JAZZ FEST 2007
Well, better late than never I suppose. Last year I did a great job of writing about the fest each day, as it happened, but this time---partially due to computer issues and partly due to pure sloth, I didn’t get it done.
So, I decided to approach it a bit differently and insert some photos I took to at least partially illustrate my text. This was my first time in 15 years to take a camera and I must admit that it was a lot of fun to document some of the things I saw. I regret not having the camera with me on numerous occasions (e.g.: the night shows), but that’s life!
So, that said, let’s get started!
We actually arrived on Wednesday before the 2nd weekend. When we made our reservations we just didn’t know if they’d go back to a 4 day 2nd weekend, so we erred on the side of having a room, and when it was decided to leave it at 3 days, the temptation of an extra day in the city was too good to give up.
It was encouraging to note that as we flew into Louis Armstrong International, there were far fewer blue tarps noticeable from the air-the first of what I hoped would be good signs of progress towards renewal and reconstruction.
We arrived to a typical beautiful although humid summer day and, given it was near lunchtime, we made our way over to Mothers, which seems to have become our traditional first meal. For those not familiar, Mother’s is a cafeteria style restaurant that always has long lines waiting to get inside for this delicious fare.
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Above is a pic of my friend Bob Bernard (an 18-year vet of Jazz Fest) holding the Mother’s menu.
They specialize in Po’ Boys, but I just have trouble deciding and always end up with the enormous combo platter:
That’s jambalaya up front, crawfish etoufee to the left, and red beans and rice to the right. Somewhere in the midst of it all is a dollop of delicious potato salad (for God’s sake, NEVER say you don’t want any!!!). In the background is a side of greens, a loaf of French bread, and of course, an Abita Amber to wash it down with. THE TRIP HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!
Following lunch we took in some much needed exercise by traipsing through the quarter (much to my chagrin, in shoes that were not meant for this, resulting in sore feet for the rest of the trip). Our excursion into the French Quarter was highlighted by the discovery that a favorite artisan of David’s, Oscar Of New Orleans, was back in town. Oscar makes handcrafted jewelry (pins and earrings) that have been great gifts for many years. Last year we were all worried and heartbroken to find that Oscar was not in New Orleans post-Katrina. As it turns out, he has relocated in Georgia and is doing fine and was back for the fest this year. Here’s hoping he’s able to come back home for good soon!
I took my first pic of Jackson Square with the beautiful St Louis Cathedral in the background, but I think my pic of the backyard, as it were, of the cathedral is an even better pic for here:
Note the sliver of blue tarp on the roof in the far righthand corner! .JPG)
I also like this picture of a couple of mimes (chatting) in the Square.
That evening we had another wonderful meal at NOLA, Chef Emeril Lagasse’s place in the Quarter. It never fails to delight and this night was no exception. The sweet potato cheesecake was the perfect end to an exquisite meal!!
We made our way from dinner that night over to the Hotel Monteleone on Royal. It had been our homebase for many years in the early days and it’s Carousel Bar remains a favorite watering hole. This year, for the first time, the hotel was hosting nighttime shows in the lounge of the bar. Now, if you’ve never been there, this is a very small venue, and they were hosting some pretty big names! Our night, we were delighted to see the one and only Jon Cleary play the bar’s piano for an overflowing crowd (yes, we lucked out and got a great seat). He was just fantastic, rollicking through a set that ran the gamut from Professor Longhair to Little Willie John, to Fats Domino. The man has to have the fastest right hand I’ve ever heard play a piano!!
Day 2 brought another lovely and leisurely day of exploration. We took advantage of the extra day to check out the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. I’d strongly encourage a visit if you have some time. Their permanent collection is worth the trip alone, and was augmented during our visit by a display of Hal Leonard’s jazz photography and a display of photos of Southern Writers. The museum and art districts really looked great. There seemed to be a lot of people and a lot of construction in the area. Looked like a fair number of condominiums were being built and the museums and galleries really seemed to be doing well. It was great to see!
We also wandered over to Thoupitoulis, where we had dinner reservations for a new place called Cochon that night. Turned out to be quite good (and very busy, with a seemingly steady stream of taxis dropping off diners). The focus is on Southern cuisine and my Cochon (pork) with cracklin’s certainly fit the bill.
After dinner we walked up to the Harrah’s hotel which is the home of a new Jazz club called The 528 Club. It just so happened that my dear friend, Leah Chase, was performing there that night as a warmup for her Saturday Fest gig. It was really great to see her in such an intimate setting, but she had a little surprise planned for us for Jazz Fest, so she threw us out after her first set so she could rehearse it. Before that though, we had a special treat when Harry Shearer showed up to catch her set. Apparently Leah and Harry are old friends and he stopped by to say hello. It was a real delight to get to sit down and chat with him for a few minutes. He’s a true friend to New Orleans and, as such, a fine fellow from my point of view!!
