50th Anniversary of Jazz Fest in New Orleans

A Brief History of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

 

In April of 1970, Mahalia Jackson, often called the greatest gospel singer, returned to her hometown to appear at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. While attending the Louisiana Heritage Fair in Congo Square (then known as Beauregard Square), she and Duke Ellington, who also appeared at the event, came upon the Eureka Brass Band leading a crowd of second-line revelers through the Festival grounds. George Wein, producer of the Festival, handed Ms. Jackson a microphone, she sang along with the band and joined the parade… and the spirit of Jazz Fest was born.

Mahalia Jackson

From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festival was the culmination of years of discussions and efforts by city leaders who wanted to create an event worthy of the city’s legacy as the birthplace of jazz.

In 1970, George Wein, jazz impresario behind the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival (begun respectively in 1954 and 1959) was hired to design and produce a unique festival for New Orleans. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was established to oversee the Festival.

Eureka Brass Band

Wein’s concept of the Louisiana Heritage Fair—a large daytime fair with multiple stages featuring a wide variety of indigenous music styles, food booths of Louisiana cuisine, and arts and crafts booths, along with an evening concert series—formed a construct that would prove vastly appealing and enduring.

In addition to Mahalia Jackson and Duke Ellington, the first Festival lineup included Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Clifton Chenier, Fats Domino, The Meters, The Preservation Hall Band, parades every day with The Olympia Brass Band and Mardi Gras Indians, and many others.

In announcing the first Festival, scheduled for April 22 – 26, Wein said, “The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival represents a new and exciting idea in festival presentation. This festival could only be held in New Orleans because here and here alone is the richest musical heritage in America.” He also noted, with great prescience, “New Orleans, in the long run, should become bigger than Newport in jazz festivals. Newport was manufactured, but New Orleans is the real thing.”

George Wein & Quint Davis

Wein hired Quint Davis and Allison Miner, two young, knowledgeable New Orleans music enthusiasts, to work on the event. Davis would quickly become the main creative force behind the Festival, establishing the event as a dynamic annual showcase of Louisiana music with a bold blend of national and international flavors. Davis remains producer and director of the Festival, guiding the event through its entire existence. Miner, who passed away in 1995, would make numerous contributions to the Festival’s evolution, including the creation of the Music Heritage Stage, which has been renamed in her honor.

In the Festival’s inaugural year, only about 350 people attended the Festival, about half the number of musicians and other participants in the event. But the Festival, which became known as “Jazz Fest” almost immediately, was a great artistic success. When Jazz Fest was held the next year, it was clear that the event had already outgrown Congo Square.

Allison Miner

For the 1972 Festival, the event moved to the infield of the Fair Grounds Race Course, the third-oldest racetrack in America (open since 1872). Jazz Fest would grow quickly over the next few years, constantly expanding its use of the 145-acre site. In 1975, the Festival, still just a five-day event with only three days of the Louisiana Heritage Fair, had an attendance of 80,000. This was also the first year of the Festival’s popular, limited-edition silkscreen poster, now recognized as the most popular poster series in the world.

From 1976 to 1978, Jazz Fest expanded to two full weekends of the Heritage Fair, and in 1979, for the 10th anniversary, the Festival scheduled three weekends, though one entire weekend was cancelled due to rain.

In the 1980s, Jazz Fest continued to experience tremendous growth in popularity and began to gain wide acclaim as one of the world’s greatest cultural celebrations. By the end of the decade, more than 300,000 people attended the Heritage Fair, evening concerts, and workshops. The 1989 Festival marked the 20th annual event, which was commemorated with a classic poster featuring Fats Domino, ushering in an era during which the poster would celebrate many of Louisiana’s music legends with iconic portraits.

The decade of the 1990s saw the appeal of Jazz Fest and the Festival’s significance as a cultural symbol soar. The New York Times would note that the Jazz Festival had “become inseparable from the culture it presents.” The Festival added features like the Thursday that kicks off the second weekend (1991); an International Pavilion that celebrates other cultures (Cuba, Haiti, Mali, Panama, Brazil, Martinique, South Africa and more); and the Native American stage and area.

In 2001, the Festival celebrated Louis Armstrong’s centennial, and the total attendance eclipsed 650,000, shattering records for virtually every day of the Heritage Fair, including the all-time single-day attendance record of 160,000. Wein’s prediction that New Orleans would become the first city of jazz festivals had clearly come true.

