The week before Jazz Fest, the New Orleans music and theater communities will take time to honor and celebrate their own at the eighth annual Big Easy Awards. This year's show, on April 24, has been split into two events: an awards ceremony at the Orpheum Theatre, followed by a supper dance at the Fairmont Hotel.

Saxophonist, producer and AFO Records president Harold Battiste is this year's honorary music chairman. Actor John Goodman, the "Roseanne" star and New Orleans music fan, will 'se...