Jazz Fest Bible 2016
Cover Story
- Toussaint Toujours: Jazz Fest is Dancing to Toussaint’s Tune
TRIBUTE TO ALLEN TOUSSAINT: SUNDAY, MAY 1—GENTILLY STAGE, 2:20 P.M. One of the signature moments of this year’s Jazz Fest…
Letters
- May 2016 Letters to OffBeat Magazine
WWOZ These letters are in response to both Sam D’Arcangelo’s web post “WWOZ: A Way Forward?” and Jan Ramsey’s blog post…
Fresh
- Harmonica Jam: Iron Men
Johnny Sansone knows why he plays harmonica. “It just spoke to me,” Sansone explains while chatting with OffBeat by phone during… - My Music: Cole Williams
“One of the reasons I moved to New Orleans was to become a better percussionist. I just love the way the… - Jazz Fest's Greatest Hits
However many bands hit Jazz Fest there are certain songs that inevitably get played, year after year, even if the original… - In-Between Festivals: Non-Stop Music
A lot of out-of-towners have a hard time picking which weekend of Jazz Fest is right for them. After painstakingly combing… - Soundcheck: Five Questions with Lily Keber, Producer-Director of Bayou Maharajah
On April 26, three years after Bayou Maharajah began making the film festival rounds, Lily Keber’s documentary about New Orleans piano…
Features
- A to Z: All You Need to Know Is in Our Jazz Fest Guide
How do you choose from the variety of cultures, rhythms and sounds available at Jazz Fest? Our guide should help and… - Ice, Ice... Maybe?
It takes a lot to stay cool at Jazz Fest. The sand is wafting into your eyes. The sun is… - Outlandish Vamps: Midnite Disturbers’ Raw, Stripped-Down Sound
MIDNITE DISTURBERS: SATURDAY, APRIL 30—JAZZ & HERITAGE STAGE, 1:45 P.M. For a city that care allegedly forgot, New Orleans sure… - First Family: Ellis, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis Have a Chat
JASON MARSALIS: FRIDAY, APRIL 22—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 1:30 P.M. ELLIS MARSALIS: SUNDAY, MAY 1—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ STAGE, 1:35 P.M. … - Heartbeat of the Funk: Jon Cleary’s Music is Universal, Not Regional
What’s changed since Jon Cleary won a Grammy? Not a whole lot. Not that he doesn’t have gratitude for the coveted… - The Brukdown Sound
SATURDAY, APRIL 30—BELIZE PAVILLION, 1 P.M.; SUNDAY, MAY 1—JAZZ & HERITAGE STAGE, 4:25 P.M. Belizean bredda “DAVID” Obi & Tribal Vibes… - Building Bridges: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s New Sound
CHRISTIAN SCOTT ATUNDE ADJUAH: FRIDAY, APRIL 22—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 5:45 P.M. Stretch Music is both the title of the… - Absolutely!: LeBlanc Family Band Gives 120 Percent
LEBLANC FAMILY BAND: FRIDAY, APRIL 29—KIDS TENT, 3 P.M. Breaux Bridge teenagers Leiton LeBlanc, 14, and her twin siblings Paige… - Living a Childhood Dream: Music was Always a Part of Herlin Riley’s Life
HERLIN RILEY QUINTET: SUNDAY, APRIL 24—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 2:45 P.M. When Herlin Riley enters a stage, he often wields… - The More the Hairier: The Evolution of Homo Jazzfestivus
In the scientific class of major American outdoor music festivals, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (Homo jazzfestivus) remains a… - Celebrating Alice: Discovering Arlo Guthrie
ARLO GUTHRIE: SUNDAY, MAY 1—BLUES TENT, 5:25 P.M. Once folk music’s goofy, witty young gun, somewhere along the line the… - Catching on Fire: Snarky Puppy’s Blending Styles
SNARKY PUPPY: THURSDAY, APRIL 28—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ STAGE, 5:25 P.M. "You can try it here but you’re crazy and it’s… - Love and Passion: Cuban Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval’s Musical Imagination