In 2004, AEG Live, the second-largest concert promoter in the world, joined forces with Jazz Fest, opening doors to even more international stars to appear at the Festival. 

August of 2005 changed the course of history forever for New Orleans and the Festival as Hurricane Katrina left the city devastated and much of the community displaced.  Under the circumstances, the presentation of the 2006 Jazz Fest was in serious jeopardy.  Like most of New Orleans, the longtime home of the Festival, the Fair Grounds Race Course, was also severely damaged in the storm.  But with the invaluable support of Shell Oil, who signed a long-term presenting sponsorship arrangement with the Festival and the backing and encouragement of AEG Live and George Wein, Quint Davis confirmed that the first post-Katrina Jazz Fest would be held over the traditional two weekends in late April and early May.  Jazz Fest 2006 became more than just the annual festival- it became a homecoming and an emotional celebration of the city and the importance of its culture to the world. 

Los Angeles Times music writer, Randy Lewis, described one special performance in a way that truly captured the spirit of the 2006 Festival, “Sometime, somewhere, a more dramatic and exhilarating confluence of music with moment may have existed than Bruce Springsteen’s appearance tonight at the 37th annual Jazz & Heritage Festival here. But in nearly 40 years of concert-going, I haven’t witnessed one.” Springsteen also notes in his biography that his 2006 Jazz Fest performance was one of the most memorable and moving of his career.

The 2010 Jazz Fest featured the first-ever Pearl Jam appearance at the Festival with the powerhouse set broadcast live to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The broadcast allowed lead singer, Eddie Vedder, to speak back and forth with a friend of his stationed in Afghanistan live on the video screens alongside the Acura Stage in an unforgettable experience for all who attended.

The 45^th anniversary Festival in 2014 featured Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Christina Aguilera, Phish, Arcade Fire, Santana, The String Cheese Incident, Robert Plant,  Public Enemy, The Avett Brothers, Charlie Wilson, Alabama Shakes, John Fogerty and hundreds more.  That same year, a major national television broadcast of Jazz Fest on AXS-TV allowed millions of viewers to experience the Festival over the four days of the second weekend including over 28-hours of live performances, interviews and behind the scenes footage.

With 12 stages of soul-stirring music—jazz, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, blues, R&B, rock, funk, African, Latin, Caribbean, folk, and much more—the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is firmly established as a singular celebration of both historic and contemporary significance. The event has showcased most of the great artists of New Orleans and Louisiana of the last half century: Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Ellis Marsalis, The Radiators, Irma Thomas, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Better Than Ezra, Ernie K-Doe, Vernel Bagneris, The Zion Harmonizers, Beausoleil and many others.

George Porter Jr & Runnin' Pardners

The Festival has always blended in a wide mix of internationally renowned guests, among them: Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Bruce Springsteen, Santana, Sarah Vaughan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Max Roach, B.B. King, Dave Matthews Band, Patti LaBelle, Tito Puente, the Allman Brothers Band, Joni Mitchell, Al Green, Pitbull, Linda Ronstadt, Lenny Kravitz, Sonny Rollins, Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Keith Urban, Kings of Leon, Celia Cruz, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hugh Masekela, Cassandra Wilson, Willie Nelson, The Temptations, Burning Spear, Van Morrison, LL Cool J, Abbey Lincoln, Neil Young, Erykah Badu, Dave Brubeck, Gladys Knight, Youssou N’Dour and many, many others.

Taj Mahal

Over the years Jazz Fest has received many honors, including being named the Festival of the Year four times by Pollstar magazine. The Wall Street Journal has said that Jazz Fest “showcases a wider, deeper lineup of essential American musical styles than any festival in the nation…” and which Life magazine has called “the country’s very best music festival.’’  ’And in reviewing the 2017 event, Jon Pareles said in the New York Times, “…whereas other major festivals tend to be brief invasions of their locales, Jazz Fest is an institution, inseparable from the city….”

Inspired by the spirit of Mahalia Jackson and the Eureka Brass Band back in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival continues to celebrate the culture of Louisiana with the combined fervor of a gospel hymn and the joy of a jazz parade.

The 2019 Festival takes place April 25 through May 5 and it will be the 50^th annual celebration. 

