PHOTO: INGRID WILLIAMS | The Satchmo SummerFest returns to its longtime home on the grounds of the U.S. Mint this weekend. Get started early by playing hooky or heading over in the afternoon or evening as the festival kicks off tomorrow (8/4). Here are our picks for Friday. The full schedule is here.
Get started when the gates open with the Preservation Brass at 12:15 PM on the Blue Runner Red Beans and Ricely stage. Though Preservation Hall has garnered lots of press, both locally and nationally for their collaborations with musicians outside the traditional jazz genre, the organization still does trad as well as anyone. They also have a formidable brass band and that’s what you’ll be getting here. Don’t forget your dancing shoes!
Five artists are making Satchmo SummerFest debuts and at the top of my list is Quiana Lynell (pictured at top). This vocalist’s name has been popping on must-see lists for a while now and the fest will be a chance to check out her pipes out up close and personal.
Even though there are only two stages on Friday (not counting the symposium stage where you can learn about Louis Armstrong’s life and career), conflicts appear just like at Jazz Fest and other bigger fests. Case in point—trumpeters Wendell Brunious and Nicholas Payton are playing at basically the same time. However, their acts will be decidedly different. Brunious hails from a long line of traditional jazz musicians. He will present a set that embodies Armstrong’s considerable legacy.
Payton is bringing his Afro-Caribbean Mixtape outfit. This band and concept is as adventurous for a jazz musician in this day and age as Armstrong’s was when he changed the face of American music in the 1920s and 30s. Note: Payton rejects the term “jazz” and prefers to identify his music as “Black American Music.”
Ecirb Müller & Twisted Dixie is another act pushing at the externally imposed limits of jazz. Led by trumpeter Dr. Brice Miller, the group is the self-described “FUNkiest traditional jazz band.”
Finally, you can’t go wrong with either the Hot 8 Brass Band or James Andrews and the Crescent City Allstars to close the day.
Tomorrow: Weekend picks
