[Dixielandjazz] New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

[Stephen G Barbone]

Well, each year it becomes less and less about Jazz. BUT, they get  
solid headliners across music genres and they sure draw a lot of  
people. VBG.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband


DECEMBER 14, 2011 - NY TIMES - BY JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.
New Orleans Jazz Festival Announces 2012 Lineup

If you want to know just how far jazz has slipped in the hierarchy of  
pop music, just look the line-up for next year’s New Orleans Jazz and  
Heritage Festival. Sure, Herbie Hancock is a headliner, but the rest  
of the names at the top of the bill to be announced Wednesday morning  
are a hodge-podge of pop, rock and R&B stars from various eras.
The headline acts include the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,  
Al Green and Bonnie Raitt for older fans; Foo Fighters, Florence & the  
Machine and My Morning Jacket for contemporary rock lovers; Bon Iver  
for fans of indie, electronic songs; the Zac Brown Band for hard-core  
country fans; Jill Scott and Ne-Yo for those who like contemporary  
rhythm and blues; and Paulina Rubio, for Latin pop fans.
“Jazz Fest truly has a gift for everyone,” the festival producer,  
Quint Davis, said in a statement.
A few prominent jazz artists have promised to play: Terence Blanchard,  
the hard bop and modern-jazz trumpeter; Nicholas Payton, also a  
trumpet player; Diane Reeves, the jazz vocalist; Trombone Shorty, the  
New Orleans brass prodigy who fuses jazz and funk; Esperanza Spalding,  
the young jazz bassist who won a Grammy for best new artist earlier  
this year; and Ellis Marsalis, the pianist who is the patriarch of the  
Marsalis jazz family.
As usual, the festival will also showcase several local jazz bands,  
among them Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the  
Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Some famous New Orleans musicians from  
other genres — The Neville Brothers, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint —  
will also make appearances to support their home town’s biggest  
festival,
Started in 1970, the festival in 2012 will be held on two consecutive  
weekends – April 27-29 and May 3-6. Tickets go on sale Wednesday  
morning. More than 400,000 people attended last year’s festival,  
organizers say.