Musician Memories: Celebrating 50 Years of Jazz Fest

 Courtesy of Offbeat article

Isabelle Jacopin, our French artist in New Orleans

 

It’s safe to say that everyone who has performed, attended or even worked at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival over the last five decades remembers distinctly individual experiences. Especially during the “Jazz Fest season,” which begins with the first announcement of the line-up and carries through until the Fairgrounds’ gates close, a favorite topic among festgoers is the great sets of the past, funny predicaments along the way, bitter sweet moments of goodbye and, of course, the weather. Remember dancing in the pouring down rain to the magical musicianship of guitarist and Earl King?

Storms, downpours and mud are topics that pop up quite often among the artists who are interviewed here about Jazz Fest, many of whom  performed at the very birth of the event, held at Congo Square and the Municipal Auditorium. Could anyone have conceived its eventual expansion? Back then, George Porter remembers thinking that that it would be “cool” if this “gig,” a festival focused on Louisiana artists, made it.

The nighttime concerts aboard the Riverboat President, often overlooked during these particular conversations, must also be mentioned. People would scramble for tickets for the early or late shows—or sometimes buy both—to cruise up the Mississippi, enjoying performances by some of the world’s most renowned artists. It’s almost impossible to believe that early on, fully-loaded ice chests were allowed to be brought onboard. An aim for many was to try to be on the top deck as the riverboat passed under the Mississippi River Bridge without missing a note of the shows.

A special personal moment onboard the President came for this writer when the entire crowd heading down the riverboat’s gangway following a spectacular set by the Sun Ra Arkestra chanted, “Space is the place! Space is the place!” So magical.

It was also somehow fascinating to observe that, when the oh-so-soulful vocalist Bobby “Blue” Bland and his great ensemble (which was often bookended by two guitarists, most notably Wayne Bennett and on occasion Clarence Hollimon) performed, the front three rows in the President’s concert area were filled with all women. Go get ’em Bobby!

Like all those interviewed, I’ve experienced numerous musically memorable moments withProfessor Longhair, Fats Domino, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, the World Saxophone Quartet, and the Leaders, to name only a few. One act definitely stands out as the most outrageous: guitarist/vocalist Ironing Board Sam performing in a Plexiglas tank filled with water. All day before his “dive,” we looked at that tank and laughed hysterically with a touch of fear mixed in with the giggles. “Man, I hope he doesn’t electrocute himself.” He didn’t, and he’s back to perform this year. This time, presumably, he’ll stay on terra firma.

So, what are some of the most memorable moments at Jazz Fest for the artists who’ve made major contributions to its success? Here’s how some of them remember the times.

Irma Thomas (vocalist)

“The one memory that’s kind of comical in a sense, was the year that Stevie Wonder played after the storm. I was out there, just as a fan going to see the festival, and I was sitting on the side of the stage. Someone told him that I was there, and Stevie called me on stage and we sang the song by him that I covered, ‘Shelter in the Rain.’ After I sang ‘Shelter in the Rain’ with him, I became a star to my grandchildren. All of a sudden I was somebody. Before that, I was just mama. I also once did ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ with Paul Simon.”

Thomas’ first appearance at the Fest was in 1974 when she did a walk-on with Tommy Ridgley’s band. The next year,  she “officially” played with him at Jazz Fest. “When I moved back to city in 1976, I formed my own back-up band, and I’ve performed at Jazz Fest ever since. What I appreciate about the Jazz Fest, and what was important to many of us New Orleans and Louisiana artists, was that we were in our waning years, and by playing the festival it brought us out of the cobwebs. It brought us up front. It’s making the world aware of the arts of New Orleans. I hope Jazz Fest grows and continues to grow and grow. What I also appreciate about Jazz Fest is that it doesn’t matter if you’re performing in a wheelchair, on a stool, or if you’re standing; if you are a viable artist and you can do your thing, they will hire you. And that’s what’s important, to be wanted. They make all of the local people feel wanted.”

Cyril Neville (percussionist, vocalist and former member of the Meters and Neville Brothers)

“My fondest memory of the Jazz Fest was on the Fess Stage, with the Neville Brothers, Big Chief Jolly and the Wild Tchoupitoulas, and Big Chief Pete of the Black Eagles. That was a magical day. That was the first time we [the brothers] played Jazz Fest, and at that point we weren’t even the Neville Brothers; that was the Wild Tchoupitoulas. That never happened before, and it never happened again. Any one of the closing shows that the Neville Brothers did though, every one of them was special.

