(April 30) I hope you’re ready for all that jazz. And jambalaya. And some really good juju.
So here you are coming to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for the first time — or maybe making a repeat visit but still trying to find the optimal experience.
Herewith, then, some favorite Jazz Fest memories from someone whose first Fest was a half century ago, along with some advice stemming from those memories.
Actually, let’s start with the advice. Two bits of Fest wisdom predominate. First, do a little research before so you have a plan. Second, be willing to modify much of the plan — except parts pertaining to safety and transportation logistics — at a moment’s notice. Within very broad limits, in other words, embrace serendipity and spontaneity, with a bit of whimsy thrown in as well….
Memory One: Eddie and the trad-jazz second line
OK, this is cheating, because it isn’t one memory, but instead a single conglomeration of many dozens of memories at the Economy Hall traditional jazz tent. They all blur together because they all are so good. Your Jazz Fest experience will be incomplete if you don’t catch at least one full music set there.
For the uninitiated, the traditional jazz that was the essential, indigenous, seminal musical contribution of New Orleans to the world is not what you will find at the place called the WWOZ Jazz Tent. There is a ton of good music there as well, but it is contemporary jazz, not the traditional stuff most associated with Louis Armstrong. The trad jazz is at the big tent without “jazz” in its name, Economy Hall.
The music there will take you back 100 years, yet still stay fresh. Catch any band there led by clarinetist Dr. Michael White or trumpeter Gregg Stafford, or featuring Wendell Brunious, Detroit Brooks, Steve Pistorius, or Freddie Lonzo. Or catch the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble if it’s playing. Or, really, just about any act there.
But the memory is this: The band onstage is playing in terrific ensemble style — collective improvisation around a central melody — with the banjo, piano, and drums keeping perfect rhythm while the brass and reeds complement each other with verve and originality. That’s when the “second line” begins.
The second line in practice (no need for a history lesson here) amounts to audience members parading spontaneously around the tent, loosely single-file, dancing and gyrating and often twirling umbrellas or waving handkerchiefs aloft. It is infectious — in a good way — to watch people just lose themselves in rhythm and joy.
The unifying factor making this into one big, blurred memory is that almost invariably, for perhaps 50 years now, most Economy Hall second lines have been led by an ageless man named Eddie Fousch, a retired telephone company engineer who, by my count, is in his 90s. Nobody loves it more than Eddie…. [For several other wonderful memories, and the whole rest of this column, follow this link.]
