The spirited sound of brass bands, the enticing smell of crawfish bread and the colorful sight of arts and crafts from around the world meant one thing last weekend: Jazz Fest had arrived.
Massive crowds and picture perfect weather welcomed the first weekend of the 37th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
For lovers of New Orleans’ food and music, this weekend was paradise.
“When I die, I want to go to Jazz Fest,” said Jim Kimsey, a musician from Indianapolis. “There’s music everywhere I look, food that I can’t stop eating, people who are so nice – it’s unbelievable. I can’t not have a good time here.”
Kimsey said the food at Jazz Fest is like nothing he can find at home.
“It’s like I was meant to eat this stuff,” Kimsey said as he ate a spoonful of crawfish pasta. “I love spicy food. Growing up, we had a little bit of salt and pepper, and that was about it. It was not like this stuff.”
In addition to the popular food vendors selling authentic New Orleans food, there were arts and crafts vendors from all over the world selling clothes, instruments and other native goods.
“About 75 percent of our clothes are from Egypt, and the rest are from Morocco,” said Khaled Hegazzi, owner of Pharaoh’s Cave, a store in the French Quarter that sells authentic African clothing.
Friday’s festivities began with a jazz funeral for the late CBS newsman Ed Bradley. Bradley, a Jazz Fest enthusiast, died in November. According to the Times-Picayune Web site, Bradley’s widow, Patricia Blanchet, said Bradley wanted to have a New Orleans brass band when he died.
Newly married couple Tony Hernandez and Tori Purcell attended Jazz Fest to celebrate a happier occasion.
“We just got married, and this is our honeymoon,” Purcell said. “I’ve always wanted to come. [Tony] just got to the country – he’s a musician from Havana – and I knew that he would love this.”
Notable performers this weekend included local acts such as Trombone Shorty and Dr. John as well as national stars such as Rod Stewart and Ludacris.
Donned in a lavender suit, New Orleans legend Dr. John began the show by complimenting the people of New Orleans.
“All you who are from New Orleans, I’m proud of you for being here,” he said. “All you who are doing something constructive for the city of New Orleans, I’m double proud of you.”
In spite of the enthusiasm for such local favorites, the crowds still flocked toward the bigger names of the festival.
Some locals said Jazz Fest has changed a lot over the years because of the greater focus on big name, national performers.
“I came since I was a little kid, way back when, and it’s changed a lot,” said Keith Noya, New Orleans native. “It used to be you could bring your own ice chest in, and it was all the local people that came. Now it’s a lot more commercialized to bring the tourists in, which isn’t a bad thing. We got a lot of good talent coming in, but we’ve also lost some of the old school stuff.”
Noya’s wife, Angie Noya, disagreed as she sang along with Rod Stewart.
“How could you not enjoy everything about Rod Stewart?” she asked. “They should dim the music behind us and play some Rod for the whole fest!”
Others cited Ludacris as their favorite performer of the day.
But the sometimes controversial rapper disappointed many of his fans by censoring his music.
“I know I’ve got some kids in the crowd, so I’m going to try and keep it as clean as possible,” he told the crowd.
Still, few were left disappointed.
“The censoring was kind of stupid, but Ludacris was still awesome,” said Rachel Skinner, a New Orleans high school student. “If parents care so much about the cursing, they shouldn’t bring their kids out here.”
Jazz Fest continues next weekend with performers ZZ Top, John Mayer and Harry Connick Jr. among others. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
—–Contact Michael Mims and Michelle Mathew at [email protected]
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