[Dixielandjazz] French Quarter Festival--free, & real jazz

[Charles Suhor]

Do you-all know that there's a festival before the massive,
all-kinds-of-music-but-not-much-jazz Jazzfest in NEw ORleans? It's the
French Quarter Festival, April 16-18, the weekend before Jazzfest. I've
heard that it's almost all jazz, in many styles, and free, yeah, free. I'll
go for the first time this year.

On Friday the 16th there's an all-day free seminar at the Old Mint (at the
foot of the Quarter) on marching/brass bands, old and new. Some of the new
ones sound a lot like pop-rock to me, but it should be
interesting--sessions also on jazz & funerals, second lining, the role of
the tuba. The message below is from OFFBEAT, the N.O. weekly. Their website
is www.offbeat.com, if you want to keep posted.


THE LITTLE FESTIVAL THAT DELIVERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get yourself ready for the most underappreciated music
festival in New Orleans. Many people who attend the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have never heard
of the French Quarter Festival. But it's worth your
consideration: all the musicians are local (11 stages of
music!), lots of local food booths and the ambience of
the French Quarter to boot.
Best of all, the admission is FREE!
Look for the April issue of OffBeat for a complete guide
to this year's festival.