Jazz Fest Sunday

With more reasonable crowds and lots of favorite local musicians playing, Jazz Fest’s final Sunday was a balmy-weathered blast. Big Chief Kevin Goodman & the Flaming Arrows were on the Jazz Fest Heritage Stage and I spotted Alphonse “DooWee” Robair, my favorite Mardi Gras Indian artist, dancing among them. We started the day with a delicious Cochon de Lait ($9) from Love at First Bite  and a Nectar Creme from Plum Street Snoballs ($4). When I worried I wasn’t going to get a “local” pour of the sticky, sweet syrup, the woman next to me in line laughed, “If you ordered Nectar Creme, they already know you’re a local.” True Dat.

Jazz Fest 2014

I only went to the 45th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for one day this year and I spent most of that time volunteering in a beer booth – but I still managed to see 11 bands. I didn’t even get to half of the grounds, yet I managed to see artwork by Terrance Osborne and Woodrow Nash, check out Mr. Okra’s truck, hit 2 food booths and visit the WWOZ Brass Pass Tent. I arrived about noon with only 2 hours to spare before work so I headed straight for the Acura Stage to catch some of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. They delivered their signature funky rock jazz sound along with guests like keyboardist John Gros debuting his French horn skills.

Jazz Fest from a Distance

The 45th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival started last weekend treating hundreds of thousands of guests to artisan booths and demonstrations, fest food and cooking demonstrations, pop-up book and CD stores, interviews with musicians and, of course, over a dozen stages playing up to 8 shows each a day. I think that comes out to somewhere around 400 different concerts over the course of 2 weekends all on the Fair Grounds Race Course. But what if you couldn’t get here? Or what if you’re one of the locals fed up with yet another price hike? (It’s up to $65/day at the door now). You may not be able to eat the food or watch the Mardi Gras Indians parading past, but you can still hear Jazz Fest in a number of ways.

Lafayette Square with Dumpstaphunk

First, there was Big Chief Jolly (George Landry) and the Wild Tchoupitoulas, a Mardi Gras Indians group formed in the early 1970’s. George Landry’s sister, Amelia, had 6 children, 4 of whom became The Neville Brothers. If you’re not already a fan, click here to see why everyone else is.

http://66.70.148.219/

The Radiators at Harvest Wednesday

The Radiators played this week’s Harvest the Music at Lafayette Square benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank.

http://harvestthemusic.org

I started my day with a short walk to La Divina’s for a wonderful gelato. It was hard to narrow down from the great choices but I decided to let the Autumn spirit overtake me and selected sweet potato pie to pair with my standard chocolate Azteca.

Harvest the Music (lots of photos)

Before I moved here, my favorite places here would have been restaurants and bars in the French Quarter that my cousins and I frequented over the years. Another would have to be Jackson Square, including Cafe du Monde and the stairs down to the river. I’ve added many more reasons to love Jackson Square but I’d have to say my new favorite place in New Orleans is Lafayette Square. I fell in love last Spring during the Wednesday at the Square concert series benefitting the Young Leadership council. The Square is a beautiful town center surrounded by regal buildings with a streetcar line rolling past.