Jazz Fest: May 2010

After spending most of Wednesday recovering from our evening at the Howlin' Wolf on Tuesday, I was grateful to awaken on Thursday feeling my old self again and ready for the continuation of Jazz Fest 2010!

The Fest does so many great things, and one of them is that they honor those who have given to the city and it's culture and passed on to their greater reward. This year, they unveiled a monument in their Ancestors exhibit to honor Blues Queen Miss Marva Wright, who tragically passed in March of this year.

Thursday started a little slow for me. After a little lunch, which was badly needed after my forced fast of the day before, I joined Bob to watch a Canadian folk-pop duo called Dala, who I must admit, were complete unknowns to me. The two singers, Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine (thus dala) perform a combination of original and cover tunes. They were a mixed bag for me. Some of the originals (Lennon McCartney for example) really fell flat. On the other hand, their original song, "Horses" was terrific, and they did a very intriguing piano based cover of Neil Young's "Ohio", fitting given the upcoming 40th anniversary of the tragic events at Kent State. All in all, not bad and it's always good to hear some new voices!

Canadian duo Dala cover CSNY's "Ohio"

This turned out to be another of those days where I ended up staying in one spot most of the day. Next at this stage was Amanda Shaw. This Covington, Louisiana native (just across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans) is known for her Cajun fiddle playing and has become a regular at the Fest despite being only 20 years old. She and her band, the largely misnamed Cute Boys, had the crowd on it's feet dancing for their hour-long set, and I must admit, I was one of them!

Amanda Shaw

Party at the Gentilly Stage

I'd really planted myself here at the Gentilly Stage to see a couple of performers doing shows that were a little out of their usual comfort zones.
The first was a Fest premier appearance by Steve Martin-------yes, that Steve Martin, the wild and crazy guy comedian of yore. Unknown to many, Martin also happens to be a very accomplished banjo player and Bluegrass afficianado. He has teamed up with an established Bluegrass band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, from Asheville, North Carolina and hit the road to feature songs from his 2010 Grammy Award winning (Best Bluegrass Album) record "The Crow: New Songs For The Five String Banjo". Like the record, his Jazz Fest set featured almost exclusively original songs penned by Martin. And while he didn't always seem completely at ease in front of this large crowd, his playing was impeccable and his band mates talent was undeniable! While most of the songs were serious (with the notable exception of "The Atheists Song and the unavoidable albeit faithfully Bluegrass version of his comedic hit song "King Tut") between song banter was vintage Martin self effacing comedy, making for a great mix of chuckles and music.

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers

The acappella "Atheists Song"

The other artist stretching out from his usual comfort zone was Britain's own Elvis Costello! Elvis has become a bit of a regular character on the New Orleans scene since he recorded the terrific "River In Reverse" album with Allen Toussaint after Hurricane Katrina. In recent years he's done performances with Toussaint and also with his recent backing band, The Imposters. He recently put together a new band consisting of a number of incredibly talented bluegrass and country players, including Dobro master Jerry Douglas (most famously from Alison Kraus' Union Station), Fiddle player Stuart Duncan, and Country singer/songwriter Jim Luaderdale. While some things worked better than others (I must admit the new material from the Sugarcanes record left me cold) there were magical moments like his version of "New Amsterdam" that morphed into the Beatles "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and a terrific transformation of the pop hit "Everyday I Write The Book" into a gorgeous bluegrass ballad. All in all it was a good way to close out day one of weekend two!!!

Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes.

Well, we made it through the first weekend and were now down to just the three of us again. In trying to figure out what to do on the off days before weekend two, being good all-American boys, a baseball game seemed in order. The New Orleans Zephyrs are the AAA franchise of the Florida Marlins and just happened to be in the midst of a home stand against the Nashville Sounds, who represent for Brewers organization. Two good music towns in battle on the ball field!!

The cab ride was a bit pricey, since we couldn't manage to figure out the bus schedule, but it was a bright sunny day--- picture perfect for a ball game. Ten bucks got us seats 2 rows back from the screen (inexplicably marked as row 4) behind home plate.

Now if only the Zephyrs had bothered showing up!!! Hector Luna, the Zephyrs 3rd baseman (a former Cleveland Indians draft pick) got the fun started when, after failing to cleanly field a bunted ball early in the game, stood and stared at the ball as the Sounds pitcher (who had 3 hits on the day) went from 1st to 3rd on the bunted ball. And it was all downhill from there for the home team, who lost the game 12-1.

Still, there were up sides, like getting to shake hands with Zephyrs mascot, Boudreaux the Nutria----yes, their mascot is a big rat!!!

And as you can see, we all left with smiles on our faces!!

That evening we ate at our hotel's free dinner buffet in an attempt to save a bit of money since our trip expanded from 5 to 11 days this year. While it was no Emeril Lagasse meal, it was perfectly passable and there was free Abita Amber too!!

We had tickets this night for a very special evening show (again at The Howlin' Wolf). The drummer for the band Little Feat, Richie Hayward, has liver cancer and is in Canada now getting treatments and hoping for a chance at a transplant. As such, given Little Feat's huge presence in New Orleans through the years, several local musicians organized a benefit concert for Richie....and oh what a night it was!! The list of players who showed up was huge and included Brian Stoltz (Neville Bros and Funky Meters guitarist), The Radiator's Dave Malone, Anders Osborne, John Gros, Sonny Landreth, The Honey Island Swamp Band, Brian Blade, and 3 members of Little Feat (Paul Barrere, Kenny Gradney, and Fred Tackett) amongst others. It was an extensive 3 1/2 hour trip thru the Feat catalog. Highlights included a terrific "Easy Money" from the Swamp Band and an otherwordly guitar solo from Anders on "Fool Yourself". Nonmusical highlihts included Dave Malone calling Richie on his cell phone in the midst of the show to share the love with him in Canada!

It was also a terrific drinking night for 3 good friends from Ohio. Much Makers Mark and Abita Amber was consumed, and while it put a bit of a damper on my activities on our last day off before weekend two, it was well worth it for the great brotherhood with my two terrific friends Bob and David!!

The following are a few pics from this marvelous evening: