By Brian Wise.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Thursday April 30 – Sunday May 3, 2026.
There’s no doubt that jazz fest is an endurance test, depending on the weather. On the second weekend we were going to get one perfect day, but that didn’t come until Saturday.
Thursday April 30
Thursday’s weather loomed menacingly. So, organisers cut the festival short, cancelled some acts, and started the headliners early, thus alleviating the possibility of everyone being caught in the thunderstorm which was predicted for later in the day. So, the main stage headliner Widespread Panic were due to start early and play for 2 1/2 hours. Someone on the bus exclaimed, “Widespread Panic will be at 2:00 PM,” to which one lady, obviously not a fan, replied, “Oh my god, should we be going there at all!”
We got wet walking in from the bus stop anyway, which reminds me to invest in a decent poncho or an umbrella that doesn’t fail on first use! Long time festival goers would scoff at this weather alarm, having walked knee deep through downpours in some previous years.
We opted to spend the afternoon in the Jazz Tent, starting with young modern jazz group Pat Casey & The New Sound, with definite fusion overtones. The highlight of the day, and one of the festival, Fred Wesley and The New JBs who were originally slated for later in the day. This was a treat. With Wesley’s background with James Brown, the only thing missing was Brown himself. There was a lovely version of Earl King’s New Orleans classic ‘Trick Bag’ plus ‘Peace Power,’ a great rendition of ‘Pass The Peas’ and, as if to emphasise the party feel, we got ‘We’re Gonna Have A Funky Good Time’ and ‘House Party’ as closers. Isaiah Collier, who will be in Melbourne soon to play at Bird’s Basement, was extremely impressive in the 30 minutes he was allotted before the PA announced the festival was now ended.
Turned out to be not such a bad thing as we were booked to see Wilco tonight and it gave us a chance to get back early, clean up and have some dinner before heading for The Saenger Theater. (More on this later).
Friday May 1
The skies threatened but we headed for the bus stop anyway, determined to get there in time to see Ricke Lee Jones. It wasn’t pleasant being soaked before we were to get on the bus, but we were prepared to persevere, until we got a message from JazzFest that the day was going to be shortened and that Rickie Lee Jones was cut. Who else did we want to see? The Black Keys on the Gentilly Stage, Ziggy Marley at Congo Square, Lainey Wilson on the main stage, or Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane’s Miles Davis/John Coltrane tribute in the Jazz Tent, or Sue Foley and Tab Benoit in the Blues Tent. We wimped out. The main acts didn’t and played in the rain. I had another night with Wilco, so our afternoon was spent going for lunch and watching the rain from our apartment.
Saturday May 2
If I had to describe the perfect JazzFest day, then this might be it. Around 22C, mainly sunny with some wispy clouds occasionally scudding across the sky and no humidity! Obviously, everyone else agreed with me because this was the first day ever, apart from the special limited crowd Rolling Stones set on the second Thursday in 2024, that a JazzFest day has been sold out! Eagles were set to headline, so how many people did they draw? Well, I know that some years ago when they played the crowd estimate was 120,000. Today it was bumper to bumper and if you didn’t like large crowds then this was not for you. Any crowd big enough to dissuade me from getting to the Crawfish Monica stall must be huge.
The Blues Tent it was, decided upon by using the principle that we should see acts we aren’t likely to see again. Today, it was Little Feat on their Farewell Tour. We arrived towards the end of a rocking set from CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, followed by a great 70 minutes from a soulful and highly under-rated Eric Lindell, then a solid bluesy performance from Larry McCray.
The six-piece Little Feat line-up – with long-time members Bill Payne, Fred Tackett, Kenny Gradney and Sam Clayo – got a rapturous reception as they came on to close the day. The band has kept on going in various permutations and lead singers (including a woman in Shaun Murphy), since not long after the departure of Lowell George in 1979. Scott Sharrard, a mere slip of a lad at 50 and formerly with the Gregg Allman Band, was recruited as the new lead singer after Paul Barrere’s passing in 2020 and he does a creditable job. Tony Leone on drums definitely has the credentials to fill that spot.
