Perhaps it’s the summer doldrums or maybe the novelty of a festival dedicated to Louis Armstrong has worn off, but there were definitely a lot less people out on Frenchmen Street for the Club Strut on Friday night and at the Mint on Saturday and Sunday. However, I still heard some great music.
Here are some of my highlights.
Kenneth Terry, the irrepressible front man for the Tremé Brass Band, was in fine form when the band hit the stage on Saturday afternoon. Julius “Jap” McKee channeled the late, great Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen as he was playing an actual tuba rather than his usual sousaphone.
There was a moment of sadness during their set when Terry announced that the next two songs were dedicated to Collins “Coach” Lewis, a Mardi Gras Indian percussionist, who passed away early that morning. They played “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” and “I’ll Fly Away.”
The pianist Tom McDermott and the trumpeter Kevin Clark teamed up to present the music of Armstrong’s early years. They are a great pair of musicians and the songs they played were not the same, old, same old that sometimes make for too much repetition at Satchmo SummerFest.
Will Smith and the New Orleans Jass Cats was sheer musical pleasure. He had Ernie Elly on drums, Jeffery Hills on sousaphone, Corey Henry on trombone and Mari Watanabe on piano. Since I mostly see Henry blowing hot with Galactic and the Rebirth Brass Band these days, I sometimes forget what a great trad player he is. Elly is a musical genius and a true legend. He barely broke a sweat as he added marvelous accents to every tune.
I started the day on Sunday with the second line parade from Tremé to the festival site in the French Quarter. They had three brass bands—the Tremé, the Baby Boyz and the TBC. We mostly followed the Baby Boyz and I can tell you without a doubt, they are not kids anymore.
Finally, a note on the large tents that the organizers added this year at the two stages. A story in Sunday’s Times-Picayune quoted a couple of festival goers about how wonderful it is to have shade at the Satchmo SummerFest and I don’t argue that point. However, when everyone stays seated in their folding chairs, the result is a scene that resembles any festival, anywhere else in America. This is New Orleans. We dance.
If you need more proof, look closely at the above photo of Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers closing out the festival on Sunday. Can you be sure that it was actually taken in New Orleans?
My suggestion is to make the tents chair-free zones. That way more people can enjoy the music and if folks want to get up and shake it, they will not be pressured to sit down by others who have decided to settle into one spot as if they were at a picnic. Jazz was originally dance music and New Orleans is one of the last places left where people still dance at festivals. Let’s keep it that way.