ARTURO SANDOVAL: SATURDAY, APRIL 30—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 5:35 P.M. There are precious few musicians in the world as fully… - Keeping Your Gravity: Royal Teeth’s Upbeat Worldview
ROYAL TEETH: SUNDAY, APRIL 24—GENTILLY STAGE, 2:10 P.M. There’s a lot that didn’t happen to Royal Teeth since they last… - More Elvis Than Fats: North Louisiana's Kevin Gordon and Kenny Bill Stinson
KEVIN GORDON: SUNDAY, APRIL 24—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 4:05 P.M. KENNY BILL STINSON & THE ARK-LA-MYSTICS: FRIDAY, APRIL 29—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 5:30 P.M. … - Cajun Punk Meets Irish
The Lost Bayou Ramblers sit down and get up with Spider Stacy of the Pogues. By the time London’s epochal… - No Borders: Curley Taylor has stopped getting dirty
CURLEY TAYLOR & ZYDECO TROUBLE: SUNDAY, APRIL 24—FAIS DO-DO STAGE, 11:15 A.M. It’s only early March and already zydeco accordionist…
Jazz Fest Focus
- Fest Focus: Geri Allen
GERI ALLEN: THE ERROLL GARNER JAZZ PROJECT FRIDAY, APRIL 22—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 4:10 P.M. In the world of jazz,… - Fest Focus: Cary Hudson
CARY HUDSON & THE PINEY WOOD PLAYERS FRIDAY, APRIL 29—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 3 P.M. "It’s about sex,” Cary Hudson confesses about… - Fest Focus: Sharon Jones
SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS FRIDAY, APRIL 22—BLUES TENT, 5:45 P.M. "They got a lot of singers coming out… - Fest Focus: The Suffers
THURSDAY, APRIL 28—CONGO SQUARE STAGE, 4:10 P.M. The Suffers, a formidable ten-piece soul gang from Houston, Texas, are having a… - Fest Focus: King James
KING JAMES & THE SPECIAL MEN SATURDAY, APRIL 30—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 5:35 P.M. Jimmy Horn was playing upright bass in a… - Fest Focus: Rhiannon Giddens
SUNDAY, APRIL 24—BLUES TENT, 3:50 P.M. Rhiannon Giddens may have pivoted to a solo career in recent years, but solo… - Fest Focus: Jack DeJohnette
DEJOHNETTE·COLTRANE·GARRISON SATURDAY, APRIL 23—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ TENT, 4:05 P.M. In the early ’60s, young jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette walked in… - Fest Focus: Ed Volker
ED VOLKER'S QUINTET NARCOSIS SUNDAY, APRIL 24—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 2:35 P.M. Ed Volker introduced his post-Radiators project Trio Mollusc at Jazz… - Fest Focus: Helen Gillet
THURSDAY, APRIL 28—LAGNIAPPE STAGE, 3:05 P.M. Equally at home playing traditional, plaintive French chansons and musettes as she is manipulating… - Fest Focus: Marlon Jordan
MARLON JORDAN PLAYS THE MUSIC OF MILES, TRANE AND BIRD THURSDAY, APRIL 28—ZATARAIN’S WWOZ JAZZ STAGE, 1:40 P.M. New Orleans… - Fest Focus: Big Chief Victor Harris
FI YI YI & THE MANDINGO WARRIORS THURSDAY, APRIL 28—JAZZ & HERITAGE STAGE, 5 P.M. Same as every year for the…
In The Spirit
- Darrin Ylisto at Sylvain
"I picked Ryan [Scully] for this cocktail because when I moved to New Orleans in 2003, I lived Uptown and he…
The Spot
- Johnny Sansone hits the Spot
I think I'll have what you're having... I always get the falafel plate. I don't eat meat, so that's what I…
Dining Out
- Rum and the Lash
For a city where the concept of “last call” is as foreign as a Jazz Fest without rain, New Orleans has…
OffBeat Eats
- New Flavors in New Orleans
Seven of the tastiest new restaurants in town. New Orleans is opening new restaurants at a pace that can challenge…
BackTalk
- Buffy Sainte-Marie
THURSDAY, APRIL 28—SHERATON NEW ORLEANS FAIS DO-DO STAGE, 4:25 P.M. The inimitable Buffy Sainte-Marie released her debut album in 1964;…
