The spirit of New Orleans lives on at Jazzfest
May 8th, 2008 | Published in Music History, Music News, Music Reviews, Play Music
Hurricane Katrina may have laid waste to the city itself in 2005, but the spirit of the place lives on in the music. This statement was graphically realised at this year’s New Orleans Jazz Festival.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is more than just a festival. It is a wonderfully diverse musical holiday in itself. Festival-goers enjoy a highly-appetising menu of Louisiana sounds spread out over two long weekends.
Jazzfest is a veritable feast of traditional southern hospitality accompanied by the very best of local musical sounds.
The vibrant culture of New Orleans lives on
The popular music of New Orleans draws on influences that reach back into the previous century and beyond, when the city was an exciting cultural melting pot. This diverse tradition has its roots in Africa, Europe and in the American Indian community itself.
The city’s taste for marching brass bands was represented this year in the colourful parades of bands from the Mardi Gras Indians Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs that wound through the festival, often finishing at the Heritage Stage, where brass bands and Indians played full-length stomping sets.
Cajun, zydeco and rural blues
On a different stage, the music of the nearby French-speaking bayou country set toes tapping. With accordions and washboards to the fore, it presented an entertaining down-home folksy mix.
In the blues tent, the musical tilth was wide-ranging and rich. Styles on offer included the old rural blues of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the roadhouse blues-rock guitar of Kenny Wayne Sheppard and deep-throated soul from Bettye La Vette.
Gospel meets funk
In New Orleans music, traditions mingle and turn up where they choose to. In the gospel tent, songs of praise sometimes rode a tasty funk groove.
New Orleans refuses to go mainstream at Jazzfest. It helps festival-goers find Louisiana connections. Beginning his set with complex jazz tunes, saxophonist Donald Harrison ended with his band playing fierce funk behind Mardi Gras Indian chants.
At the end of the set, Harrison himself appeared in full-feathered regalia, as a chief of the Congo Nation tribe.
The heart of Jazzfest is its local musicians
Even the musical greats, headlining on the main stages, drew on the wealth of talented local musicians to embellish their performance and to give it real New Orleans resonance. Stevie Wonder invited New Orleans R ‘n’ B stalwart, Irma Thomas, onstage to sing his song “Shelter In the Rain”.
Widespread Panic brought the feathered mayhem of the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians up on stage to join them. Buffett included world-class Cajun slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, performing “USS Zydecoldsmobile” onstage. The Roots, the hip-hop group from Philadelphia, gave a performance backed by a funky live New Orleans brass band.
Only in New Orleans
New Orleans music retains its individuality. It has always been a culture apart - sometimes intersecting with the mainstream, but never being defined by it. In truth the effect is the other way round. From jazz to R ‘n’ B and funk, American culture has itself been transformed by the city’s musical contribution.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the musicians performing at Jazzfest chose not to linger over grief. Instead, they created the very best sort of New Orleans party: the kind that simultaneously defies sorrow, confirms continuity, gives new heart to locals and draws tourists back to the area.
After Katrina, the city of New Orleans may never be quite the same again. However, if this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is anything to go by, the true spirit of the place will continue to echo down the generations through its rich, varied, vibrant, life-loving music.
Find a festival in your locality
You can’t quite make it to New Orleans? Go to the Hop Till You Drop UK Gig Guide . You’ll find lots of useful information about live music gigs, musical events and festivals in your area.
