Beating Swish to the punch, or, New Orleans Jazzfest - 2004

[dld]

Met up with The Swishes Wednesday night at a nice little wine bar in the Warehouse district. What a great couple. But who woulda thunk Swish got his nickname from those stinky little Swisher Sweets Cigarillos? Anyway, the Nasties and the Swishes had a great time! After lubing up the moving parts at the Wineloft, we went out for dinner at the Marcello Family's restaurant, "Eleven 79". It wan't on the wrong side of the tracks, it was ON the tracks. OK, 10' off them. Outstanding food with Frank S., Tony B., and Harry C Jr. piped in over the roar of the cappos and bosses.

We formed up the next morning and headed out to the fest, got lucky and found parking in the same zip code. Went to see a jazz Quintet called Tony "Oulaboula" Bazley who came highly recommended by my Bro n Law. They were tight and played some cool modern jazz. Piano, saz, drums (Mr. Bazley, 70+ yrs. old), trumpet, cello and a guest flutist for 3 songs. Good start!

Left there and went to the Blues Tent. Coco Robicheaux (Roe-beh-show) and Spiritland played. First couple of songs started out very Robin Trowerish - Bridge of Sighs era, but pretty much turned to mush after intro. Although parts of his songs connected, as a whole, his performance didn't make any of us want to go out and buy his stuff. He let a black backup singer do the lead vocal on one song and she was outstanding. More of her, less of him would have made a better show.

Next up, Kenny Neal, a third generation Baton Rouge blues guitarist - songwriter. He did a more soulful , R & B infused blues show. I didn't particularly like his last album, but he had some pretty good stuff going on here. Definitely betterr than Robicheaux.

Saw the end of Wayne Toups and Zydecajun. Prolly liked this more that Swish did. I guess its in our La. genes. Hes great in a bar, a bit less in an outdoor venue. Then the rains started. A cool, wind driven drizzle. Now for something a little bit different, I called a buddy who was supposed to meet us, on my cellphone. Got him and asked him what venue he was at. He said the Accura stage. Thats where we were. (out of 12 stages) Asked him where exactly. He says about 60 feet off to the north of the medical tent. Thats where we were. I said hold on, let me get out fromunder my umbrella and stand up and look for you. I do. Hes 15 feet away. I swear, the world is getting smaller....

Next up, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. From his catalogue of hits, Sneakin Sally Through The Alley, Yes We Can Can, Southern Nights. Mother N Law, Working In A Coalmine, and Fortune Teller, he sang the last 4 along with lesser known material. Very smooth singer and a gifted piano player. Backup vocalist took the lead on a Toussaint produced hit, Lady Marmalade, and just nailed it. A very good, tho rain marred, set.

Rain let up and we then saw The Iguanas (hot hot hot! ) and the Subdudes (not so). Could it have been an off afternoon or just material selection? Will definitely be looking for Inguanas CeeDees. Very Los Lobo-ish.

Friday was not going to be a fest day (weak schedule) and it was rained out anyway. We spent the morning at my Bro n Law's house (Studio B) and his recording studio (Noise Labs). Nick couldn't have been more gracious with his time or more entertaining with his stories of R & R history. A real trooper who's spent time in the trenches.

Bourbon Street Friday night. A roiling mass of insane partying humanity. Between the huge crowd down for Jazzfest and the PGA's SBC tournament, and the usual collection of knuckleheads, it was almost too much. Bumper to bumper people from one side of the sidewalk, across the street, to the other sidewalk side. For about ten blocks. On the plus side, live music was coming from damm near every doorway. Naked hooter sitings, two. On one body, and they were awesome. Mrs. Nasty did a great job of pretending not to see them. I didn't.

Saturday at the Fest, pent up demand from Friday's rainout, perfect weather, and a good lineup produced prodigious crowds. Parking was a joke. But we made it. First up, Anders Osbourne. Local talent, and damn near awesome. Had George Porter Jr. on sax, from the Meters with him. They just tore it up for the 3 songs we stayed for. Funky, hook laden, blues. Left early to get a good seat for Sonny Landreth. And we did. Front and center. See Chip's revue for his playing style.

A little live music (Sonny Landreth show review)

Just a freakin great show. A couple of blues thumpers that kinda drug, but for the most part, rock n roll with Zydeco influences that had everbody standing and shaking their bad thang..

Went to the jazz tent to see Dave Brubeck. Couldn't get within 50 feet of the tent much less inside. Totally congested there with fans outside of the tent just trying to hear a snippet of one of his songs. About this time, 8 days on the road took its toll, se we bugged out. Other groups we would have liked to have seen Saturday, Santana, Marcia Ball, Blind Boys From Alabama, the Funky Meters, and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Just a tremedous Saturday lineup.

All in all, a great time. Rain was a downer but it happened on a day we weren't going anyway. Meeting Paul and Mrs. Paul was a hoot and we really hope to do it again. They're so cool, they even pretended to like the Abita Turbo Dogs we brought them Anyone who believed the Swisher Sweet story, uh, don't. The man knows his cigars. Hopefully the weather held and they made it out Sunday. Hope to see more Rave Wreckers there next year.

