Trombone Shorty Closes Jazz Fest and Living Colour’s 25th Anniversary

It was certainly the coldest Jazz Fest I’ve ever attended and mud was still a factor on closing Sunday. Turns out that there was not one single pair of of rubber boots left in town. Hotels were calling everywhere but many unprepared out-of-towners were left bootless and muddy. Cold wind whipped at scant tank tops and short skirts.

Fleetwood Mac Plays Jazz Fest

Jazz Fest is about music and food but weather is always part of the story with 2 recurring themes – heat and rain. The sun was out before Saturday’s festivities but the week’s rainstorms left LOTS of mud prompting some to call the event, “Mud Fest.” And it was unusually cool. After passing the festively decorated houses with musicians playing out front on the way in, we grabbed a Panorama Foods Crawfish Bread and walked around the track. The New Orleans Bingo! Show was playing the Gentilly Stage so we paused for a few of their experimental songs with accompanying burlesque dancers.

Galactic

As the Saints-sponsored Wednesday at the Square series draws near its end, super-group Galactic took the stage. A large crowd of 20-somethings joined the collared-after-work set and the tie-dyed-0ver-40’s to pogo and groove to the high energy music. In addition to the expertise of Ben Ellman on  sax, Stanton Moore on drums and Corey Henry on trombone, Living Colour‘s lead singer, Corey Glover joined the jazz, funk, rock, hip hop band.

Jazz Fest from the Beer Booth

Did you know you can attend Jazz Fest for free while helping your community? Turns out there are many ways to volunteer at Jazz Fest. When I found out that Raintree Children and Family Services would be working the Fireman’s beer booth 2 days this Fest, I was in! Raintree (founded in 1926) offers services for foster care children, children with disabilities and at-risk children. They also have a home for teenaged girls who were unable to find placement in the foster care system. The booth faced the Acura Stage, the largest stage at the Fest and host to the more popular bands, so though I couldn’t hop around, I was treated to fairly non-stop wonderful music.