New Orleans' Jazz Fest emerges triumphant Updated 5/8/2006 8:02 AM ET
By Edna Gundersen USA TODAY Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-05-07-jazz-fest_x.htm NEW ORLEANS Joy, relief and twinges of melancholy permeated the fading sax honks and fiddle whines Sunday night as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival wrapped up the most intense run of its 37-year history. Local legend Fats Domino canceled his Sunday performance owing to illness. According to longtime friend Haydee Ellis, Domino, 78, woke up under the weather, checked in and out of a hospital, and ended up "feeling better but not up to performing." But he did take the stage before substitute show-closer Lionel Richie's set, greeting the massive crowd and apologizing for not playing. Earlier Sunday afternoon, Paul Simon played the main stage, with Slip Slidin' Away sparking an enthusiastic audience singalong. The Jazz Fest summary: 4,000 musicians performed on 10 stages over two weekends for capacity crowds, a remarkable success many predicted impossibly optimistic for an emotionally and financially drained city struggling to regain its equilibrium. Eight months after Katrina squashed New Orleans and silenced its perpetual soundtrack, a cacophony of styles and sounds exploded from the Fair Grounds in a defiant commitment to keep the music going. Attendance totals won't be calculated until early this week, though producer/director Quint Davis expects figures to match or exceed Jazz Fest's tallest gates. Both three-day weekends drew vast hordes. Davis suspects the opening weekend's turnout was due to curiosity, media attention and highly touted appearances by Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews and especially Bruce Springsteen. "Bruce threw gas on the bonfire," Davis says, zipping around the racetrack on a golf cart. "Some people thought we should plan only one weekend, just blow it out. But once (sponsor) Shell came in, we decided to take the leap. This second Saturday was the biggest single day of the festival. That's astounding on top of astounding." Audience size suggests locals, displaced residents, regulars and newcomers made efforts to attend. "It's hard for people to get here," Davis says. "Some drove two or three hours because they didn't find rooms in the city. People are renting out FEMA trailers. People flew to Dallas or Houston and rented cars. I'm blown away." Fans were blown away, too, by the depth and diversity of the bill, in no way curtailed by the scattered music community. Listeners had to zigzag the field to catch snippets of competing acts or risk missing favorites. Saturday afternoon, no ricochet strategy would permit sampling everything on the 5:30 p.m. band: Jimmy Buffett, The Radiators, the Ohio Players, Donald Harrison, Dr. Michael White, Bonerama, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, and Bobby Lounge. All drew sizable crowds. A surprising mob turned out for Lounge, from McComb, Miss. Lounge, 56, steps out of an iron lung before sitting at the piano. He sings wry and ribald Southern Gothic yarns and plays boogie-rock piano with the rigor and flamboyance of a young Jerry Lee Lewis. A slow lap around the field captured roof-rattling gospel by the New Orleans Spiritualettes, a second-line dance party by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, free-jazz flights by Alvin Batiste & The Jazztronauts, Southern rhythms by Jeremy Lyons & the Deltabilly Boys, and the fiery accordion of Buckwheat Zydeco. Jazz Fest regular Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes, enjoying La India, "The Princess of Salsa," at the Congo Stage, says he's impressed that such stars as Springsteen, Simon and Richie made the commitment to play. Though pleased by the huge crowds, he's worried that the public is losing interest in New Orleans' woes. "They think it's old news." Theresa Andersson, signing CDs at the music tent after her appearance, says the festival was a crucial boost for the music community. "It's the biggest two weeks of the year for locals," she says. "We reach people around the world. It's the foundation for a year of touring." While fewer visitors stuck around during the week, many who stayed patronized clubs and took in sights, not just the usual plantation and cemetery tours, but new outings to the disaster zones. Visitors flocked to a free Marcia Ball concert at Lafayette Park on Wednesday, Marriott's street concerts Friday and Saturday, and showcases at Tower Records and the Louisiana Music Company. Though not on Jazz Fest's marquee, Ernie K-Doe was one of the busiest musicians in town. He's running for mayor. And the Mother-in-Law Lounge, a shrine to his career, will reopen within weeks, thanks to reconstruction funds from Usher's Hands On charity. The fact that K-Doe is dead hasn't slowed him down. Widow Antoinette continues to parade a statue of the eccentric R&B singer to public events, and sponsored the farcical mayoral campaign. On Thursday, he was the guest of honor at the Maple Leaf club. If K-Doe is still working and if a magnificent Jazz Fest can crawl out of the mud, maybe the New Orleans music culture is heartier than a Category 5. Maybe it's off the charts. Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-05-07-jazz-fest_x.htm ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