The band played all the expected ‘hits’ – including ‘Oh Atlanta’ (featuring Bill Payne on vocals, Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor’; which Sharrard pointed out was written by George about Allen Toussaint, ‘Time Loves A Hero’ (which Lowell didn’t love) and ‘Two Trains Running’. There was a lovely acoustic-based version of ‘Willin’ (which sounded excellent in contrast to the muddiness of many of the up-tempo songs) followed by a brief a Capella ‘Don’t Bogart That Joint’ and then a terrific jam on ‘Spanish Moon’, which was our exit point. (They closed with ‘Skin It Back’, ‘Fat Man In The Bathtub’ and ‘Dixie Chicken’).
I think most of the audience, many with Little Feat t-shirts, loved it. But it isn’t really Little Feat, is it? It is easy to understand why the group is calling it quits. Better to go out now rather than continue as a Little Feat covers band as has probably been the case for many years.
Sunday May 3
Last week I was talking about the difficult decisions you must make during JazzFest when acts collide. Today was the perfect example. These were the closing acts: Trombone Shorty & Guests (5.45pm) on the main stage / Tedeschi Trucks Band & Guests (5.20pm) on Gentilly / Steve Earle & Anders Osborne (5.40pm) on the Fais Do Do stage/ Earth Wind & Fire (5.40pm) at Congo Square / Herbie Hancock (5.45pm) in the Jazz Tent and Mavis Staples (5.45pm) in the Blues Tent.
I had a plan. We would go to the Gentilly Stage and see George Porter Jr & The Runnin’ Pardners, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, The Radiators and then a bit of Tedeschi Trucks prior to catching a little of Steve and Anders and passing by Earth Wind & Fire while getting to Mavis for the final half hour. Problems? The sun was out and it was hot. This would mean we would have to sit out in the sun all afternoon and we may not get seat in the Blues Tent. Panic set in. Solution? Move to Plan B which was to get to the Blues Tent to ensure we had a seat, which we did right up near the front. Entertaining sets from Deacon John, James Andrews (Trombone Shorty’s older brother), and Austin blues player Jackie Venson preceded the final act. The final criterion was put into play. Who are we unlikely to see again on tour in Australia?
In the end we made the right decision. Mavis Staples was magnificent. At 85 years of age, she is still as feisty as ever. ‘Keep On Pushing’ by Curtis Mayfield was played over the PA as Mavis and her band came to the stage and opened with ‘City In The Sky’ and ‘I’m Just A Soldier In The Army Of Love’ and ‘Hand Writing On The Wall’.
Then Mavis proclaimed, “We got a love train and if you better get on board ‘cause this train is pulling out.” Then she launched into a fabulous version of Tom Waits’ ‘Chicago’, followed by ‘Beautiful Strangers’ and ‘Human Mind’, from the latest album Sad and Beautiful World. Mavis went to mention the name of the latest album but forgot, asked guitarist Holstrom, who is a key to the sound, and laughed at her ‘senior’ moment. It should also be mentioned that the super backing singers were Kelly Hogan (who has worked with Neko Case and has her own solo albums out) and Saundra Williams. Then it was back to some classic material in ‘Freedom Highway’ after which Staples proclaimed, “We got work to do. We don’t need a dictator. We don’t need a president telling us what to do with our bodies. We don’t need ice.” It was the only overtly political interlude but it received a powerful ovation. Then it was into ‘No Time For Crying’, followed by a rocking version of another Staples’ classic with ‘Respect Yourself’. The set finished appropriately with ‘Everybody Needs Love’. It was inspirational.
As if that wasn’t good enough, as we made our way out of the festival we were in time to see Herbie Hancock in the Jazz Tent performing a great version of ‘Chameleon’. Mavis and Herbie. The perfect end to the day.