“I first came to the Jazz and Heritage Festival with James Caroll Booker in a white Bentley. We got off of that track and drove through the crowd, passing reefers out of both windows as we drove up to the stage he was on. He was passing them out one window and I was passing them out the other. [When he got to the stage] he got out of the car, took a bow and played his set. At that point, me and him was just hangin’. He was my friend.”

Johnny Vidacovich (drummer)

“I remember one time, me, [James] Singleton, and David Torkanowsky were hired to back up Snooks Eaglin. There was a wooden stage with bleachers on both sides, and a big puddle of mud in the middle. We were waiting for David T. Snooks didn’t bring a guitar chord or a case or anything. He kept asking, “Where’s David? Where’s David?” So it’s downbeat time, ‘Ladies and gentlemen…’ All of a sudden I looked out through the crowd, and I could see across this big giant mud puddle, David running towards the stage. So, he hits the mud puddle, man, and he falls in, but he jumps up keeps running, and comes up with one shoe on and jumps up on the stage.

“We’d go out there all day. We’d park the car behind the stage and you’d pull your drums out, pull your beer out, pull your girl out. I remember playing solo drums in 1977 and I had to follow James Black! I remember playing with Earl Tubinton, with me and [drummer] Brian Blade. That’s when the tent was over on the other side [in the infield].

“My oldest memories are when I was really young and I had long hair and a beard, back around 1973. I played with Willie Tee and the Souls, with Earl Turbinton and George Davis. I had my eyes closed and we were playin’ hardcore hometown funk. All of a sudden the microphones fall, the stands fall. I opened my eyes and I was surrounded by feathers, and there were about 10 Indians dancing and beating on cowbells and tambourines. The whole thing turned chaotic. It was like I opened my eyes and I was in a kaleidoscope.”

George Porter (bassist, vocals, leader of the Runnin’ Pardners and original member or the Meters)

“I have at least 50 memories. Probably one of the most amazing things that I was involved in was two maybe three years ago on the Acura Stage. It was a horribly rainy day and we, the Runnin’ Pardners band, went on stage and the rain came back when we were performing. The stage manager told me, ‘Man you can quit any time.’ I remember looking out into the audience and seeing these people standing out there in the mud and the rain with their little plastic hats and stuff on. I told the guy, ‘As long as they’re standing out there, I’m going to stay up here.’

“At my very first Fair Grounds performance, Stevie Wonder came out and played with the original Meters. We closed out that stage and Fess [pianist/vocalist Professor Longhair] was playing at another stage—we had like a 15-minute window. Zig [drummer Zigaboo Modeliste] and I went and played with Fess—it was the first time I played with Fess in public.”

Porter remembers viewing the early incarnations of Jazz Fest as being like an experiment: “The idea of growing this into a real event, it was like a test if that could happen. I think we all, as players, thought, ‘Wow if this gig did happen it would be cool.’”

Kermit Ruffins (trumpeter, singer and leader of the Barbeque Swingers)

“I would have to say, my first festival was in 1985, playin’ the parade with the Rebirth [Brass Band]. I was maybe 20 years old. I remember sitting in the grass in the open field—it was a picnic kind of feel—and I was layin’ on the tuba, and there were all these freaking photographers. The whole band brought their families, theirmamas and aunties. It was a big deal. We we’re playing the freakin’ Jazz Fest! The parade was super special. We knew the members of the social aid and pleasure club in the parade, and that added to the fun and the whole party. Before that, I might have been to the festival with my school one year, but not an experience like that. I can remember the feeling of that parade, the vibe that we had. It was life-changing.

“One year, I was lucky enough to have [bassist] Walter Payton hire me with his band. I was a fan of “The Young and the Restless,” and they had this girl in the show, a superstar, Victoria Rowell. When I got off the stage, [Rowell] ran up to me and said, “You were great! Great!” I said, “I’m playin’ tonight at Joe’s Cozy Corner with Walter Payton,” and she came and hung in the hood with us for like three days.

“I had the time of my life last year too, going for the first time to every day of the Jazz Fest. I never did that because it’s always too hot and too hectic. I saw Lionel Richie and Anita Baker. I went every day because I got a Brass Pass forhelpin’  out WWOZ.”