Issue Articles — Features
Jazz Fest Feature: Jim McCormick
Jim McCormick has written two number-one Billboard country singles and, with cuts this year on records by Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Radney Foster, his resume is growing. But the […]
A Tribute to Buddy Bolden at Jazz Fest 2014
Charles “Buddy” Bolden. For those in the know, the cornetist’s name conjures up an entire world of turn-of-the-19th century New Orleans and the jazz music of which he was probably […]
Alabama Shakes Take Their Time at Jazz Fest
For better or worse, the Alabama Shakes are well past the bar-band stage. Even before the Athens, Alabama, group’s 2012 debut CD, Boys and Girls, blasted their raw soul-drenched rock […]
Tague Richardson Builds Jazz Fest From Scratch
Jazz Fest site director Tague Richardson has been building Jazz Fest since 1974. Unlike the almost-overwhelming experience the crowds will have when they wind their way through the Jazz Fest […]
Creating Culture: The Rituals Customs and Traditions of Jazz Fest
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is made up of millions of individual elements that all come together to form what Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis has called “the […]
Loud and Proud: The Flag Bearers of Jazz Fest
Every year I look out into the crowd and think, “Who are these people?” Despite their large numbers, Jazz Fest’s quirky group of flag- and pole-carrying fest goers remain a somewhat […]
Book Excerpt: Huey “Piano” Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues
After working hard for many years, Jon Wirt has finished writing the biography Huey “Piano” Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues. It is published by LSU Press. In this excerpt, […]
Charles Bradley is off Script at Jazz Fest
On the first Saturday of Jazz Fest 2013, Charles Bradley strode out on the Blues Tent stage as if he weren’t 65 years old but as if it were 1973 […]
Fishhead Man Ed Volker Returns to Jazz Fest
Ed Volker became the shaman of the New Orleans “Fishhead” subculture back in the 1970s when he described his band’s style as “Fishhead music.” Now he is bringing it all […]
The Dirty Bourbon River Show Brings its Gypsy-Brass Circus Rock to Jazz Fest
Right in the middle of one of Noah Adams’ patented speed raps, rapid-fire musings that reveal much about the sound and style of his musical troupe, Dirty Bourbon River Show, […]
