Jazz Fest 2013 – 1st weekend
Friday April 26 – The first day was not too crowded or hot making it very pleasant and I was able to get around quickly and hear a lot of different acts.
However, first I attended the Sync Up Conference so I could get my free parking pass and wristband for the clubhouse at Jazz Fest. This is great as you can get free beverages and have the use of a private bathroom. It saves a lot of time waiting in line. Friday was actually of some use to me as it was about licensing music on the internet and I have to get some recordings over to www.audiosocket.com now and maybe make some money. I also got the card of the producer of the Hip Hop Awards in NOLA , which is now going to NYC in June for the first time. He’s using Tammany Hall and SOBs as venues. I am hoping to workshop Voodoo on the Bayou in New Orleans and then get it moved to NYC.
My friend, Jane, wanted to see the John Fohl interview so I started here. He was the guitarist for Dr. John for many years until December. Dr. John ‘fired’ his whole band at the start of 2013. John told a lot of fun stories and the interviewer, David Fricke, was really entertaining and well prepared. It was wonderful to hear Fohl play solo and tell the story of being hired by Dr. John!
Eddie, a friend of Jane’s, and I went to hear Jeremy Davenport. I have aptly dubbed him the Harry Connick of the trumpet. It turns out they’re good friends and Jeremy mentioned that before doing the tune “Basin St.” This was a great set with all tight musicians. Jeremy is also quite the ‘crooner’.
Then I went to check out Dr. John and didn’t really like his new band. He has a new bandleader, a female trombone player, Sarah Morrow. She is now the entire horn section and uses some electronics that cancel out the backup singers. The guitarists seem to playing an entirely different genre of music than Dr. John at the keyboard. I left quickly.
I got a front row seat for Joshua Redman and that was just amazing! He has a great quartet with Joe Sanders on bass, Kendrick Scott on drums, Aaron Goldberg on piano. Joshua even played some solo Bach on his saxophone. It’s quite the collection of virtuosos and they incorporated some ‘straight ahead’ standards such as Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust and other titles Curly Q, D A F G, etc.
I finished with the Campbell Brothers with 2 slide guitarists. I really liked them as they are very intense and have a lot of energy but I did get a bit overwhelmed by the repetition in the gospel numbers and it was getting too loud. I just loved the 2 pedal steel slide guitars and especially when they played the blues. “My Mothers Gone” and “Raymond” I liked a lot. I was getting ideas for my musical here. The are joined by a great female vocalist, Katie Jackson, and she was good at getting people involved too! Sacred Steel indeed! Give a listen to Amazing Grace. It’s got a fabulously lazy tempo.
http://www.campbellbrothers.com/#!__about-us I left during an extremely long Thank You gospel tune.
Saturday April 27 on my way to the Fest I heard Heard Cedrick Watson on WWOZ radio and went to hear him first at the Fais do do stage. Cedric Watson (Cajun music) reminded me a bit of Geno Delefose and he was absolutely great. I ran into Rhodes, a pianist friend, and went to Wendell Brunious, a traditional jazz trumpet player, and arrived for a fun 2nd line opening number and then a Nat King Cole tune -Love was Made for You and Me. “Fast Eddie” was there leading the umbrella brigade and the joint was jumpin’.
I passed by Zena Moses at Congo Square Stage.and read about her in the paper. She has a bit of a disco sound crossed with funky and there was a bit of reggae infusion. I only stayed a short while so I could see Jason Marsalis on vibes.
Jason is reportedly much better on Vibes than on drums and his quartet was great. I got a good seat in the front and really enjoyed my short time here. Jason seems to have found himself on the vibes.
In transit I caught Lil Buck Senegal playing the Star Spangled Banner and then ending his set with a generic blues tune.
I went over to the Lost Bayou Ramblers which I have dubbed Cajun Grunge. The guitar and cajun accordion have foot pedals that create fun electronic noise. They were on the soundtrack of the movie, The Beasts of the Southern Wild. Their rendition of The Next Generation in French is a real kick! Jane and I had seen them for the first time recently at Mid City Rock and Bowl for the Nick Spitzer’s American Roots benefit.
