The final day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was on Sunday, May 4. The weather was perfect and so were the fantastic headliners like My Morning Jacket, Galactic with Irma Thomas, Lenny Kravitz, and Trombone Shorty ended this year’s festival with a bang.
Zigaboo Modeliste, a drummer best known as a founding member of the funk band the Meters took to the Gentilly Stage with his band the Funk Revue. A huge crowd came out to witness his drumming abilities and jam out to some good old funk music to get the day going. Guest guitarist Vernon Black kept the energy up with his incredible riffs.
Once a drummer for the Meters, George Porter Jr. now plays guitar and created his band, the Runnin’ Pardners in 1990. George played his classic hits and sang to the huge crowd when he took over the Gentilly Stage in the afternoon.
On the Congo Square Stage, Mexican group Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizárraga performed their upbeat mix of pop and regional music. In 2003, the band was created by brothers Sergio and Alberto Lizárraga. Their subsequent first album No Podrás made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Latin albums chart. Over a dozen members, all dressed in black played various instruments on stage, keeping the crowd engaged.
The 9th Ward Hunters Mardi Gras Indians and Young Brave Hunters Black Masking Indians paraded around the festival grounds just before 2 p.m. Both groups have a long and deep history in New Orleans, where African and Native cultures collide to create a Mardi Gras tradition. Both Indians represented their neighborhoods with carefully crafted outfits and headdresses.
Young Zydeco accordionist and singer Geno Delafose and the French Rockin’ Boogie played some classic Louisiana made Creole music on the Fais Do-Do Stage. Geno is the son of famous Zydeco accordion player, John Delafose, and even played in his fathers’ band as a child. His years of skills and dedication to his craft are apparent in his effortless dual accordion playing and singing.
Iconic blues musician and king of the slide guitar technique Sonny Landreth put on a show in the Blues Tent. Landreth’s unique techniques and acquired skills bring a new depth to Zydeco music. His mixture of acoustic and electric guitar is something you don’t hear often, but make for a great sound that can be heard on the hundreds of albums Landreth has been featured on.
Seven-time GRAMMY winner and Trumpeter Terence Blanchard filled the Jazz Tent for a run through of his 2005 album Flow. Blanchard’s album was brought to life by Charles Altura on the guitar, David Ginyard on bass, Oscar Seaton Jr. on drums, Julian Pollack on the keyboard, and guest vocalist Michael Mayo.
The eccentric Cajun French singer Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rôdailleurs brought authentic southern Louisiana culture to the Fais Do-Do Stage. His Cajun charisma was electric as he took swigs of Jameson between songs and wore a classic pearl-snap shirt like the fiddlers and accordionists before him. One of his main goals is to keep Cajun French and its music alive and well.
The comedic El Conjunto Nueva Ola had a blast on the Heritage Stage, wearing their fun luchador masks and performing cumbia and ska covers of popular songs. The Mexico City based band sang a cover of Milli Vanilli’s “Girl You Know it’s True” and a ska take on Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.” The entire set was full of laughs and definitely made for a great show.
On the Festival Stage, genre-bending and multi-award winning musician Lenny Kravitz played a set full of his hit songs. The crowd sang along to tunes like “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” and “Fly Away.” Kravitz ended his performance with an encore of “Let Love Rule,” in which he was joined by Trombone Shorty and walked through the crowd, interacting with fans and breaking hearts all along the front row.
Headlining the Gentilly Stage was My Morning Jacket, a Louisville, Kentucky rock band whose sound ventures into the experimental and psychedelic. Paying tribute to New Orleans, the band began their set with a Fats Domino cover of “Walking to New Orleans” and later included a cover of Irma Thomas’s “Time Is On My Side.” They also made sure to play some fan-favorites including “Golden,” “Off the Record,” and “Wordless Chorus.”
Closing out the Congo Square Stage, Patti LaBelle reminded the crowd why she’s referred to as the Godmother of Soul with her jaw-dropping vocals. Her music has sold millions of copies around the world and won multiple GRAMMYs. LaBelle stood out on stage in a flowy purple dress, encouraging the crowd to sing along or clap their hands to the beat. She even sprayed herself with perfume and enjoyed sipping a cocktail mid-set to refresh.
Country and bluegrass singer and musician Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives brought the Fais Do-Do Stage to a close for the day. Stuart wore a black jacket bedazzled with roses. His band members wore baby blue suits embellished with heart-like red designs. The group made sure to play one of their all-time hits “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin.” After a few cover songs by artists like Bob Dylan and Marty Robbins, Stuart sang “Time Don’t Wait” before an encore of “Space.”
The grand finale of the last day of Jazz Fest was Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue on the Festival Stage. This New Orleans native musician is a local celebrity that was met with cheers and applause as he came out onto the stage and performed his opening songs “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince and a trumpet-filled “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Members from the 9th Ward Hunters Mardi Gras Indians and Young Brave Hunters Black Masking Indians joined Shorty on stage to rock out together. Shorty put on an iconic performance of the Meters’ “Fire on the Bayou” with Ivan and Cyril Neville. Rappers Mannie Fresh and Juvenile accompanied Shorty for “Back That Azz Up.” Other special guests in this electric performance included legends Lenny Kravitz and Leo Nocentelli for an allstar Jazz Fest finale.
The 55th Jazz & Heritage Festival was fantastic this year. We lucked out with pretty decent weather and a solid daily line-up of amazing artists. We’re looking forward to who we may see next year!