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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2004 7:20 pm
by julius

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2004 12:13 am
by voilsb
I went last year, and noticed similar ... we'd just walk around in the French Quarter and stop by a place and dance for a while to a really cool jump blues band with an awesome female vocalist. Then we'd ditch out and find a neat zydeco band in the street to dance to for a bit. Then we'd go a block and dance to a live hip hop band.

This was all in one night, too.

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:09 am
by Nate Dogg
For those interested in New Orleans, this year's Jazz Fest schedule was just released. Check out the website for the exhaustive list of acts. Some of the more appealing acts to members are this group are listed deeper in the schedule.

http://www.nojazzfest.com/

Lineup Set For 35th Jazz Fest
Billboard, 2/14/04
Hundreds of artists have been confirmed for the 35th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which will run April 23-25 and April 29-May 2. Among the acts slated to appear at the festival include Lenny Kravitz, Harry Connick Jr., Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Emmylou Harris and Branford Marsalis and two major artists to be announced.

Artists set to play the festival's first weekend are Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Galactic, Henry Butler, Macy Gray, Marsalis, the Rebirth Brass Band, Dr. John, Charles, Etta James and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Big names set for the festival's second weekend include the Steve Miller Band, Susan Tedeschi, Me'Shell N'degeocello, Nicholas Payton, Shaggy, Dave Brubeck, the Blind Boys Of Alabama, the Funky Meters, the Neville Brothers and Robert Cray. On May 2, Hugh Masekala will lead an all-star tribute to South Africa with assistance from Jabu Khanyile, Busi Mhlango and Vusi Mahlasela.

Raitt, Irma Thomas and Clarence "Frogman" Henry are among the artists that will perform at a gala fundraiser on April 22, with proceeds to benefit the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Tickets are $500 a piece. In addition, the festival's annual Evening Concert Series will feature performances from Kravitz, King, James, Brubeck, Jaheim and Floetry.

"All of the fun and magic of the previous 34 Festivals will be packed into this one," festival producer/director Quint Davis says in a statement. "Great Festival friends are returning and new friends are joining the party for the first time. In an anniversary year, what could be more fitting than a celebration of the heritage of the Festival itself?"

Tickets for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival go on sale Wednesday, Feb 18 via Ticketmaster. For more information, including schedules and individual event details, visit the festival's official Web site.

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 3:25 am
by CafeSavoy
Nate Dogg wrote:For those interested in New Orleans, this year's Jazz Fest schedule was just released. Check out the website for the exhaustive list of acts. Some of the more appealing acts to members are this group are listed deeper in the schedule.

http://www.nojazzfest.com/
Cool. Thanks for posting. Have you been? What is it like? Can you get reasonable hotels?

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:56 am
by Roy
I was looking at hotel prices a few months ago and you would be looking at the neigborhood of $200-250 a night for anything close to the French Quarter or downtown New Orleans.

This is a event I want to get to some year, this year I can't so hopefully next year.

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:48 am
by Nate Dogg
CafeSavoy wrote:
Nate Dogg wrote:For those interested in New Orleans, this year's Jazz Fest schedule was just released. Check out the website for the exhaustive list of acts. Some of the more appealing acts to members are this group are listed deeper in the schedule.

http://www.nojazzfest.com/
Cool. Thanks for posting. Have you been? What is it like? Can you get reasonable hotels?

I went twice in college. I was in New Orelans for a college marketing convention and it was always at the same time, so we would do a day of Jazz Fest.

The hotel we stayed at was not in the French Quarter, so we were able to get a better deal. JazzFest is not in the French Quarter, it is in a horse racing track. So, you will have to drive or take a bus to get to it (or at least that is the safest way to get to JazzFest). The website site says it is a ten minute drive and that sounds about right from my recollections.

Jazz Fest is probably the number two tourist event in New Orleans each year (following Mardi Gras), so things will be more expensive than they were for Lindy Gras last week.

