Jazz Fest Trip - Day 17

Sunday was the last day of the Jazz Fest. It was hot again with a little more humidity.  Some cloud cover kept the temperature down a little however.

We again had a lot of choices on what to watch.  Traditional jazz and modern jazz seemed the most interesting so we mostly stayed away from R & B, rock, and alternative/world music and focused on the old-time music that New Orleans and Louisiana is known for.

The first performance we saw was a Cajun band, Goodman Thibodeaux and the Lawtell Playboys. The Fais Do Do stage was one of our favorites despite a lack of seating and a hot sun.  The morning sessions usually had small crowds and you could get right up close to the stage.

We then went to the Peoples' Health (a corporate logo)  venue and saw several excellent traditional bands.  The first one was The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, followed by the Treme Brass Band. Treme is a neighborhood in New Orleans that has been the location of an HBO series set in the time just after Katrina.  Both bands played lively Dixieland type music.  We again had a large number of "Second Liners", people dancing around the tent in the traditional New Orleans parade style to the beat of the music.  Most appeared to be locals, some colorfully dressed and carrying parade umbrellas.  There was also what appeared to be marching club partcipating called The Second Line Strutters. 

The Treme band brought up a number of younger musicians and dancers (teenagers) to participate in the performance.  They all were very good.  As the band leader said.."we teachin' the kids how to play da music".  The Treme Band also joined in the parade at the end of their performance, marching around the tent with the dancers.  The Treme band has the most national name recognition due to the HBO series and is one of the older marching bands that regularly participate in New Orleans jazz funerals.

After the Treme Band, we changed pace a little and saw Betsy McGovern and the Poor Clares, an excellent acoustic group playing Celtic music with a "New Orleans twist".  They were also very good, but we couldn't stay for the whole performance because we had to eat lunch and go see Ellis Marsalis and his band.  He is an outstanding jazz pianist and one of the famous Marsalis family of musicians.  Lunch was Native American food again, eaten on the run, then on to the Marsalis modern jazz performance.

We then went back to the People's Health venue for two more ttraditional jazz performances:  George French and the New Orleans Storyville Jazz Band  and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  Both were excellent performances, the crowd lively, and once more, included a lot of Second Liners dancing to the beat.

It was then time for dinner and the last performance of the evening.  We decided on the Neville Brothers, part of another family of New Orleans area musicians.  It had a little bit too much R&B rap music for us and was not one of our favorite shows.  Nevertheless, we saw a lot of things we did like at the jazz fest and it was a wonderful, unforgettable experience.

We have  a short ride to Lafayette, LA (Cajun Country) on Monday.  We will spend three nights there, learning and seeing what we can about Cajun culture, history, and food.

Here is the link to today's pictures:

Jazz Fest - Sunday Pictures

Details to follow