Dear Mr. Davis: You are amazing – putting on the best show on earth every year in my backyard for my birthday – for that I salute you. However, I must say the sound this year was too loud. I couldn’t even be in the Lagniappe Stage area with Kristin Diable because the decibels were overpowering. The Gentilly Stage was booming so loud it was hard to get a breath. The Fais Do Do was…
The weird thing is that as I was walking to Jazz Fest this morning with friends they said it was odd to see me without Tin and so began the first day of Jazz Fest – who let the moms out – woof woof woof. There wasn’t any particular band or performer I was interested in seeing but we did go see an interview with Jason Berry and Senn Kuti – my favorite take away…
Last night, I went with a friend to see so much music that my head is still spinning like a record this morning. We started at Hi Ho to see the Stooges Brass Band and then walked across the street to the ALLWAYS Lounge to see the Panorama Jazz Band and then back across to see the Stooges again and then back across to see Slavic Soul Party. The Stooges Brass Band is insane, it’s…
You ever feel as if you are just having the same conversation endlessly? And that words are just getting thrown around because they are familiar and have been used before. That is what life for sometimes feels like – I feel like I’m having 24/7 deja vu: the conversations are recycled, the words are stripped of intention and therefore lose 80% of their meaning, and I myself have nothing new to add. Those are the…
Last night, after we finished Paris, Texas which took about a week to watch given the holidays and Tin and our need to sleep, we flipped on the TV, something we rarely do, and started watching Piers Morgan interviewing Tony Bennett. Let me start with this, although I knew Tony Bennett from his songs, his voice, and history, I did not know Tony Bennett until the day I walked up to the Jazz Fest stage…
Thirty-seven days to Jazz Fest, but who is counting? Today begins the Tennessee Williams Festival and this year we’re celebrating his 100th birthday. Tom McDermott and Evan Christopher have a new CD and they are playing together @ 6PM at the Botanical Gardens in City Park. Chuck Perkins joins others to kick off some spoken word at One Eyed Jack’s in honor of Tennessee Williams @ 8PM.
We closed out Jazz Fest in the Blues Tent listening to B.B. King. Need I say more? Well, okay I will. When Jazz Fest starts, the police pull up a mobile unit on the bayou at the foot of Grand Route St. John, and for some reason that symbolizes the beginning of Jazz Fest. This year, I took Tin every day and it certainly changed the way I experience the Fest but all in all…
The Sunday of Tin’s first Jazz Fest was magically splendid. The day started off gorgeous and continued to be stunningly perfect all day long. We started by going over to a friend’s for a Jazz Fest brunch and Tin just wanted to go in that pool so bad, even though the water was ice cold, so in we went: Then we made our way into the Fairgrounds and over to a friend’s camp near the…
It’s that time of year again in New Orleans, in Faubourg St. John, on the bayou – JAZZ FEST! And as usual, I have my brass pass in hand and can’t wait. This will be Tin’s first Jazz Fest and I hope there are many more in his future. Tonight, the strategy – to mark the acts I want to see and to make other choices as well. Tomorrow, by this time I will have…