The French Quarter Festival was better than I remembered, fueled, in part, by the many reunions of musicians and crowds as people were returning to the city. We will definitely come back next year. There was a welcome home feel to many performances and a number of the singers talked through it. Big Al Carlson sang “Bring it Home to Me” dedicated to the city. Rockin Dopsie closed out the zydeco/cajun stage on Sunday with a strong sense of community and constant appeals to the crowd to celebrate being together again. The crowd responded and the feeling was affirming. There were four major venues along the river and in Jackson Square. Another six or so minor stages were in the quarter on the street on the weekend. Music was going continuously at all of them. The choices were tough but this is what we saw.
Prior to the festival we started the music on Thursday night at zydeco night at Rock N Bowl with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, actually a Cajun band but one of the best traditional Cajun groups. The parking lot was packed even though the first floor shopping mall was boarded up and fenced off, still badly damaged. On the spared second floor people bowled and danced.
On Friday at the festival we first heard Coco Robecheaux and Spritland. He combined a Dr. John style voice with R&B and Cajun. A highlight was “I Shall Be Released.” The Night Crawlers provided a strong brass band. They were doing Santana’s Oye Cone Va as we walked up. Lillian Boutte sat in for a long number as she was next up. The rain did not slow them down. Then we saw Big Al Carlson in Jackson Square doing blues. The festival food was as good as the music. Local places offered their stuff. We had smoked duck po-boys form Clancy’s and shrimp cakes with remoulade and BBQ shrimp and andoulille from another vendor.
Saturday brought L' Angelus, doing a Cajun version of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” They said their hero was Fats Domino and they somehow imitated his piano style on the guitar for several songs. Then there a great “Sitting on my Ya Ya…”Another brass band, the Lil’ Rascals, played a forty minute plus funk song. Irene Sage was a highlight for me with very funky blues style, a little like Janis on some songs. Her “Walking the Dog” got everyone dancing on stage and in the front of the crowd. Her finale was a long very slow and sensual “Rock Me,” the blues song. Her CD Live at the Leaf has a 15 minute version. I got three of her CDs that she autographed for us. Live at the Leaf is the best. Later we came back for some Papa Grows Funk (the name says it) and the Pine Leaf Boys, a good Cajun band.
Sunday started with Amanda Shaw and the Cute Boys, She did her first CD at age 10 and another at 13. Now she is 15 and remains me of a Cajun Cyndi Lauper as she bounces around the stage with her electric fiddle. Rockin Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters closed out the afternoon by the river with a strong performance. He began with “Ain’t Superstitious” and then went into several James Brown numbers, complete with James’ moves with the mike. By then the crowd had grown very large and was really into his music.
After the festival we went to Tipatina’s for Bruce Daigrepont’s Cajun Fais Do Do Feat, four hours of great dance music that has occurred every Sunday afternoon for years. On Monday night we heard a bit of David Doucet of Beausoil playing solo at the Columns Hotel. We also heard Jimmy “Bean” Ballero and his group play good blues at the Gazebo Café in the French market several days while on the way to the festival. He was doing Chicago blues for some appreciative Chicagoans, “Got Me Runnin,” “Sweet Home Chicago” and more.
There are so many musicians in New Orleans but others have been scattered over the country. Buy lots of CDs, we came away with many of those we heard, including Bean. The music traditions of the city need help, too. One possibility to support New Orleans music is the Tipitina's Foundation, that is giving instruments to New Orleans school music programs to revive the music culture of the city. Fats Domino has a new CD out, Alive and Kickin, that funnels all the proceeds to this organization.
The New York Times commented on the first week of the jazz fest that followed this French Quarter Festival, “But this Jazzfest was a symbol of how eager the city's culture is to rebuild itself, and how resourceful New Orleans' inhabitants — current and former — can be.” This event was also strong evidence for it. Go next year and see what has happened. We will be there.
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