Thursday afternoon I was sitting at my desk on staring out at Rosalie Alley when I heard the unmistakable sound of a rock band rehearsing up the street. Turns out they were in the old house next to the Dithyramabalina lot. I heard they were a band from France in for Jazz Fest. Back at my desk I soon got the word that Prince had died, gone during the full Buddah moon at 57. I wondered if the French band would start playing something for him. I heard them play “Gloria” but no Prince.
I wasn’t the only one wondering about these things. Across town guitarist Camile Baudoin was rehearsing with Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, who were slated to open Jazz Fest Friday at the Gentilly stage. “When we heard the news, we all looked at each other for a minute, and went back to rehearsing,” said Camile. “But you could hear the pages turning all over town.”
Janelle Monae. Photo by Willow Haley.
Where were we going to hear the first Prince tribute of Jazz Fest ’16? Turns out it was at the most unlikely of places, the Fais Do Do stage, where the brilliant Sam Doores, co-frontman of the Deslondes, said “We’re going to play a gospel song, ‘What Are You Doing In Heaven Today?’ It goes out to anyone who’s lost somebody. Today it goes out to Prince.”
Wandering around the Fairgrounds I went into the gospel tent, where Alexis Spight was killing “Joy” with six backing vocalists and a hard gospel rhythm section pounding it out behind her. The Gospel Tent seemed a likely spot to remember Prince, whose genre-bending style included more than a little gospel influence. Sure enough, before long the MC was out there, dealing with the audience after Betty Winn and One-A-Chord whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a pop gospel set highlighted by “Love Train” and “Oh Happy Day.”
“Let’s remember Prince,” said the MC. “He only wanted to see us laughing in the Purple Rain.”
The real Prince tribute took place in dramatic fashion at the Congo Square stage at the end of the day. Janelle Monae, the outrageously talented R&B and jazz vocalist who worked closely with Prince, hit the stage like she was shot out of a cannon. “This show is going to be a tribute to the great Prince,” she said. “This is a song we wrote together, ‘Givin’ Em What They Love’.” For the next hour Monae delivered the most emotionally powerful R&B performance I’ve seen since… the last time I saw Prince a couple of years ago. “He was rock & roll… He was R&B,” she said, “if you know what I mean.” She then tore into “New Dance Apocalyptic,” “Electric Lady,” James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” the Jackson Five’s “One More Time,” and an incredible ballad rendition of “Smile.” Monae finished with Prince’s “Take Me With You” and “Let’s Get Crazy.” She had been on stage for an hour at that point, moving nonstop, sweating and crying, not stopping for even a drop of water, and she collapsed right there on the stage. Her MC came out, lifted her off his shoulder and carried her off. That was some wake.
