Mia Borders gets the place of honor opening the Acura stage on May 2 at the Jazz Fest. Cowboy Mouth is the lone male outlier on a day featuring Amanda Shaw, Theresa Andersson, and headliner Christina Aguilera. Check her video below.
If you’ve been reading every day, you know I am psyched for the first New Orleans appearance of Os Negões of Bahia, Brazil. This group is a bloco afro. They play samba reggae, and are a parading group bearing a loose resemblance to our brass bands in function.
If you miss their stage performance at 12:50 PM on the large Congo Square stage, they will be leading a parade at 4 PM, which ends up in the intimate Casa Do Brasil. Be there!
Some friends have been begging Jazz Fest to bring back Alejandro Escovedo since his epic performance in 2008 when he channeled Iggy Pop. This will be an incredible set on the small Fais Do Do stage.
It’s funny that Christiana Aguilera is opposite Chaka Khan (pictured at top) to close the day because though the former is often derided, I’m sure she revers Khan. And who wouldn’t?
I’m not sure if Khan has played at the Jazz Fest since her epic performance in 1996 (she performed with Prince at the Essence Fest in 2004), but that set is seared in my memory.
I also quoted Jazz Fest producer/director Quint Davis in my book about her performance back then. It bears repeating, “This one’s for the judge—next time it will be the Soul and Heritage Festival.”
