Reviews from Brett Milano and Michael Allen Zell Jazz Fest Day 7: Saturday, May 3, 2025

Cowboy Mouth
It was a good day for surprise cover tunes at the Festival Stage. First came Cowboy Mouth’s cowpunk version of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls,” which not only worked musically but punctured all the grandiosity of the original. They also played a faithful version of a song more obviously in their wheelhouse, the Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Both are on a new, all-covers album they’re releasing in the summer.

Samantha Fish
Then Samantha Fish opened her set with the king of all Detroit garage-punk songs, the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams.” That song doesn’t appear on her new Paper Doll album but it’s nonetheless her Detroit rock ’n’ roll album, recorded there with producer Bobby Harlow. And her Festival Stage set was full of full tilt rockers including “Fortune Teller”—not the Toussaint classic but something far slinkier—and “Rusty Razor,” which could pass for a track from one of those Nuggets compilations if not for its sizzling guitar solo. Fish has long made a strength (if a marketer’s nightmare) out of her refusal to stay in one place for too long. There’s no doubt that she’s enjoying her latest reinvention and she shone on guitar throughout; her current band neither has a second guitar player nor needs one.

Pearl Jam
It’s always a different experience to see a big-time arena band at Jazz Fest; more crowded and less comfortable than a typical Jazz Fest set but less regimented (and cheaper) than an arena show. Pearl Jam is in some ways a perfect fit, being the most traditional of modern rock bands: They still shuffle the setlist at every show, make a lot of off-the-cuff statements to the audience, and wouldn’t be caught dead using backing tapes. They’re all about humanizing arena rock, and the crowd was on their wavelength: As Eddie Vedder noted toward the end of the show, “We played in Florida last week, it was about three thousand people, and we had to stop the show three times because people fainted or got into fights. But I look at all of you and how good you are at taking care of each other.” (They sang this city’s praises a few other times, including a warm dedication to local hero Steve Gleason who was upfront).

They gave New Orleans a hot show despite a predictable hit-heavy setlist (only two songs came from Dark Matter, the album they’re promoting). But they seesawed nicely between frantic, punkish rockers (the opening “Corduroy” and a new protest song, “React, Respond”) and the grand, crowd pleasing singalongs “Jeremy” and “Better Man.” They also knew when it was time for cheap thrills and time to say something meaningful: For the former, there was Mike McCready playing a few incendiary guitar solos, including a behind-the-neck special on “Even Flow”. For the latter, there was Vedder addressing the audience toward set’s end, noting the “trauma and tragedy that you get to see in later life” and the need to make every day count; this led to a stirring version of “Alive”. They also got into the covers swing on the Who’s “Baba O’RIley,” though McCready telegraphed that surprise by starting the intro a few songs too soon.

Deacon John
Speaking of cover tunes, there are few better matches than Deacon John and “Deacon Blues,” the Steely Dan song about the inner life of a jazz musician. It’s sobering to think that John is currently one of the few local musicians (at least one of the few not a Dixie Cup or named Irma) who appeared on the classic New Orleans R&B records (in his case, as a go-to studio guitarist) and is still performing. But instead of featuring that material at the Blues Tent he featured the big-band vocal jazz that he favors nowadays. At 83 he still possesses a fine and flexible voice and remains dapper as

all get out. Along with the Dan tune he did a big-band rethink of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing” (and on a more somber note he dedicated another Stevie tune, “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” to Paul Batiste, one of the original Batiste Brothers who died last week). He got to rocking at set’s end, picking up his guitar for the JB Lenoir classic “Mama Talk To Your Daughter.”—Brett Milano

 

Kari Jay
Kari Jay’s music makes perfect sense by way of her focus on Diaspora Daughters and her co-founding the West2West Movement bridging Africans to those across the ocean of African descent. She kicked off the Congo Square Stage with an Afrobeats sound that was blessed with Gladney on saxophone and dancers who included Baby Doll, historian Micah Theodore. I would love to hear her sound fleshed out even more instrumentally.

