Post by Edith Grove on Mar 6th, 2010 at 6:48pm
Jazzed . . . and a little jittery . . . about New Orleans' Jazzfest
New Orleans' own Neville Brothers will be at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2, the same day that B.B. King performs.
By Helen Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 12:18 p.m. Saturday, March 6, 2010
I'm planning to go to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival next month, and I say that with great anticipatory thrill. And dread.
At this moment, while we're girding our loins in Austin for this month's South by Southwest onslaught, how can we possibly contemplate plunging into yet another soup of maniacal music mobs and long food lines?
Ah, but it's Jazzfest — full name this year: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell, running the weekends of April 23-25 and April 29-May 2. The annual gathering of jazz and blues greats, with a sprinkling of other genres, convenes in a city that percolates music every day of its life. The setting is as much a lure as the music.
The lineup, as always, is formidable. Aretha Franklin and B.B. King will be holding forth amid rockers like Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket and Widespread Panic. Add Anita Baker, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, the Allman Brothers Band and the city's favorite sons, the Neville Brothers. Throw in Jeff Beck, Irma Thomas, the Gipsy Kings, the Black Crowes, Jonny Lang, Jose Feliciano, Band of Horses, Baaba Maal, Simon & Garfunkel, Levon Helm, Juan Luis Guerra and — what's this? — the Imagination Movers, the grinning, problem-solving band from the Disney Channel? Yup. Turns out the tot-rockers are from New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed three of their homes. This will be their first Jazzfest gig.
Tony Bennett won't be there to sing this year, by the way, but he'll be there as a poster artist. He painted the official Jazzfest poster, featuring his friend the late Louis Prima, a New Orleans native.
The lineup goes on and on and can be perused at www.nojazzfest.com. Let's talk a little about how to get the most out of Jazzfest without letting the event — which one of my friends refers to as "the full chaos" — beat you down. The key, all Jazzfest veterans say, is not to overdo.
In fact, the aforementioned friend attends just one day of Jazzfest a year, jetting into New Orleans on Sunday morning and back out Sunday evening. That way, he can give himself over to the event like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't.
I'm doing just one day of Jazzfest, too, but it's because of money. I don't mind the $53-per-day cost of the fest (that's the rate ordered off the Web site, including the booking fee), but because I wasn't among the smart folks who booked a year ago, I couldn't find a hotel room for less than $200 on either Jazzfest weekend that was anywhere near the bus pickup stop on Canal Street in front of the Sheraton. (Jazzfest is at Fair Grounds Race Course in a residential part of the city; there's really nowhere to park. Gray Line Tours' $16 round-trip shuttle is the way to go.)
So, my husband and I decided we could pony up $189 (tax and parking will take it to about $235) for one Friday night, April 23, at the Ramada Plaza Inn on Bourbon Street (541 Bourbon St.), arriving a couple of nights earlier, when it's cheaper ($139), to hang out in the French Quarter before the madness begins.
We'll be ready to get up and out early for the first day of Jazzfest, armed with the allowed one bottle of water apiece to get a jump-start on hydration. We'll also be ready to hit the food lines long before the midday crunch.
Jazzfest food isn't your typical festival food. You won't find any pizza or gloppy nachos. What you will find is real Louisiana food: jambalaya, gumbo, seafood, red beans and rice, cafe au lait and beignets. Eating your way through Jazzfest is an art in itself, and those who are dedicated to this art start early — no later than 11. After that, the lines can get horrifically long. Try a muffuletta from Di Martino's or the pheasant-quail-andouille gumbo from Prejean's.
Make your plans now if you plan to go to Jazzfest (because you're already late), and remember: Eat early, stay hydrated, wear comfy clothes and get ready to roll with the crowd. I'll be in that mob, somewhere, crawdad in hand. As my Louisiana-born cousin Steve likes to say, we gon' have us a time.