Jazzfest is a chance to see a lot of great live music is a small space. If you want to dance, you need to bring a dancer with you and not be too particular about dancing on grass.

Nathan

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 12:09 pm
by mark0tz
Roy wrote:I was looking at hotel prices a few months ago and you would be looking at the neigborhood of $200-250 a night for anything close to the French Quarter or downtown New Orleans.
Hmm, I bet it's cheaper than that to be honest. I had friends who stayed in hotels adjacent to the French Quarter during Lindy Gras for 60-90 / night. I think the prices you're seeing are so high because they spike during Mardi Gras. I bet they'd come back down afterwards...

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:15 pm
by Lawrence
I have heard from many reliable sources (and have heard few opinions to the contrary) that Jazz Fest is now just a mess and that the masses have turned it into just another outdoor music festival hearding masses of drones around.

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:23 pm
by kitkat
It's bad that the less educated and lower classes are developing an appreciation for jazz?

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:16 pm
by Lawrence
Don't get me wrong... it would be great if the masses got into Jazz. But Jazz Fest is still not the festival that it once was now that it is organized like an outdoor classic rock event. Again, that's what I have heard, not my own personal experience. If you like outdoor music festivals with cattle heards of people, then we have different preferences and that's fine, too.

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 3:21 pm
by wheresmygravy
Keith (BigCash) told me the other day that French Quarter Festival may be a better choice. It a couple of weeks earlier only 4 days long and mostly local bands of different flavors. When I checked last week there was not a schedule of bands yet. But it is 15 stages all in the French Quarter area.
Image

Nothing like having a live music festival two weeks before the big live music festival. Go figure....

jerry

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 3:37 pm
by Nate Dogg
I have been to both, they are both great.

As for Lawrence's comments. It all depends on what band you want to see at JazzFest. They have a lot of stages. If you primary goal is to see Ray Charles or Jimmy Buffett, you will be in a big field with over 20,000 folks around you. However, most of the music is on smaller stages all over the fairgrounds. When I used to go, we would usually see lots of smaller names and finish it off with a big name headliner at the main stage.

One key thing about Jazz Fest that some of you may not have noticed is that it held during the day. You can do a full day at Jazz Fest and then hit the clubs all night. They do have night time arena concerts with some of the big name players, but you can see them same acts at the Fairgrounds. All the general stuff that people mentioned that was going on during Lindy Gras is still an option for you during Jazz Fest.

French Quarter Fest is about what they described, the local bands for free all over the Quarter.

I guess it depends on what your preference is.

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 6:56 pm
by djstarr
so what about some time in the fall? We've been talking about going to visit New Orleans, but when I was there in June it was 104 and since I don't think we will get out there before it heats up are there any interesting events in the fall?

Although I'm sure whenever we show up it there will be great music.

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:28 pm
by Lawrence
wheresmygravy wrote:Keith (BigCash) told me the other day that French Quarter Festival may be a better choice. It a couple of weeks earlier only 4 days long and mostly local bands of different flavors. When I checked last week there was not a schedule of bands yet. But it is 15 stages all in the French Quarter area.
Image

Nothing like having a live music festival two weeks before the big live music festival. Go figure....

jerry
Now THAT sounds more like it!!! :o :!:

Imagine that, a labor union actually doing something besides artificially drive prices up!! (The event and the music are all free, sponsored in part by the local musicians' union).

Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:29 pm
by BigCash
Lawrence wrote:I have heard from many reliable sources (and have heard few opinions to the contrary) that Jazz Fest is now just a mess and that the masses have turned it into just another outdoor music festival hearding masses of drones around.
Not true...

Nathan's right in that if you want to see the likes of Paul Simon, Sting, Dave Matthews at the big stage, you better get there early, and spread out so that you can give yourself some room to enjoy. But that's the only stage like that. Everywhere else, is just fine.

As far as the rest of the event, it's still an amazing expierence. And at $25/day... unbeatable.

French Quarter Fest is a great showcase for local talent.

I love living here.