Me, Leah, and Harry Shearer at Club 528 at Harrah’s Hotel.
And so, the actually Fest itself was about to begin Friday morning. But, of course, the God’s decided to have something to say about that!!!!
Texas had been experiencing some pretty severe storms the whole time we’d been down, but they always seemed to veer north before getting to the Crescent City. That was about to change.
As we gathered our things together to set off for Friday’s opening day of Weekend 2, David brought us all rain ponchos to ward off the predicted severe weather that was rapidly descending upon us. Unfortunately, it turns out David is no Marie Laveau!!! It was to be a very wet first day!!
Still, off we went despite the forecasts!
I had a truly special treat this year in that I met up on Friday with one of my old Med School classmates, Gene Arrington, and his wife Nancy. I hadn’t seen Gene and Nancy since we graduated some 22 years ago, despite the fact that Gene and I had been pretty tight during school---mainly because of our mutual love of all things musical! As it turns out, he and Nan have been going to Jazz Fest for the last 5 years, but we never thought to ask the other about it. Anyway, better late than never, and it was great to be able to hook up with them early on Friday, shortly after downing my first Quail, Pheasant and Andouille Gumbo of the fest:
HEAVEN!!!!!!
The three of us (Gene, Nancy, and I) decided to start things off over at the Gentilly Stage, where a young local band, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, were kicking things off. It was already looking very bad and a few sprinkles were coming down as we settled in towards the back of the crowd. But, we all had our rain ponchos on and our umbrellas in hand so no big deal…………..until the truly Biblical hellfire and brimstone rains began. Before we could even begin to make a run for the grandstands cover, the clouds burst in one of the heaviest rainstorms I’ve ever witnessed (later reports said it was raining at a rate of something like 6 inches per hour). We finally ducked under a tent covering some of the concrete bleachers of the grandstand, where the food demonstrations are held, but not before every square inch of our bodies was thoroughly soaked---and I mean EVERY square inch, including shoes, socks, and underwear!!!
Gene, Nancy and I-----just a bit soggy (but happy!!!).
Just take a look at the water pouring off the grandstand!!
At this point, it really didn’t matter any longer how much it rained----we couldn’t possibly be any wetter than we were, so when things slowed down a bit we ventured out anyway. We all really had our hearts on seeing Chuck Leavell fronting Randall Bramblett’s band so we waded over to the Acura stage where a few other diehards were holding out hope for a miracle turn of the weather.
Here are some photos as we stood waiting:
.JPG)
Members of the band wondering if they’d get to play today. .JPG)
A very wet David Strait arrives on the scene!!
A Panoramic view of the flooded field in front of the Acura Stage.
Fess watching over us all and driving the rain away!!
.JPG)
And finally, the clouds break and Leavell et al start their set----only about 1 ½ hours late!!
It was truly amazing that anyone played that afternoon, but there they were, and despite a shortened set, it was great to see this “Sea Level” reunion take place!!
After this rousing set, I parted ways for the day with the Arrington’s and joined up with David Strait at the Lagniappe Stage to catch Harry Shearer’s wife, Judith Owen, in her Jazz Fest debut. This is really a lovely little stage. It sits nestled behind (actually in the center of) the Grandstand and is surrounded by gardens. I was able to find a cozy (and dry) spot to take off and wring out my soggy shoes and socks and enjoy her show……..and an odd one it was. The Welsh (as she is) turn out to have very “Pythonesque” senses of humor so there were nearly as many laughs as songs. She actually started off with a great version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”, accompanied only by herself on piano. She was later joined by a bass player and then by local singer Philip Manuel (see photo). It was a very enjoyable set and a great few minutes off my watery dogs, whch were in grave danger of developing trenchfoot!!
Judith Owen and Philip Manuel.
From there, Dave and I went over to the Gentilly stage and caught several songs in the Counting Crows set before boarding the buses home for the day.
Counting Crows on the Gentilly Stage.
Here are a few photos from “the rain day”:
.JPG)
This little guy didn’t mind the rain at all!!
.JPG)
These girls were prepared (and fashion-coordinated).
Dave and Bob relaxing after an exhausting and wet day (it’s quite possible they’d had a sip or two of Wild Turkey by the time this pic was taken).
Well, better late than never I suppose. Last year I did a great job of writing about the fest each day, as it happened, but this time---partially due to computer issues and partly due to pure sloth, I didn’t get it done.
So, I decided to approach it a bit differently and insert some photos I took to at least partially illustrate my text. This was my first time in 15 years to take a camera and I must admit that it was a lot of fun to document some of the things I saw. I regret not having the camera with me on numerous occasions (e.g.: the night shows), but that’s life!
