The 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival spans eight days over two weekends – April 25-28 and May 2-5, but each day the shows end at about 7 p.m. But naturally, in the city famous for music and partying in the streets and clubs until the wee hours, that’s actually just the beginning of the day’s music.
For during Jazz Fest the music scene around town really ramps up, as all of the clubs, special event venues and even a few outdoor parks teem with live music. Which is why real Jazz Fest warriors from out of town descend before the first weekend and leave after the second weekend to join the locals in enjoying the countless opportunities to check out the inspired, musical-collaboration-filled shows that happen across NOLA as the fest unfolds. We hit several shows around town during the first weekend, wearing out our dancing shoes and foregoing sleep in the pursuit of catching as much great live music as is humanly possible.
DANCING IN THE PARK, BOOGEYING IN THE CLUBS
On Wednesdays in Lafayette Square Park all during the spring and summer, the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans puts on a free concert series called “Wednesday at the Square.” On April 24, the lineup included local psychedelic rock band Iceman Special, as well as blues/Americana singer and guitarist Marc Broussard. Iceman Special featured two fine guitarists and songs that conjured up a hippy trippy vibe. Broussard and his excellent band, supported by the 504 Horns, played several of his catchy tunes along with covers of songs by The Meters, Al Green, James Brown and Stevie Wonder. The crowd in the park ate it up.
On Thursday night, after the first day of Jazz Fest concluded, we headed down to Tipitina’s on Tchoupitoulas for an album-release party hosted by Anders Osborne. Osborne played a few songs from his new album Buddha and the Blues and dug deep into his catalog as well. Amy Helm and her band opened the show and she joined Osborne during his set. Dave Malone from The Radiators, who is a close friend of Osborne’s, also sat in during the show and stuck around until it ended. They did excellent covers of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” and The Band’s “Up on Cripple Creek.”
On Friday night we went back to Tipitina’s for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Denson’s band always gets audiences dancing and this show proved once again that this group of musicians really know how to get things moving. Guitarists D.J. Williams and Seth Freeman wowed the crowd with funky, intense solos. Denson played his saxophone and flute beautifully while trumpeter Chris Littlefield brought his unique sound to impressive solos and duets with Denson.
We moved over to Howlin’ Wolf for a late show by Dumpstaphunk. The local funk stalwarts did a tribute to Curtis Mayfield and The Isley Brothers that they called “Dumpstafly.” Ivan Neville, Tony Hall and Nick Daniels III took turns singing vocals on classics like “Superfly,” “Pusherman,” Freddie’s Dead” and “I Want to Take You Higher.”
GOV’T MULE TURNS IT UP TO ELEVEN
Gov’t Mule has been doing epic shows in New Orleans during Jazz Fest for years. There are always big-name guests and classic rock covers. We made it to the show at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday, April 27, and were not disappointed. Warren Haynes displayed his usual mastery of his various Gibson guitars. Matt Abts on drums and Jorgen Carlsson on bass kept the theater thumping. Danny Louis played multiple keyboards and the occasional trombone. Jimmy Vivino came out near the end of the first set to sing and play guitar on Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home.”
The second set was crazy as Haynes brought out Branford Marsalis and Jeff Chimenti for the Grateful Dead’s “Birdsong.” Jay Lane took over for Matt Abts on drums for an epic “Fire on the Mountain” followed by “The Other One” jam. Marsalis, who used to sit in with the Grateful Dead and the other musical guests from Further, Ratdog and the Dead made it a memorable and authentic cover mini-set.
After the guests left the stage, the Mule played a few of their hard-rocking tunes. Then Vivino came back to rip off an inspired take on Derek and the Dominos’ “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” He stayed for the finale and encore – the Allman Brothers’ “Soulshine” and Ann Peebles’ “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.”
GOING STRONG DURING THE “IN-BETWEEN DAYS”
By Sunday night, April 28, we had spent four long days in the mostly hot sun at Jazz Fest and each night at the clubs enjoying more live music. With a few days to recuperate before Thursday, May 2, kicks off the second weekend of Jazz Fest, we still decided to hit the town hard for what is known as “the in-between days.”
We started at House of Blues for a “90s Funk” show led by The Motet. That Denver-based funk, soul and afrobeat band billed the night as “Boomshakalaka: The Motet Does 90’s Funk” with special guests Shira Elias from Turkuaz and Raquel Rodriguez. Vocalist Lyle Divinsky led the band and guest singers through several funky tunes including Prince’s “Sexy M.F.” that kept the crowd dancing.
As The Motet show began wrapping up ’round midnight, we headed over to Howlin’ Wolf where George Porter Jr. was doing a multi-set gig with several of his musician friends. It was billed as “The Psychatomic Funk Orchestra” and we arrived as the “early” set was underway. Terrence Houston, Mike Lemmler, Chris Adkins and Kevin Harris joined Porter on some funky tunes. The Sweet Lillies, a Colorado group of three talented female vocalists and string players that Porter met on a recent Jam Cruise joined the show for the Grateful Dead’s “I Know You Rider” that segued into The Band’s “The Weight.”
The “late” set actually started after 1 a.m., as Porter welcomed Papa Mali, Billy Iuso, Matt Hubbard and Rob Kidd. For Mali, Hubbard and Porter it was a reunion of 7 Walkers, a band formed with the Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann that has not performed together since 2012, so it was no surprise that this group continued the Grateful Dead theme. Porter brought The Sweet Lillies back for a long improvisational jam on “The Other One.” Saxophone player Khris Royal jumped onstage and traded sax solos with Kevin Harris while Papa Mali did the same with Iuso on their guitars. Porter kept smiling and laughing as he played the funkiest bass in town. We took off in the wee hours for some much-needed sleep as the band kept playing.
We’ll continue to be all over town covering some of the non-fest shows happening across the city of New Orleans, assuming our immune systems hold up. Watch this space for recaps of events happening during “the in-between days” before the second weekend of Jazz Fest as well as night shows during the second weekend and a final take on the fest itself, which may just have a little rain as the four-day extravaganza celebrating Jazz Fest 50 concludes. That almost never stops the music in NOLA!
