Whales Social Aid & Pleasure Club second lined with Glen David Andrews at the tuba blowout that closed the day on the Jazz and Heritage Stage.

Everybody enjoyed Jazz Fest in their own way. The Tuba Fats Tribute at the Jazz and Heritage Stage drew some of the more exuberant fest fans.

Jazz Fest had beautiful weather and big crowds for the final Sunday. Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk (pictured) played early in the day on the Acura Stage. The Neville Brothers returned to their closing slot on Acura to finish the festival.

by Sam Winston

Just before her set on the Acura Stage last Friday, I caught this practice run-through in her dressing room/trailer. Apparently her Jazz Fest set was a bit of a digression because she’s been playing the same music all by herself on stage recently. Using looping equipment, she plays every instrument, records it live, then triggers it and sings and plays over it simultaneously (she did a few like that to open the set). Same for her new album coming out except for one duet with Allan Toussaint. I admittedly can’t be a fair judge since I know her well enough to have been at her wedding, but I’d say its by far and away the most interesting music she’s ever put out. I think fans and non-fans alike will also be equally surprised at the depth of her new material. It pretty much redefines her. More here.

After a sodden first weekend of Jazz Fest 2008, I have few memories that did not take place in a tent or huddled under the grandstand.

Still, the Saturday Ponderosa Stomp revue was memorable - of course for the standard soul awesomeness of soul shouter Tami Lynn and for the ten-minute version of “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell that he got through before the 6:30 pm shutdown - but more so for the reliable antics of the Texas singer Roy “Is he on something?” Head. In his 60s, Head’s set is still more acrobatic and lewd than anything Britney Spears can currently muster. One particularly shining moment involved Head straddling Stomp producer Ira Padnos’s wife Sam as she played a sax solo. The best, though, was his repeated near-molestation of piano player Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural. The third time Roy leapt onto the piano bench to throw his arms around Buckwheat and aggressively snuggle him, I leaned over to my frend and said, “I hope they knew each other before this.” (more…)

On Sunday, the rain cleared in time for great sets from Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and many other acts including, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil, Cassandra Wilson and Al Green. Working though his best known material (I’m Still in Love With You, Love and Happiness), Green looked sharp in a glittery turquoise vest and rained red roses on the front row at the Congo Square Stage.

Fest-goers were unphased by rain again on Sunday at the Fair Grounds. Crocs and shrimp boots were the footwear of choice, but the crowds made the best of it.

If you kept a blue tarp, they’re still useful at Jazz Fest.

Jon Cleary was able to finish his jazzy R&B set on the Acura Stage before rain started to fall. By the end of Dr. John’s set it was a torrential downpour. Some people headed for the tents. Those who went to the Ponderosa Stomp showcase in the Blues Tent were rewarded with some great New Orleans R&B from Tami Lynn and later the frenetic James Brown-style act of Roy Hood. Others fought the rain and stuck it out for Billy Joel’s greatest hits. Still others split the difference and finished the day in the Acura showroom tent. By the time Jazz Fest pulled the plug on all stages at 6:30 there were still plenty of people braving the elements at the Fair Grounds.

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. (more…)