The gorgeous weather we have been experiencing left town in a hurry on the opening day of Jazz Fest 48, but the hot and humid weather was mitigated by cloud cover and a gusty wind that made baseball caps the choice over straw hats. Crowds were sparse except for the two big stage headliners and lines for some hard to obtain goodies like Cochon de lait po boys were reasonable all day.

Michael Skinkus & Moyuba. Photo by Kim Welsh.

My first move was to buy the commemorative post office release from “Big Chief Monk Boudreaux Station.” Don’t know if Monk ever dreamed he’d have a post office named after him but he has now lived to see it. Monk also curates the Mardi Gras Indian performances at the Fest and he started the program by booking the Semolian Warriors to represent at the Jazz and Heritage stage. The uptown gang hit it hard with a nonstop call and response that touched on all the rituals, from “Shoo Fly” to “Big Chief.”

Over on the Gentilly stage things got started with a bang, as Alex McMurray rocked out his killer new tune “Ninth Ward Chickens” and played a set based on material from his latest, “Alex McMurray Sings His Greatest New Orleans Hits.”

Michael Skinkus and Moyuba performed a stirring invocation at the Lagniappe stage by summoning down the Vodun orishas to bless the festival. Cuba is this year’s featured guest country at the Fest and Skinkus is well versed in that country’s musical heritage. “This is Afro Cuban music,” he announced as he led his eight piece band, all dressed in white to honor the spirits, through a high energy set that had the largely female audience dancing along enthusiastically. Though the music is based in ancient traditions, it moves directly into contemporary jazz via the extraordinary playing of Martin Krusche on soprano saxophone and Brad Walker on tenor.

Once his set was finished Skinkus rushed over to the Acura stage to sit in with the New Orleans Suspects, who played one of the best sets I’ve ever heard from them. Skinkus was blazing throughout, especially during Mean Willie Green’s terrific drum break.

Meanwhile over at Economy Hall trumpeter Jamil Sharif was leading his sextet through a hot set of traditional New Orleans jazz. Clad is a sharp black and white checked jacket, Sharif had the fans clapping and second lining to “This Little Light of Mine” five minutes into his set.

I had to miss the Paul Sanchez set because I was interviewing Kim Carson over at the Alison Miner stage. I should not have been surprised when Carson volunteered that Sanchez, then with Cowboy Mouth, was one of the people who encouraged her to start writing songs when she first came to town. We’ve all benefitted from that because Carson has gone on to become one of the top local songwriters. The interview was a delight as she recounted her days working with Theresa Andersson, having Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown sit in during a gig in Slidell and recounting an observation made by Dave Malone about the differences between herself and Dolly Parton. She didn’t even have to employ the punch line to get a huge laugh. Carson played a few of her songs as well, including her first, a tune called “Where’s the Jukebox?” written on napkins at the Saturn bar, and her great song about a dog named “Buddy Johnson.” Carson later played with her full band the Lagniappe stage, bringing out some of the songs she talked about during the interview.

Jake Eckert and Reggie Scanlan of the New Orleans Suspects.

Check out Kim Welsh and Willow Haley’s photos from the first day of Jazz Fest 2017 here.