New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 1999

Review by Dave Moskal

  The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is more than a music festival, it’s heaven on earth. The jazz fest, as it is lovingly known as, takes place every year in the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. This year was the 30^th anniversary of the beloved event. To describe the atmosphere, sounds, smells, and visuals is an impossible task, but here goes. The jazz fest is WWOZ crankin’ out New Orleans music 24 hrs. a day, its seeing Ernie K Doe at his cozy little joint called “The Mother-In-Law’s Lounge” named after his big hit of 1961. It’s breakfast at Anita’s every morning. It’s cleansing your soul in the gospel tent with The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Mississippi Mass Choir, The Pilgrim Jubilees, Aaron Neville, and ex-stax star The Rance Allen Group. It’s dinner at Dunbars, one of the best soul food places in the crescent city.  It’s seeing Walter “Wolfman” Washington late night at Jimmy’s. It’s checking out the brass band blow-off in Louisiana Music Factory, one of the best record stores anywhere. It’s trying to decide how to be in six places at once, since Deacon John, a great New Orleans slide player, the legendary jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Cha’s, the reggae band Third World, The Radiators, and The Neville Brothers were all playing at the same time. It’s seeing old friends and meeting new ones. It’s getting a dozen fresh oysters and listening to the Rising Star Fife & Drum band.  It’s lagniappe. It’s Jude Taylor and his Burning Flames stripping down “I Shot the Sheriff” to a bare bone carcass and then rebuilding it to an unbelievable funkified jam. It’s about funk period, funk in the gospel, funk in the zydeco, and extra funk in the funk. Speaking of funk lets declare Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Highrollers the reigning funk master of New Orleans. It’s the incredible music and visuals of “The Wild Magnolias”. It’s seeing old favorites on stage like Marcia Ball, Boozoo Chavis and Earl King. It’s Abita beer. It’s seeing Jon Cleary play on three different occasions and have him burn it up every time. It’s delicious food served everywhere at the fest. It was the dancing shaman at Warren Ceasar & the Creole Zydeco Snap band driving the women into a frenzy. It’s finally seeing and hearing the burning guitar of Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers. It’s watching Los Lobos go from a great jam into Traffics “Dear Mr. Fantasy”. It’s eating tamales from Manuals.  It’s Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe doing a set of Kool and the Gang and Sun Ra, both of which he was a member of. It’s seeing Henry Butler do his R&B thing on Congo Square then seeing him late night doing straight up solo piano jazz at the Funky Butt. It’s seeing C. C. Adcock, at the Mermaid Lounge, rip into a tune called “Yak Yak Yak” and his even more outrageous introduction of the song. It’s Offbeat magazine, the local magazine for what’s happening around town. But most of all its about love of music, racial peace and harmony.