After twelve years of maintaining a weekend schedule, the annual salute to the most famous New Orleanian, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, begins today starting at 11 AM. Naturally, the first event is a second line parade.
The festival also welcomes new sponsors, which in addition to allowing programming on Friday, has also helped improve the caliber of performers.
This evening is a case in point. The award-winning songwriter/ producer/ pianist and recent National Medal of Honor winner Allen Toussaint (pictured above with President Obama) is scheduled to perform at 6:30 PM.
Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon will immediately follow him. Known for his long affiliation with Wynton Marsalis and New York’s Jazz and Lincoln Center, Gordon is one of the great modern jazz players.
Another talent that has not played at Satchmo SummerFest before is patriarch Ellis Marsalis. He is scheduled to appear on Saturday at 6:45 PM. He is also known primarily as a modern jazz pianist, so his inclusion on the festival schedule, along with the aforementioned Toussaint and Gordon, represents a booking reach outside the traditional parameters of SummerFest. But no one is complaining since these are world-class artists that we get to see—free.
Saturday at 12:15 PM, the Swing Dolphins will perform. Though not yet world-class musicians, this group of youngsters hails from Japan. They appeared on a recent documentary that aired on WWL television. I can attest that based on the short performance segment that these kids can really play.
There is a full slate of performances on two stages all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at 11 AM and ending at 9 PM (8 PM on Sunday). For details click here.
