Issue Articles
Jon Cleary
The night Jon Cleary arrived in New Orleans as a teenager, he assumed that he was taking his first steps on American soil—at the Maple Leaf with Earl King on stage. He hadn’t really landed in the United States exactly, but instead in the northern musical capital of the Caribbean.
Sweet Crude: Drums and Voices
There are two phrases that Sweet Crude try their hardest to avoid when talking about their upcoming project: One is “back to our roots,” the other is “with a little help from our friends.” Both phrases are things you’ve heard many times before, while Sweet Crude’s music decidedly is not.
Carolyn Wonderland: Let’s Play a Game
The last time Texas guitar virtuoso Carolyn Wonderland played at Jazz Fest in 2018 was an especially memorable one: It was her debut with British blues legend John Mayall, and she was so new to the band that she hadn’t met them all, much less rehearsed.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Of all the acts headlining the Blues Tent this year, there won’t be many who’ve ever had a Top Ten single on the pop charts. The Fabulous Thunderbirds managed it with 1986’s “Tuff Enuff,” still a rare achievement with a blues band.
007: 25th Anniversary Reunion
“The whole thing is a happy accident,” says Jeffrey Clemens, mastermind of the rocksteady band 007. “We never said, ‘Let’s figure out something that nobody else has played in New Orleans.’ It was more like, ‘I‘ve just discovered this music and I absolutely have to play it.’ And I didn’t even know how to play it. Even though it sounds like reggae and has elements of that, it isn’t reggae. And you can’t play it with just anybody, because you can’t buy alchemy.”
Gal Holiday: Three Chords, but still the truth
Vanessa Niemann, alias Gal Holiday, didn’t grow up on country music, and didn’t fully embrace it until she’d left her Maryland home and came to New Orleans. But she found it deep in her soul nonetheless, and the connection’s gotten deeper in the 21 years since Gal Holiday & the Honky Tonk Revue first appeared. “I was a raver; I grew up on alternative and hip-hop. I never saw the band going on this long or becoming this popular.”
Jesse Lége: Memories in my Heart
When Jesse Lége says it’s about time, you better believe it. It’s been 15 years since the powerhouse Cajun accordionist’s last Jazz Fest and third overall in a career spanning 57 years.
Karl Denson: King of Jazz Fest Late Night
When Karl Denson played at the Jazz Fest a year ago, he was on the main stage with the Rolling Stones. The saxophonist and flautist has been one of the rock band’s touring musicians since 2014 when he replaced the Stones longtime horn man, the great Bobby Keys.
Branford Marsalis is back home in New Orleans
Saxophonist, composer, bandleader and Grammy-winner Branford Marsalis moved back to his hometown of New Orleans in January 2024. The oldest son of pianist and educator, the late Ellis Marsalis Jr., and brother of fellow musician’s trumpeter Wynton, trombonist Delfeayo and drummer and vibraphonist Jason, he headed to the east coast initially to attend the Berklee College of Music in 1979 and didn’t look back until now.
