Cleanup may be underway at the Fair Grounds as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival comes to a close, but the music will continue with a free festival on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Monday, May 9, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The New Orleans Jazz Museum will present this Jazz Between Fests, a celebration of jazz music and culture. Also known as Factory Fest, The museum has partnered with the Louisiana Music Factory to host this day day of outdoor concerts in the Decatur Courtyard.
The lineup will include:
11 a.m.–12 p.m. Shannon McNally
Singer-songwriter and vocalist Shannon McNally is a Long Island native who cultivated her music career in Los Angeles before moving to New Orleans. In August 2005 she was featured on the cover of OffBeat Magazine; that’s the issue that barely was distributed because of Hurricane Katrina. She moved away at first to Mississippi then Nashville, where she now lives. McNally’s tribute album to Bobby Charles featured Dr. John. Her latest release, The Waylon Sessions, features Rodney Crowell, Lukas Nelson, Buddy Miller and Jennings’ widow, Jessi Colter. McNally has a bluesy gravelly voice and often tells stories between songs. When McNally lived in New Orleans, she ran into J.J. Cale but didn’t introducing herself—a telling tale about her personality.
12:30-1:30 p.m. Cha Wa
New Orleans brass band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa radiates the energy of the city’s street culture. “My People,” the band’s follow up to their Grammy-nominated album “Spyboy,” feels like pure joy, a distillation of generations of New Orleans expression. But it also never fails to remind us how hard-won that joy was and still is: not least in the tense, funky and explosive title track, with its declaration “My people, we’re still here.”
2–3 p.m. Beausoleil Trio with Michael Doucet and Chad Huval
Fiddler Michael Doucet’s venerable Cajun band was the first of its genre to win a Grammy in 1998. He recently fell while on tour in Alaska and underwent hip surgery. Band members Michael Doucet and Chad Huval will perform absent Michael. The band has explored eclectic influences from West African music to James Brown and beyond.
3:30–4:30 p.m. Eric Johnson
The guitar has been very good to Eric Johnson, earning him international renown as a player, composer, recording artist and live entertainer as well as an ever-growing audience of admirers. And Eric Johnson has been very good to the guitar, spotlighting its myriad melodic, sonic and lyrical splendors, paying homage to its heroes and innovators, collaborating and playing with many of its finest contemporary talents,
5–6 p.m. Samantha Fish
This Kansas City guitar-slinger was originally perched on the bluesy side of classic rock. Her early albums included Rolling Stones and Steve Miller Band covers. Yet she’s got far more interesting on her last couple of releases exploring roadhouse rock. Samantha Fish is a frequent big winner at OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Awards.
Seats are not provided for outdoor programs. Visitors are welcome to bring chairs and blankets. No outside food or drinks are allowed and no dogs.
The New Orleans Jazz Museum is located at 400 Esplanade Avenue. For more information, visit here.
