The Beat Goes On: Jazz Fest – Second weekend picks
1st May 2017 · 0 Comments
The second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Thursday, May 4 – Sunday, May 7) is, as always, loaded with talent. That fact presents several challenges. The first means checking out those pesky conflicts when two or more of your favorite bands are playing at the same time and deciding which to sacrifice. That’s particularly troublesome at the end of the day on Sunday.
Pacing oneself also becomes an important consideration – four days of full-out doesn’t always work so well. If the big, crowded, stages have been on the main menu, heading to the more laid-back venues can serves as a form of relaxation without having to miss a beat.
This year, the intimate Cultural Exchange Pavilion features Cuban musicians representing a variety of the island nation’s rhythmic styles. Traditional, percussion-driven ensembles, ready to get the crowd dancing, include Changui Guantanamo and Adonis y Osain del Monte. The Jazz & Heritage Stage also offers a chance to get away from the maddening crowds and catch some Black Indian gags like Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors.
The motto: “When in doubt go to the Gospel Tent” always holds up though particularly on Sunday when the line-up includes the Electrifying Crown Seekers, The Gospel Soul of Irma Thomas, Tyrone Foster & the Arc Singers and the Franklin Avenue Music Ministry.
Stanley “Buckwheat Zydeco” Dural Jr., a zydeco master accordionist, vocalist, organist and songwriter, who passed away last year, will be remembered on Saturday when at noon his image is placed in the Ancestors area of the Fair Grounds and later at 2:35 p.m. at a tribute in the Blues Tent.
Here are just a few highlights of the weekend. Have fun.
Thursday, May 4
National Fav: A Salute to Louis Armstrong with Hugh Masekela and Dr. Michael White, Economy Hall Tent, 4:15 p.m. New Orleans legend, trumpeter/vocalist Louis Armstrong inspired and influenced musicians around the world including South African-born and international renowned trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Teamed with our own Michael White on clarinet, this set promises to be historic.
Local Fav: Torkestra: The Great American Song Book featuring Germaine Bazzle, Kermit Ruffins and Clint Johnson, Jazz Tent, 4:25 p.m. New Orleans’ great and imaginative pianist/arranger David Torkanowsky assembled this really big band that includes full brass and reed sections with blowers like trombonist Rick Trolsen, saxophonist Khari Allen Lee and trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom. The vocalists will perform standards including Bazzle singing “Just a Lucky So and So,” Ruffins doing “World on a String” and Johnson working on material made famous by Frank Sinatra.
Personal Fav: Henry Gray, Blues Tent, 12:25 p.m. As experienced at last year’s fest, Henry Gray, the 92 year-old Louisiana pianist and vocalist, knows how to take his time with a song and is backed by a band that comprehends not rushing the tempo. Gray picked up the beat on a boogie-woogie that he kept short and sweet – the three-minute variety – and his voice was strong on “Staggerlee,” a number one hit in 1959 for fellow Louisianan Lloyd Price.
Friday, May 5
National Fav: Earth Wind & Fire, Congo Square State, 5:35 p.m. Assembled in Chicago in 1970 by the late great vocalist Maurice White, the funk, R&B, soul and rock band EW&F has gained a wealth of accolades and its influences can still be realized today with songs like “Shining Star” and “Sing A Song” remaining a part of the musical psyche. Original bandmembers vocalist/percussionist Philip Bailey, bassist/vocalist Verdine White and drummer Ralph Johnson continue the legacy.
Local Fav: Davell Crawford & One Foot in the Blues, Blues Tent, 2:45 p.m. As the name of the set implies, pianist and vocalist extraordinaire Crawford will focus on the blues though he says he “can’t leave out the New Orleans songbook.” As is vividly illustrated by his last two releases — the expansive My Gift to You and his solo project Piano in the Vault Vol. I, which was compiled from years self-produced recordings — Crawford can and does go anywhere.
Personal Fav: Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective, Jazz Tent, 4:10 p.m. New Orleans own, the always innovative, multiple Grammy-winning, brilliant trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard returns to the fest with his ensemble the E-Collective that shook up the music on its 2015 Blue Note release, Breathless. An intense trumpet master, Blanchard never fails to have something new and provocative to say.
Saturday, May 6
National Fav: Stevie Wonder, Acura Stage, 4:50 p.m. It’s Stevie Wonder Day! Wonder, who has won an amazing 25 Grammys, has simply been one of the most important musicians and composers of the last five decades bestowing the world with such gifts as “Superstition” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” Big thanks to him for returning to the fest after his set was canceled last year due to a storm.
Local Fav: Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Acura Stage, 1:40 p.m. Think about it – how many funk bands can you name that boast great vocal harmonies? Well, one is definitely keyboardist/vocalist Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. How many organ-led bands contain two bass players that are also tremendous vocalists? Dumpstaphunk with Nick Daniels and Tony Hall!
Personal Fav: SF Jazz Collective Plays the music of Miles Davis, Jazz Tent, 5:40 p.m. This all-star edition of the SF Jazz Collective, an institution created in 2004, is filled with some of this nation’s finest jazz musicians. Put artists like alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon next to tenor player David Sanchez, trumpeter Sean Jones and trombonist Robin Eubanks and you’ve got one, hot horn section. The eight-member band pays tribute to the late great trumpet master Miles Davis performing his classics like “So What” and “All Blues” with each having a hand in the arrangements.
Sunday, May 7
National Fav: Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Congo Square, 5:35 p.m. This band could easily have been put into the “Local Fav” category as many of its biggest fans live in the Crescent City. Its popularity here all began when it recorded its album, Live in New Orleans, that was released back in 1981. Since then, Maze featuring the always engaging lead vocalist Frankie Beverly, has been considered one of our own. Line dancing gets going on songs like “Joy and Pain” and “Golden Time of Day.”
Local Fav: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Acura Stage, 5:35 p.m. New Orleanians just burst with pride on the accomplishments of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews who, at 31, takes the honored spot of closing down the Acura Stage. The now multi-instrumentalist just keeps getting better and has just released a kicking new CD on Blue Note, Parking Lot Symphony. Importantly, despite his enormous success, Shorty remains Shorty, just a really nice guy who makes sure to give back to the community who raised him.
Personal Fav: Chucho Valdes Quintet, Jazz Tent, 5:45 p.m. Chucho Valdes, who has won five Grammys and three Latin Grammys and was the co-founder of the revolutionary Cuban group Irakere, has been described as the Duke Ellington of Cuba for his important contributions as a pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger in progressing the music. Valdes, a dynamic musician, brought the house down on opening night at the Joy Theater in 2012. He has also been central to the Havana Jazz Festival’s success and continues his deep involvement in bringing artists from around the world together to share their music and creativity.
This article originally published in the May 1, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