[email protected]; 912-2590
http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/jazzed-and-a-little-jittery-about-new-orleans-324974.html
New Orleans' own Neville Brothers will be at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2, the same day that B.B. King performs.
By Helen Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 12:18 p.m. Saturday, March 6, 2010
I'm planning to go to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival next month, and I say that with great anticipatory thrill. And dread.
At this moment, while we're girding our loins in Austin for this month's South by Southwest onslaught, how can we possibly contemplate plunging into yet another soup of maniacal music mobs and long food lines?
Ah, but it's Jazzfest — full name this year: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell, running the weekends of April 23-25 and April 29-May 2. The annual gathering of jazz and blues greats, with a sprinkling of other genres, convenes in a city that percolates music every day of its life. The setting is as much a lure as the music.
The lineup, as always, is formidable. Aretha Franklin and B.B. King will be holding forth amid rockers like Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket and Widespread Panic. Add Anita Baker, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, the Allman Brothers Band and the city's favorite sons, the Neville Brothers. Throw in Jeff Beck, Irma Thomas, the Gipsy Kings, the Black Crowes, Jonny Lang, Jose Feliciano, Band of Horses, Baaba Maal, Simon & Garfunkel, Levon Helm, Juan Luis Guerra and — what's this? — the Imagination Movers, the grinning, problem-solving band from the Disney Channel? Yup. Turns out the tot-rockers are from New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed three of their homes. This will be their first Jazzfest gig.
Tony Bennett won't be there to sing this year, by the way, but he'll be there as a poster artist. He painted the official Jazzfest poster, featuring his friend the late Louis Prima, a New Orleans native.
The lineup goes on and on and can be perused at www.nojazzfest.com. Let's talk a little about how to get the most out of Jazzfest without letting the event — which one of my friends refers to as "the full chaos" — beat you down. The key, all Jazzfest veterans say, is not to overdo.
In fact, the aforementioned friend attends just one day of Jazzfest a year, jetting into New Orleans on Sunday morning and back out Sunday evening. That way, he can give himself over to the event like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't.
I'm doing just one day of Jazzfest, too, but it's because of money. I don't mind the $53-per-day cost of the fest (that's the rate ordered off the Web site, including the booking fee), but because I wasn't among the smart folks who booked a year ago, I couldn't find a hotel room for less than $200 on either Jazzfest weekend that was anywhere near the bus pickup stop on Canal Street in front of the Sheraton. (Jazzfest is at Fair Grounds Race Course in a residential part of the city; there's really nowhere to park. Gray Line Tours' $16 round-trip shuttle is the way to go.)
So, my husband and I decided we could pony up $189 (tax and parking will take it to about $235) for one Friday night, April 23, at the Ramada Plaza Inn on Bourbon Street (541 Bourbon St.), arriving a couple of nights earlier, when it's cheaper ($139), to hang out in the French Quarter before the madness begins.
We'll be ready to get up and out early for the first day of Jazzfest, armed with the allowed one bottle of water apiece to get a jump-start on hydration. We'll also be ready to hit the food lines long before the midday crunch.
Jazzfest food isn't your typical festival food. You won't find any pizza or gloppy nachos. What you will find is real Louisiana food: jambalaya, gumbo, seafood, red beans and rice, cafe au lait and beignets. Eating your way through Jazzfest is an art in itself, and those who are dedicated to this art start early — no later than 11. After that, the lines can get horrifically long. Try a muffuletta from Di Martino's or the pheasant-quail-andouille gumbo from Prejean's.
Make your plans now if you plan to go to Jazzfest (because you're already late), and remember: Eat early, stay hydrated, wear comfy clothes and get ready to roll with the crowd. I'll be in that mob, somewhere, crawdad in hand. As my Louisiana-born cousin Steve likes to say, we gon' have us a time.
[email protected]; 912-2590
http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/jazzed-and-a-little-jittery-about-new-orleans-324974.html
