Ah, Jazz Fest. With the annual announcement of performers at the Fair Grounds comes the usual outpouring of praise and adulation — as well as the surfeit of gripes and complaints — about the line-up. Always interested in public opinion of the local music scene, we here at OffBeat posted a question to the message board at our Web site: What do you think of this year’s Jazz Fest line-up? Here are just of few of the dozens of responses we received, from New Orleans, throughout the country, and from places as far afield as Germany, Japan and New Zealand.

“At my first Jazz Fest, I made the trip down from Virginia just to see Little Feat in their first appearance without Lowell George (1988). Purely by accident, I was introduced to the local New Orleans music. I have been a ‘Fest Regular’ ever since. This year I will be attending both weekends. I expect my musical horizons to broaden further. I don’t care which, if any, ‘National Acts’ will be appearing. Sure, I will go watch Emmylou [Harris] . And Bonnie Raitt always puts on a good show. But I am also looking forward to seeing Trombone Shorty, Lenny McDaniel, Paul Cebar, Coteau & Kermit Ruffins. I only wish the ‘Frogman’ [Clarence Henry] and Deacon John would play the DC area!”
(George Payne, Alexandria, VA)

“The Fest seems to be doing its main job right, which is to give priority to the local legends and homegrown bands, though at least one of my favorites, the Continental Drifters got passed over — I’d take them over Better than Ezra any day. The selection of national bands seems eccentric as usual — I’m sure a lot of people are excited about Jimmy Buffett, but I ain’t one of them. And I can’t imagine anyone getting excited over Spyro Gyra. Good to see more big-name reggae and one of the Mississippi Delta guys (RL Burnside) finally got booked. Ani Di Franco is probably the most creative booking of the past five years — glad they snagged her before her album went top 20. I’m very, very glad to see that the recent trend to hippie/HORDE rock is on the downswing, even if they’ve booked Dave Matthews, the least funky band on the planet.”
(Brett Milano, Boston, MA)

“If I could only go to the Fest one day, it would be April 25. While I was impressed with most of the out of town guest artists, I am perplexed by the addition of the Doobie Brothers and Spyro Gyra. There are plenty of 70’s acts out there still making vibrant music: Joe Cocker, John Mayall, and Steve Winwood come to mind. Who’s next? Christopher Cross? I am also confused by the absence of several acts and hope that situation is rectified by the end of next month. I am referring to Paula and the Pontiacs, Filé, Creole Wild West, Bluerunners, and the Pfister Sisters. What’s up with that?”
(Steve Lamb, Atlanta, GA)

“I was very happy to see Phil Degruy on the schedule (I think for the first time). He’s one of the most unrecognized players in NO (and elsewhere) to my ears. A couple of friends and I managed to hear him at a restaurant on the Uptown side of Canal playing completely unnoticed. He blew us away, was delighted that we’d come down to hear him, and couldn’t have been friendlier. To my ears he has one of the most interesting musical minds I know of….More Phil…..”
(Mike Bruns, Minneapolis, MN)

“I see (in OffBeat’s invaluable Jazz Fest Web page club listings) that both Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and the sududes reunion are playing the C.A.C. on the second week of the Fest. I hope that Quint and his hardworking staff can find a way to work both of these outstanding Jazz Fest alumni into the schedule. I would especially hope that the presence of all of the subdudes in town during the Fest would deserve some special effort to bring them to the Fair Grounds.”
(John Noonan, Traverse City, MI)

“As an eight year veteran of the New Orleans Jazz Fest I was a little confused when I saw this year’s schedule. Over the years the lineup has featured more traditional bands playing the first weekend (and lesser known artists), while the second weekend always seemed to showcase the more well-known acts and those artists whose music tends to blend the boundaries between jazz, rock, zydeco, blues, etceteras. It seems that this trend has been reversed this year and I find myself unfamiliar with many of the artists scheduled to perform during the second weekend. To be frank, I feel just a little cheated ’cause in my opinion, humble that it is, the first weekend kicks some serious ass and I’m going the second weekend.”
(Richard Martin, CA)

“Of course there are many national selections this year that are very mystifying to me. I understand Jimmy Buffett is releasing a new CD and launching a summer tour, but Jimmy Buffett is a front running phony establishment asswipe. A very lame sappy Fest choice guaranteed to please the wine and cheezy crowd, that along with the other very sappy lameass choices: Doobie Brothers? Spyro Gyra? and Dave Matthews? Seems odd to me that a band such as Medeski, Martin & Wood is overlooked by the Festival. If Dave Matthews is the ‘Deadhead’ selection, it would seem that the talent committee is very out of step indeed. Also, there isn’t a single night show I would consider seeing, especially considering the fact that the Fest continues to use U.N.O. Arena, an extremely lame venue.”
(Alan Dorchak, Miami, FL)

“For starters, let me say that in my previous six times at Jazz Fest, I have never had a bad day musically at the Fest and don’t believe that such a thing is possible. So any negative comments that might follow are purely nit-picking and are presented simply for the sake of discussion. Overall, I think this year’s lineup is as strong as ever. The major problem that I have with it is that it seems to pretty top-loaded, i.e. the first weekend is noticeably the strongest, in particular the first Friday. In a perfect world, I’d like to see more Caribbean and international acts instead of some of these big national names. The one that bothers me even more than Buffett is Spyro Gyra…what a bunch of soul-less castrati! How can the Fest pander to these purveyors of the most insidious trend in music these days, this so-called ‘smooth “jazz”‘ is beyond me, especially in a city with so many real jazz musicians. It’s sort of an insult, really. I can’t really say too much positive about a Doobie Brothers reunion, either…I would think that act would be more appropriate in one of the Gulf Coast casinos! But all in all, I can’t really complain. Like I said, I’ve never had a bad day at the Fairgrounds and sure don’t expect to start now…some days are better than others, but all days at the Fair Grounds are good days.”
(John Henze, Bethesda, MD)

Stay tuned for more responses next month. Another report from our message board comes just as we went to press. Following a post by one contributor about the possibility of Computer Associates sponsoring next year’s Jazz Fest came a flurry of responses debating the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship.