I have attended every French Quarter Festival since the first one in 1984. I have watched the event grow exponentially from its humble beginnings before the ill-fated World’s Fair. This year, they added some stages and continued the new tradition of closing Decatur Street to vehicle traffic.
I particularly enjoyed the new House of Blues stage on the same block as the club. It was there that I heard my “find of the fest.” The band had a hard act to follow as Khris Royal and Dark Matter blew the place up with their incendiary set.
But Vagabond Swing (pictured) was up to the task. The band, which hails from Lafayette, comes out strong; like a cross between Django Reinhardt and Tom Waits at the some streetwise circus. With a manic drummer, two trumpets, a mandolin and a guitarist, the group is in your face with sly energy and ace musicianship.
Another new band that I had the pleasure of checking out was Aurora Nealand’s Royal Roses. Amid a plethora of neo-trad jazz bands dotting the musical landscape, they mine the territory of Sidney Bechet with strong soprano sax and clarinet work from the leader as well as dexterous muted trumpet playing from David Boswell. A highlight was Nealand’s breathy vocal work on a song she sung in French. One note- we couldn’t hear the guitar player at all.
French Quarter Fest Observation #1– It’s obvious that there’s a new generation of talented musicians on the scene when the players that you see multiple times aren’t named Vidacovich or Torkanowsky. Sousaphonists Jon Gross and Jason Jurzak were all over the place. The drummer Paul Thibodeaux played supple modern jazz with Magnetic Ear and then held down the stool on affecting trad songs with the aforementioned Royal Roses.
Helen Gillet’s Wazozo is another group I would like to hear more of. Though the songs are traditional French tunes, they bring a New Orleans sensibility to the proceedings. The aforementioned Gross was on the gig and Nealand played accordion throughout their compelling set. They even did a Lou Reed song.
Gravity A is another band to watch. With Bru Bruser of Gov’t Magick on bass and Tim Green on sax, they just tore up the stage. This is a band that can play to a big room.
Speaking of bands that can play, the Iris May Tango reunion was completely off the hook. Legendary sousaphonist Kirk Joseph is clearly a fan. He listened raptly from the crowd while occasionally shouting out a request for their signature tune, “Hairdo.” After a few times, I had to explain to him that it’s like expecting your group, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, to play “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now” in the middle of the set.
FQF Observation #2– If the organizers of the festival don’t control the chair people, like they do at Jazz Fest and Wednesdays at the Square, they will take over. I witnessed a couple of confrontations, but more significant is the fact that the chairs take up too much space. It was nearly impossible to walk through the brass band stage area so I can’t imagine what it was like at the main stage. Speaking of which, I avoided nearly all of the sets on the main stage, just like I generally do at Jazz Fest, because of the crowds. It’s not so much that they are too big, it’s because they are not too nice.
