PHOTO: DEREK BRIDGES | Friday at the French Quarter Festival finds the annual free festival, which started in 1984 as an attempt to get locals back into the historic district, opening up a bunch more stages before the weekend. Much of the musical action moves to the downtown end of the French Quarter on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the old U.S. Mint. Here are our picks for Friday. The full schedule is here.
Choices abound before noon. Jackson Square features the great New Orleans singer John Boutte. The Tropical Isle Hand Grenade stage hosts a new Mardi Gras Indian tribe on the scene, the Nation of Gumbolia, and singer/songwriter Alex McMurray (pictured) is on the Jack Daniels stage.
At 2:15 PM, a special treat for brass band fans is in order when the New Orleans Nightcrawlers reconvene. The band features some of the best horn players in the city. Most of the musicians are so in demand with their main gigs that performances by the Nightcrawlers are relatively rare. Expect a tribute to the dearly departed sax man Eric Traub, who was a founding member of the band.
At the same time, on the uptown edge of the festival, another group that doesn’t play around town all that often hits on the GE stage by the Aquarium of the Americas. The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars are a hoot to see live. They play eastern European music with a decidedly jazzy touch and New Orleans rhythms to boot. Accordion player and founding member Glenn Hartman is living back in town after years of west coast “exile” so expect some high-energy music and a hora-dancing crowd.
Of special note is an expanded mission for the Chevron stage, located at the Bienville Triangle (that spit of land where Decatur Street and N. Peters Street split in the upper French Quarter). Under the new leadership of Emily Madero, the festival is booking bands outside of the usual Cajun and zydeco genres at that great spot. None other than George Porter, Jr. and the Runnin’ Pardners inaugurate the new, more inclusive focus and close out Friday night’s schedule with a funk bomb.
Tomorrow, our weekend picks!