Bookmark
- Todd Mouton, Way Down in Louisiana: Clifton Chenier, Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop Music (University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press)
Here’s the latest addition to the Louisiana music book collection. Mouton, a Lafayette native, has assembled a dozen biographies of South…
Reviews
- Diversity: Honey Island Swamp Band, Demolition Day (Ruf Records)
As anyone who’s seen Honey Island Swamp Band lately can attest, they like to stretch things out. Last year at Jazz… - REWIND: The Meters, Fire on the Bayou (Reprise)
Drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste presses rewind on the Meters’ sixth studio album, from 1975. “Some of the best songs that the… - Hometown Groove: Darcy Malone & the Tangle, Still Life (Independent)
At first I thought the source of the band’s name had to be obvious: Must refer to “Love Is a Tangle,”… - REWIND: The Meters, Rejuvenation (Reprise)
Guitarist Leo Nocentelli presses rewind on the Meters’ fifth studio album, from 1974. "One song on the album is called ‘Loving… - Professor Longhair, Live In Chicago (Orleans Records)
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only... Professor Longhair!” Fess hits with a syncopated vamp and it’s off to… - Jamie Bernstein, You Don’t Know Me (Independent)
Well, maybe not. After lo these many years on the New Orleans scene, sometimes it feels as if we’re just getting… - Tuba Skinny, Blue Chime Stomp (Independent)
Seven recordings in and Tuba Skinny have established themselves as more than revivalists. Still mining the early jazz, blues and ragtime… - Mavis Staples, Livin’ on a High Note (Anti-)
Mavis Staples, an iconic figure in gospel, soul and rhythm and blues whose career has spanned over 60 years, boasts a… - Huey “Piano” Smith, Don’t You Just Know It: The Very Best of 1956-1962—Singles As & Bs (Jasmine Records)
In a city blessed with beloved songwriter-pianists, Huey “Piano” Smith more than earned his place. During the late 1950s, Smith wrote… - Murray, Allen & Carrington: Perfection (Montema)
The outstanding artists involved with this album—saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray, pianist Geri Allen and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington—praise the… - Smoking Time Jazz Club, Make a Tadpole Holler Whale (Independent)
Not that this is hard to do or anything, but if you’re gonna fully appreciate the music of this revolving, transplanted… - Ben E. Hunter, Break Out Bold (Awareness Productions)
Ben E. Hunter, a New Orleans native, is perhaps most associated with reggae music and its socially conscious messages. On Break… - The Tanglers Bluegrass Band, Backwards Burner (Independent)
How can you tell that a bluegrass band is from New Orleans? For starters, it’s a dead giveaway if they cover… - Bas Clas, In Wonderland (Serfdom)
Listen to the start of Bas Class’ new album, and you might be fooled into thinking that Elvis Costello’s started rocking… - Cha Wa, Funk ’n’ Feathers (UPT)
In 1970, Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias rocked the Mardi Gras Indian tradition when they released the 45-rpm “Handa Wanda.”… - Bicycle Jones and Stover: Song Shed, Vol. 1 (Independent)
Multi-instrumentalist Dave Stover’s had more Crescent City musical projects and sit-in sessions than you’ve had hot meals, but for this pure-country… - Roddie Romero & the Hub City All-Stars, Gulfstream (Octavia Records)
“Sounds like you guys were having fun up there”—as we all know, that’s the most backhanded compliment you can ever pay…
