Welcome to the best musical festival in the world.” I think I’ve said that quite a few times over the last fifteen years that OffBeat has been in business. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is still the best of its kind anywhere.

You can’t beat the combination of music, culture, food and historical edutainment. I promised Rachel Lyons, the archivist at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, that I’d try to encourage all OffBeat readers to patronize the happenings in the Grandstand, which is one of the best-kept secrets of the Jazz Fest (except for those indoor bathrooms). Lyons is really all about the “heritage” of the Festival, as her job is to preserve its cultural aspects, including the music, art, oral histories and more. The Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage is actually one of the most interesting places to hang in between sets. Shemekia Copeland will be interviewed on Friday April 26 at 2 p.m.; John Fred at 2 p.m. on Saturday May 4 (maybe OffBeat’s Jeff Hannusch who wrote this issue’s interview with Fred, and who is the author of two books on Louisiana music history, should have done this interview.) Ann Savoy (subject of OffBeat’s last month’s cover feature) will be interviewed at 3 p.m. on April 26, along with her husband Marc and the Doucet brothers, Michael and David, of BeauSoleil.

But I can’t for the life of me see what an interview with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows has to do with the music and culture of New Orleans. Guess I’ll be enlightened at the interview. Or maybe I’ll miss that one…The Music Heritage Stage begins interviews at noon every days of the Fest.

Back to the Jazz Fest being the Best Fest. Well, let’s expand your horizons just a bit: just as we were going to press, I went to another wonderful Festival that needs to get a little more recognition—14 stages of music, hundreds of local musicians, all the same sorts of food that you can get at the Jazz Fest. But maybe we should continue to hide it from the invading masses…that’s the French Quarter Festival. It’s free, the music is all local (no worries on jambands at this event—unless they come from New Orleans); it has all the great food, the ambiance of the French Quarter, and guess what? You can get a real honest-to-God cocktail! Cool, huh? If you’re getting fed up with the crowds at Jazz Fest, plan on the French Quarter Fest—next year (FQF’s 20th anniversary) it’s on April 11-13. Go to www.frenchquarterfestivals.org for more info. And see y’all all next year at both festivals!

PASSING OF THE KEYS

Local recording studio Ultrasonic Studios turned 25 this March…yeah, right, local politicos—we have no recording studios here. Owners and founders Jay Gallagher and George Hallowell handed over the keys to the studio to long-time engineers and operators Steve Reynolds and David Farrell. Gallagher has been involved for sometime now with his digital studio in the Warehouse District, which is doing great business with movie sound. “It was time,” says Gallagher. “We just couldn’t handle both operations anymore, and since Steve and Dave had been running the studio virtually by themselves so long, we figured they deserved to own the original studio.” Reynolds and Gallagher have recently recorded Banu Gibson’s new project, as well as projects by Blessed, Henry Butler, Brotherhood of Groove, Papa Grows Funk, Deacon John’s Jump Blues project, and a lot of work for the recent Superbowl.

SAD NEWS, GLAD NEWS…

Sarah DeBacher, longtime manager of the funky Dragon’s Den, recently informed OffBeat and the musicians who were scheduled to play there that the Dragon’s Den is closed indefinitely. There was a rumor circulating that the Den would be down for just two weeks and then back open in time for Jazz Fest. But, unfortunately, DeBacher says that this is not the case. “I don’t know when or if we will re-open again,” she said. Geez, another great little music venue bites the dust, just as Frenchmen Street seems to be jumping again more than ever.

Local rock band Tom’s House inked a big management deal on St. Joseph’s Day, signing with Dennis Rider Management of Los Angeles. Rider has worked as an entertainment lawyer with Janet Jackson, and the Rolling Stones. He represented Mandeville’s 12 Stones in their recent multi-million dollar deal with WindUp Records. He also manages Phil “Pantera” Anselmo and Dave Fortman, formerly of Ugly Kid Joe. Fortman produced the three-song Tom’s House demo a few weeks ago that ignited Rider’s and label’s interest.

MORE MUSIC—ELSEWHERE IN LOUISIANA

The Foundation for Arts, Music, and Entertainment (F.A.M.E.) along with Louisiana State University-Shreveport, has announced plans for the first annual “Southern American Music Conference.” The conference will take place at various locations in Shreveport on May 2, 3, 4, and 5. It will feature a variety of prominent music scholars, historians, writers, and musicians along with numerous legendary music figures participating in panel discussions and performances. Tickets for the four-day conference are $75 in advance and $100 after May 1. Call Ticketmaster for tickets.

Kicking off the four-day conference on Thursday evening is best-selling author Peter Guralnick (Last Train to Memphis, Careless Love, Sweet Soul Music), one of the country’s foremost root music authorities, currently working on a book about soul singer Sam Cooke. Other conference notables include Nick Spitzer (host of NPR’s syndicated weekly radio show “American Routes”), Lead Belly biographer Dr. Kip Lornell, legendary “manager to the stars” Tillman Franks, and former Country Music Hall of Fame historian, Ronnie Pugh.

THANK Y’ALL

My yearly (public) thanks go to the hard working, ever-patient and resourceful OffBeat staff who work their little butts off getting the product out that you are reading right now. Thank you, Jeremy Campbell, Ben Gersh, Christopher Blagg, Mark Fowler, Phyllis Boudreaux, the inimitable Bunny Matthews; all our writers and distribution crew, all of our helpful interns; Nancy Williams, our great new (and extremely hard-working) graphic designer; and especially to Joseph Irrera, my better half, who works harder than anybody to make this magazine what it is. Hey, this really is a musical family business!

Y’all enjoy New Orleans. Love the music and culture and take care of it, please! And thank you! And come back real soon, okay?