Odd The Artist
Odd the Artist comes with a one-two punch of bringing it as both singer and rapper. You can hear her songwriting prowess and her deft way around a hook. She’s building a one-stop shop for every facet of music making. It’s also clear that she’s either going to the top of the underground or will strike big with a pop hit, maybe both.

Young Pinstripe Band
Wonderfully heard while walking along was the Young Pinstripe Brass Band doing Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” and Kirkland Green’s sublime vocals as Chloe Marie joined him. The latter was both a teaser to Marie’s set later in the day and a sharp jab to say do not sleep on Green. Repeat don’t sleep on Kirkland Green.

Roque Jimenez
Roque Jimenez’ grandfather, Manuel began the tradition of alebrijes wood carving in Oaxaca, Mexico, specifically the fantastical colorful creatures that we’ve seen over the past century. Jimenez travels the world with his art as Los Nahuales and was part of the Mexico Cultural Exchange focus by Jazz Fest. He said, “The alebrijes are made from the wood of the copal tree, which grows around our village. My grandfather started to do this work in 1927.” Jimenez explained that nahuales are people who have spiritual powers, known to be shamans. He further stressed, “In the 1950s, my grandfather began to make fusions between animals and humans. It can be the body of an animal with the face of a human. They have become very famous.”

BIM
Two stunning international groups featured this year at Jazz Fest were BIM (Benin International Musical) and Mexican Institute of Sound. BIM straight up rocks out and seared their sound on the souls of all who caught one of their multiple sets. The latter group, with instrumentalists in red jumpsuits, made for a joyful afternoon dance party with their catchy blend of traditional and modern.

Victor Campbell
Victor Campbell, playing his second Jazz Fest as bandleader has had a wonderful trajectory braided with talent, growth, and versatility. In fact, he’s a kaleidoscope of many colors depending on where he chooses to shine his light. For his set in the WWOZ Jazz Tent he was focused more on the jazz side of things, with a great band including Jafet Perez (percussionist) and David Navarro (trumpet), while later that night for The Last Note series at the Virgin Hotel he would put the entire room on their feet and dancing, with and band led by guest vocalist Randy Correa.

Chloe Marie
Speaking of range, Chloe Marie also wears many hats. She, along with pianist Harry Mayronne, brought an excellently nuanced Rhythmporium Stage set that was colored with classic songbook numbers like those such as “Black Coffee” and “Someone To Watch Over Me” by Sarah Vaughan and her own “Tall Lover,” which was lovingly blended into a duet with Kirkland Green. Marie and Mayronne ended with the Louisiana state song “You Are My Sunshine,” and she made sure to preface it for context. Eclipses are part of it all too, after all.

Vance Vaucresson
To finish up my Jazz Fest food day, it was necessary to let tradition call. Off to Vaucresson’s for an Alligator Sausage Po Boy. Vance Vaucresson and his 7th ward family are as New Orleans as it gets, and, as learned last year when interviewing him, also integral to the founding of Jazz Fest.

DJ Arie Spins
DJ Arie Spins has been a whirlwind for the past few years. She’s of the church, traveled the world (with P.J. Morton), and built up her in-demand name on a rock of great taste, energy, and knowing how to engage the crowd the right way. When she finished an exuberant set of Afrobeats, a bounce “Can We Talk?”, and much more by asking us all to join along with “Thank You For Being A Friend,” many in the crowd were singing directly to her.

Tems
Congo Square Stage headliner Tems is without question The Queen of Afrobeats and one of the biggest international highlights of the past year. She also was as genuine, sweet, and crowd-engaging (by focusing on individuals) as it gets. “Best food ever,” she praised of New Orleans while diehard fans and neyw ones returned her energy. This was a set with Tems staying at the front of stage to perform songs like “Burning,” an intimate “The Key,” and a powerful “Essence” (on which she’s featured with Wizkid and Justin Bieber). “Free Mind” was the song everyone was waiting for, and, of course, it was coming. The lyric, “This is the peace that you cannot buy” that begins verse 2 might be the most sung and quoted line of the past four and half years. It is poetic, powerful, and down to earth, while being fully of the times. That also explains the massive resonance of Tems’ music and why it’s both welcome and necessary in the U.S.—Michael Allen Zell