With sensational performances, greasy food and a lot of history, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicked off this weekend.
In its 43rd year, Jazz Fest is older than at least half the people who pack its grounds, but it offers “les bon temps” for every kind of person imaginable. This weekend proved in living color that the festival has evolved into much more than a showcase of New Orleans culture.
Under the sound of music, countless different accents and languages filled the air. Londoners rubbing sunscreen on each others’ backs, Minnesotans who don’t know how to pronounce “boudin,” Brazilians trading stories in Portuguese — all of them turned up to get a taste of Louisiana.
Like the thousands of out-of-town attendees, many of the acts came down from all over the country to celebrate Louisiana heritage. Indie favorites like Seattle’s Band of Horses and Chicago’s Andrew Bird may have seemed out of place, but both acts drew inspiration from New Orleans. Bird’s violin called back to the zydeco bands that took the Fais Do-Do Stage before him, while Band of Horses brought its folk game down to the swamp.
The biggest headliners got in on the action, too. John Mayer closed out Friday under cloudy skies with a relaxed set that still packed enough blues to make the great New Orleans blues-guitarists of history proud. Performing with Mardi Gras beads around his neck, Mayer sounded rougher and more soulful than ever.
Swaying arm-in-arm to “Piano Man” with cans of beer in hand, the audience at Billy Joel’s raucous Saturday evening performance felt like one enormous Bourbon Street piano bar. Preservation Hall Brass Band made a surprise appearance during the 15-minute extravaganza of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” and when Joel came back on stage for his encore, he was sporting one of the band’s signature hats.
On the other side of the coin (or doubloon), many local bands also added their own flavor to mainstream tunes. From Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers’ riffing on “Are You Gonna Go My Way” to a funked-up cover of “Shake Your Money Maker” by Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, every genre got the Cajun treatment. The Lost Bayou Ramblers even broke out an all-French, zydeco rendition of The Who’s “My Generation,” wailing over fiddle and accordion, “C’est ma génération.”
The purely Louisiana acts also brought together the unexpected. At the Jazz and Heritage Stage, acts like Brice Miller and Mahogany Brass Band had complete strangers dancing with one another in the grass all weekend. Second Line clubs swept festivalgoers up in their march as they shook their feathers across the grounds.
Hometown band Bonerama’s set experimented and innovated with sounds of New Orleans brass to introduce their roots to new audiences. Meanwhile, Tremé’s iconic Rebirth Brass Band gathered one of the largest and most diverse crowds of the weekend at Congo Square. Regardless of if you had a washboard strapped to your chest, this weekend at Jazz Fest, everyone was Cajun.
Just like the “Pow-Wow Dance” — which one of the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers described as a ritual in which tribes of all kinds come together to perform their traditional dances — Jazz Fest welcomes every age, race, sex and creed with open, sequined arms.
Performances at Jazz Fest aren’t just about listening. They’re about connections — whether that connection is with the musician sweating behind the microphone, the assortment of strangers peeling crawfish around the same table or the frat guys standing next to you who know every word to Billy Joel’s set.
Those connections are what make Jazz Fest such a rich example of Louisiana spirit. Beyond the authentic music, handcrafted art and spicy food, the sense of family holds it all together.
As the crowds cleared out and the humid air began to settle for the night, Jazz Fest’s first weekend marked a promising start for the festival. And with four more days to go, the best may be yet to come.
Kaci Yoder is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Baton Rouge.
