PHOTOS: EDDY GUTIERREZ | The first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell began with a slight threat of rain and thunderstorms for Friday afternoon. None materialized and festers celebrated the annual event for three full days with picture-perfect, springtime-in-New Orleans weather. There were highlights galore. Here are some of the most exciting moments to my ears.
On Friday, Janelle Monae (pictured at top) dedicated her whole set to Prince, the music icon who unexpectedly passed away a day earlier. He was an early supporter of her soulful, funky style, a mentor and collaborator. Her passion and pain were evident throughout a triumphant set that saw her cover James Brown, the Jackson Five, and of course, Prince amid sometimes scorching versions of her own vibrant compositions.
Tributes to Prince came from some expected and unexpected places over the course of the weekend. A sky writer wrote “Prince 1999” and the glyph that replaced his name during a protracted contract battle with his label in the clear blue sky. Some of his fans were blatant about it including J Cole (pictured above). Others were more subtle acknowledging his role without overtly performing his music.
Nigel Hall (pictured below) has been a well-known sideman for at least a decade in certain musical circles, but since relocating to New Orleans, he has become a local favorite as a leader with a strong debut album.
He performs in various configurations, but on Saturday morning he brought a huge band with “two of everything” including two drummers, Jamison Ross and Alvin Ford, Jr.
He also had Weedie Braimah on percussion. Thoroughly poised on stage and leading the band through its paces, he occasionally left the keyboard duties to his second and sang emotionally on the edge of the stage.
The New Orleans Suspects have a new album coming out and a new bassist coming on board after Jazz Fest. Longtime bassist and veteran New Orleans musician Reggie Scanlan is retiring after 40 years on the road. He has been feted with articles and acknowledgments of his long tenure on the scene—33-plus years with the Radiators as well as stints with giants like Professor Longhair and James Booker as well as lesser known players like the late great bluesman Boogie Bill Webb. He leaves the band he founded in the capable hands of ace players like guitarist Jake Eckert (pictured below).
Musicians like Leyla McCalla and Rhiannon Giddens are celebrating African-American string traditions with historical study and by exposing the deep connections between the African diaspora and Creole cultures. Former bandmates in the Carolina Chocolate Drops and women possessing strong voices and instrumental chops to spare, they were booked on the same day.
Giddens set was standing-room-only packed and her big band, complete with two guitars, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, and drums brought down the house multiple times. But it was her huge, minutely controlled voice augmented with all manner of whoops, hoots, yodels, and octave changes that had the normally staid Blues Tent crowd up on their feet after nearly every song.
McCalla (pictured below) played her set on the much more sedate and considerably smaller Lagniappe stage. There wasn’t an empty chair in the house and barely a space on the edges to find a standing spot. She delivered a perfect set with minimal accompaniment playing both cello and banjo, introducing the songs and singing her heartfelt tunes. The intimate setting was hushed between songs and rapt while they were playing.
The Jazz Fest experimented this year with some changes to support the growth of the fest. The new bleachers at the Acura and Congo Square stages worked as planned and overflow crowds were only a problem on Saturday. The expanded standing room only areas made dancers feel more welcome amid the sea of chairs. Some other changes might be welcome as well.
Perhaps turning the grassy area in the front of Lagniappe stage into a dance floor would add to the ambiance especially for acts that practically beg for audience participation beyond polite clapping. I suspect the young band Motel Radio would have played with much more energy if their young fans had more space to groove. That wasn’t an issue for the considerably older fans of Ed Volker who turned the space into an impromptu dance floor anyway.
Check back with us all week for our picks for Jazz Fest’s second weekend.
