Laissez les bon temps roulez. Nobody listens to jazz anyway.

/except me
//the rest of you punks get off my lawn

Jazzfest has always been about all kinds of music - jazz, gospel, New Orleans music, brass bands, zydeco, blues, funk, rock - and still is. You'd see that if you read the rest of the line-up. Correction, you'd see that if you read the rest of the article. Anyway, the big headliners help draw attention to the festival.

Oh, and Jazzfest is also about food. And lots of it.

No one's going to top last year's set from Plant and Krauss anyway...

Well, what isn't used loosely in New Orleans?

Etta James, Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis, Henry Butler and Trombone Shorty

Nope no jazz there.

"Jazz" is just the word they use for "music" in N'awlins.

MaxxLarge: "Jazz" is just the word they use for "music" in N'awlins.

Kind of like incorrectly using "Coke" to mean any carbonated beverage?

/can we let the south secede again?

dletter: MaxxLarge: "Jazz" is just the word they use for "music" in N'awlins.

Kind of like incorrectly using "Coke" to mean any carbonated beverage?

/can we let the south secede again?

And if you ask for any ice you get a little baggie and a pipe.

mmmm Crawfish Monica... now I have to make it this weekend

/crawfish pie
//I miss my food

A few years back, the Ottawa Blues fest had the unforgetable blues music of Kid Rock

/Bawitdaba

Everyone quiet down, I have it on good authority that he's going to do a free-form jazz exploration in front of a festival crowd.

/obscure?

Just about *every* jazz festival has stopped programming jazz with the exception of a big name (or two), a handful of local talent, and a whole lot of crappy pop calling itsself jazz. Last time I was at the Detroit Jazz Festival they had Chaka Kahn, Shelia E and Shakira (I think) headlining.

The writing has been on the wall for a long time, though. As ticket prices have kept going up, people who really love jazz stop paying assloads to hear a couple of shows, and people who think that it is neat to be seen at a jazz festival (for them, the word jazz essentially means "fun" as opposed to a kind of music) (who also have money) buy the expensive tickets... pretty soon it is their taste that is being catered to, and like dletter said, it's just "coke". And then all you can find anywhere is "Orange County Jazz".

/jazz musician

mctom: Just about *every* jazz festival has stopped programming jazz with the exception of a big name (or two), a handful of local talent, and a whole lot of crappy pop calling itsself jazz. Last time I was at the Detroit Jazz Festival they had Chaka Kahn, Shelia E and Shakira (I think) headlining.

The writing has been on the wall for a long time, though. As ticket prices have kept going up, people who really love jazz stop paying assloads to hear a couple of shows, and people who think that it is neat to be seen at a jazz festival (for them, the word jazz essentially means "fun" as opposed to a kind of music) (who also have money) buy the expensive tickets... pretty soon it is their taste that is being catered to, and like dletter said, it's just "coke". And then all you can find anywhere is "Orange County Jazz".

/jazz musician

I find most genre-themed festivals are not a good value. You can usually find the same or better acts at more intimate venues with better sound for less money.

Nabb1: Jazzfest has always been about all kinds of music - jazz, gospel, New Orleans music, brass bands, zydeco, blues, funk, rock - and still is. You'd see that if you read the rest of the line-up. Correction, you'd see that if you read the rest of the article. Anyway, the big headliners help draw attention to the festival.

Oh, and Jazzfest is also about food. And lots of it.

Yep - that's why it's officially called the the Jazz and Heritage Festival although nobody actually says more than just "Jazzfest" - and I've never heard it referred to as "Jazz Festival"

/I think subby has never been there
//And I wish they'd relegate Bon Jovi to playing Tip's Ruins instead of the actual festival.

If you want to experience a jazz festival these days you have to find video of Newport in the '50s and '60.

/Like real jazz
//Kenny G is not real jazz
///Old fogie

The New Orleans Jazz & HERITAGE Festival is the more complete name.

Which is why I got to see Doug E Fresh a couple of years ago.
And back in the 90s, Carole King with special guest guitarist Slash.
And skipped high school on a Friday afternoon, back in the day, to see Run-DMC.
And way more of an assortment of musical acts than I can fully remember.

