Blues, Jazz and Reggae mix it up in the Crescent City

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

A signature of the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, Friday, October 13 – Sunday, October 15, 2017, is that the music never stops. With stages facing each other from opposite sides of Lafayette Square, when one band ends its set, the one across the way kicks in. So there’s no waiting around for set changes. Some announcers cue the audience by instructing, “Okay, turn around!”

Friday evening acts as a warm-up for the weekend that’s full of all styles of the blues. Just the larger St. Charles Avenue Stage is utilized with the big-voiced Luther Kent & Trick Bag coming on at 5:30 p.m. followed by the always wonderfully entertaining and talented guitarist and vocalist Deacon John’s Jump Blues.

ROBERT CRAY

During the weekend, both prosceniums are utilized and it’s an all day affair with music beginning at 11 a.m. and ending on the big stage at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night’s headliner is five-time Grammy winner, guitarist, vocalist and composer Robert Cray. A huge talent who was born in Georgia and first gained a reputation on the west coast, Cray is one part blues and one part soul that makes for a can’t miss blend. He’s also a story teller providing relevant lyrics that are true to life’s modern and past experiences – audiences can relate. On “Right Next Door (Because of Me)” he laments his indiscretions with a married woman singing, “She was just another notch on my guitar.” It seems as if many people have their favorite Cray songs including — to name just a few — “Strong Persuader,” “Smoking Gun,” “Phone Booth” and “Bad Influence.”

On Sunday, the soul blues lives on with the arrival of north Louisiana native Robert Finley, a veteran guitarist and vocalist who released his album debut, Age Don’t Mean a Thing in 2016. Finley credits The Music Maker Relief Fund, an organization that has supported so many talented though under-active musicians, for his reemergence, He will be backed by a full band including guitarist Jimbo Mathus of the Squirrel Nut Zippers group. A personable entertainer, Finley performs on the St. Charles Stage at 4:30 p.m.

Closing out Sunday at the same venue is the great guitarist, vocalist, harmonica player, entertainer and composer Bobby Rush. “I’m bringing it back home!” declares Rush referring to the Grammy award he won for his 2016 release Porcupine Meat. Though Rush, 83, earned a gold record for his 1971 Chicken Heads — “We talk about chickens, donkeys, monkeys and alligators — anything thing that moves on the ground” — this Rounder Records album stands as the first time he’s gained the much-deserved top trophy. When once asked whether he’s ever eaten porcupine meat, the always-humorous and quick-witted Rush answered, “Not that I know of.”

Just before Rush’s set, our own Walter “Wolfman” Washington performs at 5:45 p.m. on the Camp Street Stage. A master guitarist and vocalist boasting a late-night, urban sound, Washington just killed at last year’s festival.

Besides big-name stars and local favorites (some are both!), there’s always someone to discover at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival. For instance, check out Como Mamas, a trio of veteran gospel vocalists from Mississippi.

Stages and grills will be smokin’ at this free event presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.

Major Musical Events Prevail this Week

Trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith will present his “Ten Freedom Summers” composition at 8 p.m. at Loyola University’s Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall on Saturday, October 14. The piece, which was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in music, pays tribute to important figures in the Civil Rights Movement including Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Smith will lead his Golden Quartet with pianist Anthony Davis, bassist John Lindberg and drummer Pheeroan akLaff. Also on the program is the RedKoral Quartet.

One of the most brilliant, influential and innovative jazz musicians in the modern era, pianist, keyboardist and composer Herbie Hancock performs at the Orpheum Theatre on Sunday, October 15, 2017. Hancock, whose vast accomplishments include 14 Grammys plus his contributions were also acknowledged in 2016 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. A native of Chicago, Hancock’s many works such as compositions including “Watermelon Man” and “Maiden Voyage” have become and will remain a part of the language of jazz. Early on, he was a member of the Miles Davis Quintet and has led numerous outstanding ensembles of his own such as the Headhunters and V.S.O.P. At the Orpheum the legend will be joined by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist James Genus and multi-instrumentalist Terrance Martin. The last time Hancock was in New Orleans was to play a stunning duo set with another master, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, at the 2016 Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Before all of the weekend activities begin, on Monday, October 9, 2017, Tipitina’s goes reggae with the arrival of Black Uhuru, a band formed in Kingston, Jamaica back in 1972. One of its founders, vocalist Derrick “Duckie” Simpson, stands as the only original member and is presently joined with lead singer Andrew Bees. The roots reggae band won its first Grammy award for its 1984 release, Anthem, and celebrates its latest offering Jah Guide. Onesty opens the show; showtime is at 8 p.m.

This article originally published in the October 9, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.