[Dixielandjazz] Pareles on the N.O. J & H Festival.

[David Richoux]

I have been going to JazzFest almost every year since 1980 - when they  
started bringing in "Ringer Headliners" I always run to the smaller  
stages - that is where the most interesting performers are, anyway! I  
also like the interviews, folk-craft exhibits and other attractions  
(especially the food!)

I also have performed and/or was in the audience at Sacramento's  
festival every year since 1978 or so - I do like the trend Sacramento  
has been taking towards a more diverse line-up of musical styles - it  
will be a while before they can match JazzFest in this area, but  
anything is good - as long as we can get wider audiences to show up  
for what is still generally thought of as a total "ol' white folks  
Dixieland party..." (I know the management is trying hard to change  
that image, but the local press and TV still present it that way for  
the most part.)


Dave Richoux

On May 3, 2009, at 7:32 AM, Stephen G Barbone wrote:

> Two interesting points made in the below blog.
>
> 1) The Bon Jovi Set was mobbed.
>
> 2) Its scheduling in  the prime 6 PM slot left jazz fans with more  
> time to see other bands.
>
> Sounds like that's a win win situation for both promoters and fans.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreet
>
> NY TIMES - May 2, 2009, 11:32 PM - By JON PARELES
>
> Jazzfest: A Bit of a Stretch
>
> NEW ORLEANS — O.K., Saturday’s Jazzfest lineup was not exactly my  
> all-time favorite, not with Bon Jovi — which is from a place  
> somewhere outside New Orleans called New Jersey — as the top  
> headliner. It’s a long way from Jazzfest’s origins as an event  
> devoted entirely to music from Louisiana. At the first one, in 1970,  
> the only band from outside Louisiana was the Duke Ellington  
> Orchestra, which the festival commissioned to write his “New Orleans  
> Suite.”
>
> The Louisiana-only policy changed long ago, as the festival began  
> booking some nationally known acts as bait for a wider audience, at  
> the top of the bill, while locals still fill the vast majority of  
> the slots. Even so, Jazzfest has always sought out acts with some  
> connection to Louisiana music’s roots and offshoots, though that  
> casts a wide net: jazz, blues, country, funk, bluegrass, hip-hop,  
> African music, Caribbean music and jam bands.
>
> The Dave Matthews Band, Wilco and James Taylor were among the  
> headliners for Jazzfest’s first weekend this year; still to come  
> tomorrow, unfortunately scheduled simultaneously, are Neil Young,  
> Los Lobos and — hotly anticipated in this city of marathon funk jams  
> — Chuck Brown, the patriarch of Washington’s go-go music. They all  
> have more plausible connections to Louisiana music than Bon Jovi,  
> even if Bon Jovi’s most recent album, “Lost Highway,” had some  
> country trappings. But hey, I’m no concert promoter. Its set was  
> mobbed — I wandered by long enough to hear Jon Bon Jovi announce  
> that the New Orleans heat felt like summertime, which of course was  
> an intro to the Bon Jovi song “Summertime” — and Bon Jovi left a lot  
> of satisfied customers. If Metallica could headline Bonnaroo, Bon  
> Jovi could play Jazzfest.
>
> And for me, skipping Bon Jovi in the highly competitive 6 p.m. slot  
> made more time for other bands. So I’m not complaining.