Bon Jovi gave $1 million to help build 28 homes for low-income families displaced which will be destroyed by the next storm.

FTFT.

Build the 28 homes where a hurricane isn't farking going to wipe them out, numbnuts.

If you want to experience a jazz festival these days you have to find video of Newport in the '50s and '60.

"this"

/Still waiting for John Buck 41 to come in a make stupid statements.

mctom: Just about *every* jazz festival has stopped programming jazz with the exception of a big name (or two), a handful of local talent, and a whole lot of crappy pop calling itsself jazz. Last time I was at the Detroit Jazz Festival they had Chaka Kahn, Shelia E and Shakira (I think) headlining.

That's why I feel fortunate to still be involved running sound at the one of the oldest Jazz Parties in the world: The West Texas Jazz Festival. Used to happen twice a year (Midland, Texas in the spring, Odessa, Texas in the fall) for 6 nights but now the only have enough audience and musicians left to do it once per year for 3 nights.

The 'Jazz Party' concept is a little odd: The are no actual combos or bands. There are simply 2 or 3 musicians for each spot (Bass, Piano, Trumpet, etc. for a total of anywhere from 25 to 35 overall) and they rotate through a new combination of players every 30 minutes for about 4 hours/night. It's a cool concept, and you get to see unique musician interaction every time.

Participants over the last 40 years have included Milt Hinton, Ralph Sutton, Red Norvo, Bucky Pizzarelli (and sometimes his son John), Butch Miles, Jack Lesberg, etc, etc, etc.

The next one is May 15-17, 2009 in Midland, Texas.

Slamguy: If you want to experience a jazz festival these days you have to find video of Newport in the '50s and '60.

"this"

/Still waiting for John Buck 41 to come in a make stupid statements.

No time. I'm too busy laughing at your sentence structure.

What "these days" do you mean? My recollections go back to the '82 Fest (my first) and "jazz" has rarely been heavily featured. For example, I can recall one time being especially perplexed by their scheduling -- as little as there was that particular year, they had Sun Ra and Max Roach playing at approximately the same time on different stages.

Granted, some years are better than others for jazz sets, but it's almost always been a dicey proposition to my knowledge.

Is it Bon Jovi:Mark II?

What about Jazz Odyssey?

mctom: Just about *every* jazz festival has stopped programming jazz with the exception of a big name (or two), a handful of local talent, and a whole lot of crappy pop calling itsself jazz. Last time I was at the Detroit Jazz Festival they had Chaka Kahn, Shelia E and Shakira (I think) headlining.

The writing has been on the wall for a long time, though. As ticket prices have kept going up, people who really love jazz stop paying assloads to hear a couple of shows, and people who think that it is neat to be seen at a jazz festival (for them, the word jazz essentially means "fun" as opposed to a kind of music) (who also have money) buy the expensive tickets... pretty soon it is their taste that is being catered to, and like dletter said, it's just "coke". And then all you can find anywhere is "Orange County Jazz".

/jazz musician


Did you hear about the Polish jazz musician?

He's in it for the money.

/heard that in a bar in the Bywater

No time. I'm too busy laughing at your sentence structure.

No, not stupid enough. You need to bring back some of the John Buck 41 classics like "if my dog blew into a saxophone it would sound the same as jazz."

Gulper Eel: Bon Jovi gave $1 million to help build 28 homes for low-income families displaced which will be destroyed by the next storm. low income families themselves

FTFT.

Build the 28 homes where a hurricane isn't farking going to wipe them out, numbnuts.

FTFY

Sure, Jazz Fest has always been about much more than jazz, but Bon Jovi? Really?

I must have made a big impression on Slamdog. Every time the word 'jazz' shows up in a music thread, he drops my name before I even show up.

Jazz Fest? In just one year, I think, I saw

GrandMaster Flash and the Furious Five
Senor Salsa
Jerry Lee Lewis (who yelled "Any of mah WIVES out there???")
Wynton Marsalis (when he was "Ellis' Son" playing in the gospel tent)
and The Subdudes

You just have you love music, y'all.