So, that said, let’s get started!
We actually arrived on Wednesday before the 2nd weekend. When we made our reservations we just didn’t know if they’d go back to a 4 day 2nd weekend, so we erred on the side of having a room, and when it was decided to leave it at 3 days, the temptation of an extra day in the city was too good to give up.
It was encouraging to note that as we flew into Louis Armstrong International, there were far fewer blue tarps noticeable from the air-the first of what I hoped would be good signs of progress towards renewal and reconstruction.
We arrived to a typical beautiful although humid summer day and, given it was near lunchtime, we made our way over to Mothers, which seems to have become our traditional first meal. For those not familiar, Mother’s is a cafeteria style restaurant that always has long lines waiting to get inside for this delicious fare.
Above is a pic of my friend Bob Bernard (an 18-year vet of Jazz Fest) holding the Mother’s menu.They specialize in Po’ Boys, but I just have trouble deciding and always end up with the enormous combo platter:
That’s jambalaya up front, crawfish etoufee to the left, and red beans and rice to the right. Somewhere in the midst of it all is a dollop of delicious potato salad (for God’s sake, NEVER say you don’t want any!!!). In the background is a side of greens, a loaf of French bread, and of course, an Abita Amber to wash it down with. THE TRIP HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!Following lunch we took in some much needed exercise by traipsing through the quarter (much to my chagrin, in shoes that were not meant for this, resulting in sore feet for the rest of the trip). Our excursion into the French Quarter was highlighted by the discovery that a favorite artisan of David’s, Oscar Of New Orleans, was back in town. Oscar makes handcrafted jewelry (pins and earrings) that have been great gifts for many years. Last year we were all worried and heartbroken to find that Oscar was not in New Orleans post-Katrina. As it turns out, he has relocated in Georgia and is doing fine and was back for the fest this year. Here’s hoping he’s able to come back home for good soon!
I took my first pic of Jackson Square with the beautiful St Louis Cathedral in the background, but I think my pic of the backyard, as it were, of the cathedral is an even better pic for here:
Note the sliver of blue tarp on the roof in the far righthand corner! I also like this picture of a couple of mimes (chatting) in the Square.That evening we had another wonderful meal at NOLA, Chef Emeril Lagasse’s place in the Quarter. It never fails to delight and this night was no exception. The sweet potato cheesecake was the perfect end to an exquisite meal!!
We made our way from dinner that night over to the Hotel Monteleone on Royal. It had been our homebase for many years in the early days and it’s Carousel Bar remains a favorite watering hole. This year, for the first time, the hotel was hosting nighttime shows in the lounge of the bar. Now, if you’ve never been there, this is a very small venue, and they were hosting some pretty big names! Our night, we were delighted to see the one and only Jon Cleary play the bar’s piano for an overflowing crowd (yes, we lucked out and got a great seat). He was just fantastic, rollicking through a set that ran the gamut from Professor Longhair to Little Willie John, to Fats Domino. The man has to have the fastest right hand I’ve ever heard play a piano!!
Day 2 brought another lovely and leisurely day of exploration. We took advantage of the extra day to check out the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. I’d strongly encourage a visit if you have some time. Their permanent collection is worth the trip alone, and was augmented during our visit by a display of Hal Leonard’s jazz photography and a display of photos of Southern Writers. The museum and art districts really looked great. There seemed to be a lot of people and a lot of construction in the area. Looked like a fair number of condominiums were being built and the museums and galleries really seemed to be doing well. It was great to see!
We also wandered over to Thoupitoulis, where we had dinner reservations for a new place called Cochon that night. Turned out to be quite good (and very busy, with a seemingly steady stream of taxis dropping off diners). The focus is on Southern cuisine and my Cochon (pork) with cracklin’s certainly fit the bill.
After dinner we walked up to the Harrah’s hotel which is the home of a new Jazz club called The 528 Club. It just so happened that my dear friend, Leah Chase, was performing there that night as a warmup for her Saturday Fest gig. It was really great to see her in such an intimate setting, but she had a little surprise planned for us for Jazz Fest, so she threw us out after her first set so she could rehearse it. Before that though, we had a special treat when Harry Shearer showed up to catch her set. Apparently Leah and Harry are old friends and he stopped by to say hello. It was a real delight to get to sit down and chat with him for a few minutes. He’s a true friend to New Orleans and, as such, a fine fellow from my point of view!!
Me, Leah, and Harry Shearer at Club 528 at Harrah’s Hotel.And so, the actually Fest itself was about to begin Friday morning. But, of course, the God’s decided to have something to say about that!!!!