From there I booked over to Allen Toussaint. What a songwriter!!!!! He’s such a great piano player and his white suit with sequins and pretty colors really popped. He had 3 women backup singers and 3 wind players along with the guitar and drums. “Grace Darling” joined the band for a couple of numbers – singing and playing saxophone. Toussaint is a premiere songwriter and did tunes Whatever Happened to Rock and Roll, Get Out of My Life Woman, Everything I do is Going to Be Funky, Lady Marmalade, Yes We Can Can, Southern Nights,Last Train, Whirlaway, What a Success,Goin Down, Soul Sister Working in a Coal Mine and more.
I stayed in this location and had a great spot for Billy Joel and heard the whole set. The crowd was really friendly and some nice guy gave me a bottle of ice cold water. (What a difference from the vicious Springsteen crowd the year before). Billy Joel opened with Moving Out – then did a SANDY song and mostly some old classics that the audience all knew and sang along with. He’s a really great piano player and did a very virtuosic piece of his, Root Beer Rag. He played guitar on one number, We Didn’t Start the Fire -On and On and On . The band never stopped and played for a solid hour and a half. He’s got an amazing amount of energy and he’s just a great songwriter and piano player. Last time he played here it poured rain and they played a video clip of that with Singing in the Rain being performed. Here are some of the songs he played: NY State of Mind, Movin Out, You Might Be Right, My Life, It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me, Just the Way you Are, We Didn’t Start the Fire, The Entertainer, Zanzibar, 52nd St., You May be Right, Big Man on Mulberry St, The Downeaster “Alexa”, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band marching out for part of it and Don’t Ask Me Why. I had never seen Billy Joel before.
Seeing Allen Toussaint and Billy Joel back to back was my “Jazz Fest Moment” of 2013.
Sunday April 28 I caught the end of Clive Wilson, traditional jazz trumpet player, and another 2nd line strut with ‘Fast Eddie’ and the umbrella brigade followed by a Louis Armstrong number – If I Never See You Again.
Then I heard Tuba Skinny and with a great blues singer playing traditional jazz and blues standards. They perform a lot on Frenchmen Street.
I stopped in the Gospel tent briefly to hear the Zion Harmonizers sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot and another number as I was passing by to catch Little Freddie King. He always looks dapper and today donned a giant polka dotted shirt and fancy cowboy hat. He’s the ‘Real McCoy’ and always delivers the blues straight up on vocals and guitar. He’s very spry on his feet and dances and has the perfect harmonic player. I always find him entertaining.
Next up was Shannon Powell, jazz drummer, and Wendell Brunious was there on trumpet. Special guest saxophonist, Charlie Gabriel, was featured. He’s ancient but still playing strong. Pianist, David Torkanowsky sat in for an opening virtuosic number.
I headed off to the The Nevilles (now without Aaron) in lots of mud and a very young crowd. They were awesome and did a lot of familiar numbers including “I sold my house to the Junk Man” and Professor Longhair’s “Hey Now Baby”.
I don’t like Dianne Reeves at all, although I like the timbre of her voice. She was really just vocalizing most of the time and seemed to fill the time with a lot of nothingness. My dear friend, Jeff, is a big fan of hers. I do like her piano player, Peter Martin, though. He used to live in New Orleans and I used to make a point of hearing him. The entire quartet is a tight group of musicians.
The deluge came. BB King was indoors at the Blues Tent and Dave Matthews was outside so I picked BB King and really didn’t like him. He didn’t come out right away and then he talked a lot. He goes out of his way to play as little as possible. Allen Toussaint came out and sang a ditty welcoming BB to the stage before he played. BB’s always been a man of ‘a few notes’ but now you can count them He sang some too and did his number “The Thrill is Gone” to which I added “Boy, I’ll Say”. The tent was extremely crowded due to both his celebrity and the rain. He’s got a large band with 4 horn players, another lead blues guitar player, bass and drums. He’d be much more interesting to see as a solo act but he’s past his prime. When he did play he sounded fine – but for an hour set he only played maybe 15 minutes of it.