New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Entertainment Art Fairgrounds Racecourse New Orleans, LA April 24-26, 2009

The event is located at Fairgrounds racecourse about ten minutes from the heart of the city and getting to and from wasn’t incredibly strenuous. If cabbing it, jump into a van with 3 or more people and it’s a flat $4. Makes it easier when you don’t have to eyeball the meter as you wait in traffic. Once you arrive at the festival, it’s not hard to get your bearings. Each side of the venue has a “main stage” (either the Acura or Gentilly stage) and most of the food, art and drinks are located in the middle. Behind the mall of shops are three tents (Gospel, Jazz and Blues). These tents are packed all day with legends of their respective genres, packed seats of fans and water misters that beautifully cool the sticky air. There are a few other outdoor stages in between; the best being the Fais Do Do Stage which had some of the most authentic New Orleans performances. If you’re looking for a zydeco player or the most talented mandolin player you will have set eyes on, head there. It is clear where other music festivals have taken from Jazz Fest, as it was the first major outdoor music festival. The layout looks eerily similar to Lollapalooza.

Days aren’t as long as most other festivals because the music is pretty much all over by 7pm. Headliners go on around 5pm and finish by 7pm but it’s plenty. The weather and condition of the venue make it grueling and as enjoyable as it was, I was happy to head out at the end of the day. The best food item and the savior from the heat was the “Snowball.” Snowballs are like snow cones but drowned in syrup and topped with condensed milk and/or chocolate cream. These tasty treats were easily the best $3 spent all day and arguably all weekend. Looking around, people were eating and sucking the heads of crawfish hand over fist and jambalaya by the bucketful. Unless they forgot their wallet, no one was going home hungry.

But we all know that Jazz Fest is about the music. Here are some highlights from the first weekend:

Mahalia Jackson Tribute:

Mahalia Jackson was the mother of gospel music and the queen of Jazz Fest. A New Orleans native, Mahalia and Duke Ellington were the first headliners at Jazz Fest. In honor of the anniversary of the festival, Mavis Staples, Irma Thomas and Pamela Landrum paid tribute to Mahalia Jackson and gospel music. They told stories and recounted tales of what it was like in New Orleans in 1970. As a guy that hasn’t been to a gospel church or concert, I was happy to see a tent full of people singing, “…He’s got the whole world in his hands.”

Wilco:

Jeff Tweedy and the boys are the best Americana rock band around and this was a classic set mixed with crowd favorites, rarities and a couple of new tracks. The audience packed in and sang along to “Heavy Metal Drummer” as Saturday drew to a close. Wilco looked to be having a great time in the Cajun sun.

James Taylor:

There’s something about James Taylor’s voice that is almost remarkable. His tone never wavers and his pitch always stays perfect. His Jazz Fest set was no different than any other time that I’ve seen him but there’s something about seeing the aged legend in his Boston Red Sox ball cap under the lights of the sun singing “Mexico.” It’s as if James Taylor was playing a family barbecue; it was special.

Joe Cocker:

Although Joe Cocker doesn’t move like he used to, there’s nothing missing from his live performances. Every song he performed was a sing-along and his band couldn’t have been sharper. Joe Cocker is synonymous with New Orleans and the packed main stage greeted him with warmth and energy. This was a set that wasn’t to be missed just like his crawfish party wasn’t, but that’s for another time.

Galactic:

This band of rapping jazz and funk musicians killed it. Their energy was unwavering and the crowd was jumping. The highlight of the festival’s weekend was when trombonist Corey Henry jumped into the crowd. He crowd surfed his way from stage left to right while the band funked up the joint. It was a memorable and authentic moment.

Dave Matthews Band:

Coming off the recording and mastering of their new album in New Orleans and the tragic passing of saxophone player LeRoi Moore, DMB triumphantly returned to NOLA with a crowd nearing 100,000 there to take in the action. Their set was energy-filled and drummer Carter Beauford shined with multiple drum solos. It was a standard Dave Matthews Band show and if you’re a fan, that’s a good thing and if you’re not, it’s not. Thankfully, I am a fan and I can’t wait for the new album.

Kinky:

There was no more talked about surprise than Kinky. The Spanish-language band looked at home at the 2pm hour on the giant Acura stage in the blazing sun. Bouncing around and bringing the crowd to their feet, songs like “Mexican Radio” and “Sister Twisted” played well to an audience who probably hadn’t heard much by them previously. Kinky needs to find that one song that can blast them off into the music stratosphere because more people need to know how good they are.

There were plenty of other highlights (Robert Cray, Terence Blanchard, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Johnny Winter, and Spoon) and a couple lowlights (Erykah Badu and Better Than Ezra). All in all, it was a great weekend of music, food, art and new experiences and the second weekend should be no different except for the obvious cheesy addition of Bon Jovi. Coming off of Coachella, NO Jazz Fest was supposed to be a vacation. It wasn’t exactly relaxing but the short days made for easy days comparatively. Were there aspects of the event that drove me crazy? Absolutely. But the pros out way the cons by a mile and New Orleans is the perfect city to spend a weekend in. If I can just figure out a way to replace the stench of vomit on Bourbon St. with the warm sugary smell of beignets from Café’ Du Monde, I’ll be much happier next time.

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