Texas had been experiencing some pretty severe storms the whole time we’d been down, but they always seemed to veer north before getting to the Crescent City. That was about to change.
As we gathered our things together to set off for Friday’s opening day of Weekend 2, David brought us all rain ponchos to ward off the predicted severe weather that was rapidly descending upon us. Unfortunately, it turns out David is no Marie Laveau!!! It was to be a very wet first day!!
Still, off we went despite the forecasts!
I had a truly special treat this year in that I met up on Friday with one of my old Med School classmates, Gene Arrington, and his wife Nancy. I hadn’t seen Gene and Nancy since we graduated some 22 years ago, despite the fact that Gene and I had been pretty tight during school---mainly because of our mutual love of all things musical! As it turns out, he and Nan have been going to Jazz Fest for the last 5 years, but we never thought to ask the other about it. Anyway, better late than never, and it was great to be able to hook up with them early on Friday, shortly after downing my first Quail, Pheasant and Andouille Gumbo of the fest:
HEAVEN!!!!!!The three of us (Gene, Nancy, and I) decided to start things off over at the Gentilly Stage, where a young local band, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, were kicking things off. It was already looking very bad and a few sprinkles were coming down as we settled in towards the back of the crowd. But, we all had our rain ponchos on and our umbrellas in hand so no big deal…………..until the truly Biblical hellfire and brimstone rains began. Before we could even begin to make a run for the grandstands cover, the clouds burst in one of the heaviest rainstorms I’ve ever witnessed (later reports said it was raining at a rate of something like 6 inches per hour). We finally ducked under a tent covering some of the concrete bleachers of the grandstand, where the food demonstrations are held, but not before every square inch of our bodies was thoroughly soaked---and I mean EVERY square inch, including shoes, socks, and underwear!!!
Gene, Nancy and I-----just a bit soggy (but happy!!!). Just take a look at the water pouring off the grandstand!!At this point, it really didn’t matter any longer how much it rained----we couldn’t possibly be any wetter than we were, so when things slowed down a bit we ventured out anyway. We all really had our hearts on seeing Chuck Leavell fronting Randall Bramblett’s band so we waded over to the Acura stage where a few other diehards were holding out hope for a miracle turn of the weather.
Here are some photos as we stood waiting:
Members of the band wondering if they’d get to play today. A very wet David Strait arrives on the scene!! A Panoramic view of the flooded field in front of the Acura Stage. Fess watching over us all and driving the rain away!!And finally, the clouds break and Leavell et al start their set----only about 1 ½ hours late!!It was truly amazing that anyone played that afternoon, but there they were, and despite a shortened set, it was great to see this “Sea Level” reunion take place!!
After this rousing set, I parted ways for the day with the Arrington’s and joined up with David Strait at the Lagniappe Stage to catch Harry Shearer’s wife, Judith Owen, in her Jazz Fest debut. This is really a lovely little stage. It sits nestled behind (actually in the center of) the Grandstand and is surrounded by gardens. I was able to find a cozy (and dry) spot to take off and wring out my soggy shoes and socks and enjoy her show……..and an odd one it was. The Welsh (as she is) turn out to have very “Pythonesque” senses of humor so there were nearly as many laughs as songs. She actually started off with a great version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”, accompanied only by herself on piano. She was later joined by a bass player and then by local singer Philip Manuel (see photo). It was a very enjoyable set and a great few minutes off my watery dogs, whch were in grave danger of developing trenchfoot!!
Judith Owen and Philip Manuel.From there, Dave and I went over to the Gentilly stage and caught several songs in the Counting Crows set before boarding the buses home for the day.
Counting Crows on the Gentilly Stage.Here are a few photos from “the rain day”:
This little guy didn’t mind the rain at all!! These girls were prepared (and fashion-coordinated).Dave and Bob relaxing after an exhausting and wet day (it’s quite possible they’d had a sip or two of Wild Turkey by the time this pic was taken). (To Be Continued)
3 comments:
I love the pics, I have to go! What is this free Abita that I read about? If I would have known this I would have skipped baseball and made the trip for that alone.
Greg, I'm envious, since I had not enough money and just enough work to screw my fest up this year. However I went to Florida and Mexico during the winter, so I guess you gotta' work some time. Sorry about the rain.
I wore my 2005 shirt all day today.
Arnett
Hi Greg,
Laurie sent me the link. I'm envious, as I love anything that even smells of "live music". And of course, it doesn't get any more real or more "live" than the Jazz fest. I miss your musical interpretations, and having you around to turn me on to all the music...I've enjoyed reading your renditions here. It's great to see you, even if it's on a blog. Hope all is well with you. Nathan graduates in 3 weeks. I'm about to join the "parent of adult child" ranks!
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