when i think of the term "jazz," i think of either the extremely white and stuffy pop side or i think of the pompous and aloof side. my views are probably skewed on this subject because, as my mother tells it, i was conceived the night of a barry manilow concert and i grew up in a town where jazz fest meant a guy on a synth guitar working the crowd was the highlight of the night. the bottom line here; there is a jazz stage at n.o. jazz fest, but it's 1 of 12, and it's off in the corner closest to the nearly mandatory public transportation (almost 100,000 people attend every day for 7 days over 2 weeks). this year's was the fest's 40th anniversary, and quint davis, who has produced all 40 of them, describes it best as "the world's biggest backyard bbq." he must be a humble guy b/c it also has over 400 acts ranging from bob dylan, etta james, and neil young to every zydeco and brass band in the world. and a gospel tent. and a blues tent. and it's all high quality wether it's a big act or small act. and at night, the gracious folks that live in new orleans and make you feel like family, invite all 400 of the musicians on offers they don't refuse to sit in and play in the numerous small clubs and bars around town. it's my mecca.
before i left this year i had an incredibly aggresive gantt chart on who was playing where and how to make it all happen. it was ludicrous and unrealistic, but i was prepared to offer a musical suggestion at a moments notice to my traveling companion and girlfriend, vannessa.
the first night we were there, my favorite band, the rebirth brass band, were playing at a local haunt of their's; the howlin' wolf. they were opened up by two other up and coming brass bands, so i presumed this to be the best show we'd see that week. the rebirth reinvented brass music (hence their name), have brought "parading" music to the national spotlight and are the darlings of new orleans. at one point they had the most popular song on every radio station in town; the rock station, the blues station, the jazz station, the hip hop station and the pop station. the best part is that the chart topper was the same song for every station; "do what ya wanna." they've inspired a legion of young brass bands that being a musician is a viable way of life, and it's fun to see that being manifested today. last year a close up shot of their tuba player graced the official fest poster. they routinely draw 20,000 people to their stage when they play the fest. we were going to see them with about 150 other people in a little bar where they would be more relaxed and wild. and it was a great show. at that moment, i felt that the trip had reached a musical pinnacle.
the following day was the first official day of the fest. after the previous night, most of the acts paled in comparison, with the exception of the gospel tent. and in particular a curious addition or freelance tambourine woman kept stealing our hearts and the show with her enthusiasm. dancing while playing the tambourine is an art unto itself, but dancing wildly and playing the tambourine and all day long is a feat i can't really begin to describe. perhaps some video would do better justice to rosalie washington, the woman known as "tambourine lady." that link is a nice introduction to rosalie, albeit very sanitized. here's a more authentic one of her sitting in with cowboy mouth. suffice to say, she kept up the pace all day friday, playing with whoever would let her steal the spotlight. and after watching her all day, we were exhausted and skipped the late night club scene.
saturday brought some better quality acts to the fest; rebirth bb, erykah badu, etc and we fully embraced the incredible food there. instead of normal fair grounds food, the food at the fest are token dishes from local favorite restaurants. i would proably still go and eat there even if the music was horrible. and once again, a day in the sun wondering from stage to stage and following parades around (see photog above of the little dudes from the lower 9th ward parade) wore us out. no post jazz fest clubs again.sunday was vanessa's birthday which meant she was in charge, which meant taking it easy and relaxing. we strolled jackson square and royal street listening to buskers and i fell in love with meschiya lake's voice, whose authentic 1920's stylings made me an easy target. she's a royal street regular and sings with the cyclowns and loose marbles. here she is with loose marbles at the preservation hall singing "make me a pallet on the floor." another good shot of her is "when i get low i get high," especially the close of the song. a little chaotic on the sound but the overall message comes through is again with loose marbles, who sometimes are joined by a dancing couple.
after a brief stint at jazz fest to catch just one group vanessa wanted to see, we ate at a nearby bistro and then joined a street party led by four 16 or 17 year old brass musicians that hadn't ever played a show before. this led to a great energy from their group and despite only knowing a few songs by the rebirth, they stretched them out and played as long as the hat they passed kept getting filled.
monday was recovery - it had been four days of excessive music, food, humudity, sun and walking. i geocached in the morning while vanessa slept in and we lazily strolled the quarter midday. we were scheduled to fly out at 6 am the following morning and there was one more show that night that looked interesting, so we paced ourselves.
the show was a benefit for tipitina's, a local big club that the rebirth and many other bands grew up in and continue to play. the club offers youths in the area internships and guidance, which was the focus of the benefit that night. all the local big names were on hand, and unbeknownst to me, they don't get to play together much, and were there to show each other up.
the evening started with several area local marching bands outside. it's easy to see how many kids want to grow up and be like the rebirth - the talent is apparent even in large groups. afterwards, the show went inside and the rebirth took the stage. i assumed that their set was the height of the nights entertainment, but we decided to stick around afterwards anyway.
the next group galactic has made a big name for themselves nationally although they delivered a set straight from an album and probably the weakest of the night. the group to follow surprised everyone by topping the rebirth with several local country stars led by the female version of jack white on bass, annie clements.
following clements and co the meters performed. the meters played the first jazz fest 40 years ago and invented the genre of funk. they taught me to dance and james brown how to accentuate the first beat in 4/4 time - the root of a funk rhythm. they are still on top of their game and play out frequently - usually headlining a day at the fest, too. seeing them at tip's was beyond spiritual for me and when they were done i openly wondered about and pittied the group to follow. but somehow one of the up and coming brass bands, the soul rebels, brought a latin flavor to the stage along with their horns and did just that.
to see the meters usurped was exciting to be part of, and when big sam followed by bringing out theresa anderson, i testified. theresa is about to become nationally well known, not just because she's a gimmicky one woman show (everything's looped through petals at her feet) but she has more than enough moxie and raw talent to back it up. here she is doing her thing in her kitchen, where her last album was recorded. check out her version of a bob marley cover, too. loads of talent here and absolutely stunned everyone in the room that night.
there were still two more groups to play and i already felt at peace with dieing due to the heavenly quality of live music i had seen that night when trombone shorty took the stage. he proceeded to work everyone up into a frenzy, especially when at 2:30 am he led his band off stage and into the crowd (still playing) and brought a special guest up on stage. i'll let the amatuer video i shot of it tell that part of the story.
jeez, i still cry watching that. on the ride from the club to the airport we were dumbstruck by what we had seen; of the hundreds of shows i've been to, i've never been part of a concert so incredibly joyous with as much talent intimately arranged on one stage in one night.
after the show we hung out with the tambourine lady for a bit (which i was very happy about - witness the picture). as she dug around in her car for a 8.5" x 11" glossy photograph i was buying from her, i realized her car was filled with broken tambourines. only in new orleans, only in new orleans....
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