SACRAY BLUR - HE'S BACK!!!
It's only been
a year since the last report, so what better time to rekindle tall tales and true. Granted, the
Euro Adventures have come to an
end (although there are numerous left untold), but I shall rectify the title later. Right now, it's time to report on a very special occasion -
Jazzfest 2018.
Why so
special? It's not every year one gets to take his
daughter along for
her first taste of New Orleans - and to celebrate her
16th birthday at the same time! And what a treat it was for me. Aimee and I headed to
London for a couple of days where we caught up with friends young and old(er), and visited favourite hangouts and even got to
Brick Lane for a dose of
hipster breakfast cereal.
|
Cereal art |
|
Apparently this is meant to be a latte! |
Our friend
Pablo The Property Mogul joined the LegsyBoys for the trip to Nawlinz.
|
Pablo's maiden Jazzfest voyage |
This was to be Pablo's
maiden journey to the USA (let alone New Orleans) and as an affirmed music lover he, too, was very excited. Arriving mid-evening, we quickly located our cohorts
Tinno The Rock God, Jacuzzi Jen, Brother Lee and Kelly. Bourbon Street is out of the question (firstly 'cos Aimee's too young and secondly 'cos it's
revolting) so we head to the local institution
Cafe Du Monde for a cup of
crap cawfee and
BEIGNETS!
|
Michelin standard service |
|
What'll we have - beignets perhaps? |
|
Lick your lips Pablo! |
Our first full day was all about acclimatising, getting our tickets, and meeting up with the final three members of our gang,
Lois, Skull and Bron. Time for Jazzfest -
Bring It On!!
|
Guardians Of The Groove |
|
Preservation Hall |
As usual, it's a balancing act, who to see and who to forego. As
Guardians Of the Groove,
we all have differing tastes (some better than others!), but our paths cross regularly, particularly when it comes to food and the non-negotiables -
Crawfish Monica, Mango Freeze and Strawberry Lemonade.
Yvette Landry sings and looks good through the lens,
and there's time to catch the
Batistes, one of several
famed Nawlinz funk families, in full cry (
Aimster was enjoying the groove),
|
Strange piano! |
whilst moving towards the
Gentilly Stage to witness the brilliant
Jon Cleary in action (with
Big 'D' Perkins by his side).
|
Big 'D' - in case you didn't work it out! |
|
That was really impressive! |
The
Dirty Dozen Brass Band were on fire
and then it was time for some blues courtesy of the smokin' hot
Samantha Fish (who sounded
ALMOST as good as she looked).
Some big names closed out the stages on Day 1. The crowd, including Aimster and others from our group, was massive watching
Sting rattle through all the big hits (ho hum, yawn),
Bobby Rush was in
outrageous form in the Blues Tent,
|
I'm so hungry I could eat a harp! |
|
Whoa!!! |
|
Whoa again!!! |
|
Lucky I had a wide angle lens! |
Pablo was in ecstacy watching Steel Pulse, the
Gospel tent was heaving, but the highlight was the mighty alt-country singer
Sturgill Simpson and his troupe of
dancing boys - outrageously good (even if we were kicked out of the press pit after 12 minutes).
|
Hal-eh-lou-ya |
|
And amen to that |
|
Magnificent |
|
The future of alt-country |
Day two and the gang are hanging over the fence watching
Roddie Romero & the Hub City All-Stars go through their paces,
|
Strangers in the crowd |
whilst Aimster took in the
Brass-A-Holics set (Congo Square seems to be hitting the spot for Aimee).
|
Brass and mango freeze - perfecto. |
Blues revivalist
Jerron 'Blind Boy' Paxton was fantastic in the Blues Tent, although from what I saw he should be called
'Vision Impaired Boy' 'cos he didn't appear to be blind!
The
tribute to the late, great Fats Domino was sensational, followed by a nice performance from
Bonnie Raitt.
|
Fats' original horn section |
|
Deacon John |
Back at Congo Square, the crowd didn't know whether to watch
hip-hop/bounce queen Big Freedia or his/her
dancing troupe - you can decide for yourself!
|
Oh... |
|
...my... |
|
...lawdy... |
|
...Miss... |
|
...Clawdy! |
A huge crowd watched legendary
saxophonist Charles Lloyd & The Marvels (featuring the equally legendary
Greg Leisz on pedal steel) although one suspects many were there to see guest vocalist
Lucinda Williams and not the octogenarian jazz man.
|
Pedal steel legend Greg Leisz |
|
Lucinda |
|
The jazz tent crowd go ape! |
Twenty year old
R&B singer Khalid seemed preoccupied with
grabbing his crutch, which had the Congo crowd of
teenyboppers going bananas and others (i.e. moi) just shaking their head in disbelief.
|
Ah, there they are! |
|
Better check again... |
|
Yep, still got two. |
The mighty mod
Rod Stewart drew a mega crowd (yep, most of our gang included) whilst Don L:egsy took in a red hot show from
Texan quartet The Last Bandoleros (who just happened to be part of Sting's backing band the previous evening).
|
I told you they were good Kelly! |
Day three kicked off with a
lacklustre Savoy Family Cajun Band set
before being lit up by a
fabulous performance from Irish traditional folk trio Socks In The Frying Pan. Sure, the name is ridiculous, but their collective abilities is anything but.
|
The crowd went bananas |
Louisiana local hero Kenny Neal was good in the Blues Tent
|
Allen Toussaint's grandson keeps the flag flying |
and next door
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles (who were wearing red!) did what
Mardi Gras indians do (don't ask me!).
The injuns were out in force every day. Truly amazing costumes, all
hand sewn. Such pretty boys...
Seventies funksters Chocolate Milk were ok for a few songs,
and
Jon Batiste was superb with the Dap-Kings backing him (one suspects that he may have been a replacement for Sharon Jones who unfortunately couldn't make it).
Although many went to see
David Byrne (why bother when he doesn't sing 'Psycho Killer'!) the main course was served up by the immortal
Godfather of British Blues - John Mayall. Pablo, Skull, Aimee and I had a right royal time of it watching the great man.
|
Pablo gets up close and personal |
The evening was concluded at the
House Of Blues to see
Los Lobos. To describe it as ramshackle would be an insult to rams, but as rough as it was it was also an exhilarating night.
|
JakeBoy and Elbo |
|
Mister Magoo was in the crowd |
We let the good times roll and there were plenty of arresting moments shared.
Next up, the dayz in between......
No comments:
Post a Comment