[DarrenH]

Dave,

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for posting. Lots of great bands I see. Wow, Brubeck. Too bad you couldn't get close. The man has quite a following doesn't he. He's gotta be in his 70's by now I think.

I bet it was cool to see Sonny Landreth. Front and center, eh. No better place to be.

Ya got me curious about The Iguanas. I like some of Los Lobos stuff so I may have to check them out.

I can picture Bourbon Street being this crazy mass of humanity. Maybe not as crazy as during Mardi Gras but crazy nonetheless. Still, it be awful cool just to sit back and listen to some fine Nawlin's Jazz whilst tipping back a few.

I would imagine that it's down right impossibe to see everything. Lots of act running concurrent with each other and the people and the shear size of the event itself. I suppose there's lots of picking and choosing and some sacrificing.

Glad y'all had a good time. Rain is a bummer but ya can't stop it or prevent it. Take the good with the bad.

Post some pics. I hope somebody took some pics.

Darren

[newtrix1]

So what's better; a cheesesteak or a Po Boy?

Nice review Dave.

[Swish]

So what's better; a cheesesteak or a Po Boy?

Nice review Dave.

although the one Po Boy I had, hot sausage, what pretty decent. Keep in mind that I've probably eaten somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 or more cheesesteaks in my life, and only a couple Po Boys, so it's an unfair comparison at this point.

Swishy

[dld]

Sausage po boy? Pee Uuuu. A ferdie from Mothers would have put those skimpy cheesesteaks to shame. Glad to see ya made it back. Catch any acts Sunday? Heard the weather held out, or at least in Baton Rouge. One of the best sandwiches I ever had was a philly cheesesteak in Houston of all places. A bunch of displaced Philadelphi-ites opened up this joint downtown inthe 70's. Don't know if its still there. But while we were working downtown back then, we ate there three days a week. totally awesome.

One too many in Tulsa, totally not responsible for anything I say

[Swish]

Sausage po boy? Pee Uuuu. A ferdie from Mothers would have put those skimpy cheesesteaks to shame. Glad to see ya made it back. Catch any acts Sunday? Heard the weather held out, or at least in Baton Rouge. One of the best sandwiches I ever had was a philly cheesesteak in Houston of all places. A bunch of displaced Philadelphi-ites opened up this joint downtown inthe 70's. Don't know if its still there. But while we were working downtown back then, we ate there three days a week. totally awesome.

One too many in Tulsa, totally not responsible for anything I say

they've been making the hot sausage Po Boys since 1892 or something like that, so who was I to argue? And, yes, we did go to the Fest on Sunday and had a great time, although it was kinda chilly (low 60s) for the entire day. I'll be posting about it later today. We only returned at 8PM yesterday and I had over 75 e-mail messages to check, and that didn't include my business e-mail, so I wasn't in the mood for typing a large post last night.

Regards,
Swish

[audiobill]

Thanks for the posts folks!!

I, of course, am eating my heart out as I type this, since I wanted to go on this RR outing soooooooooo bad.

Hope to make it out there, next time.

Sounds like a great time was had by all.

Cheers,
Bill

[Chip_B]

Hope to see more Rave Wreckers there next year.

I had a long post typed up coupla days ago and lost it...damn the luck. Anyway, thanks for the review, Mr. D. I just wish we could've been there to meet you and the Swishersweets...I would've much rather received your Louisiana comp in person (and btw, thanks!). Unfortunately, the Infernal Revenue Service got a lot more of our money this year than at any time in the past and that pretty much killed the trip.

I'm glad you got the chance to see Sonny Landreth again. IMHO, he's one of the finest guitarists walking the planet, regardless of genre. It's a shame you missed Marcia Ball though. She had damned near the entire Tampa Bay Blues Fest crowd on its feet and dancing. She's a helluva lot of fun (no doubt Mrs. D woulda been shaking her 'dirty pillows').

If you and Mrs D (or Mr. and Mrs. Swish) are ever down Tampa way, we'll grill some cow flesh and then head for Skipper's Smokehouse and catch some great music and a beer or two in a more laid back and less crowded atmosphere. To give you an idea of what kind of acts they book, check this out: http://www.skipperssmokehouse.com/ve...hows2004.shtml

Anyway, thanks for the review.

-Chip

[dld]

I

I'm glad you got the chance to see Sonny Landreth again. IMHO, he's one of the finest guitarists walking the planet, regardless of genre. It's a shame you missed Marcia Ball though. She had damned near the entire Tampa Bay Blues Fest crowd on its feet and dancing. She's a helluva lot of fun (no doubt Mrs. D woulda been shaking her 'dirty pillows').

If you and Mrs D (or Mr. and Mrs. Swish) are ever down Tampa way, we'll grill some cow flesh and then head for Skipper's Smokehouse and catch some great music and a beer or two in a more laid back and less crowded atmosphere. To give you an idea of what kind of acts they book, check this out: http://www.skipperssmokehouse.com/ve...hows2004.shtml

Anyway, thanks for the review.

-Chip

You've got to be kidding!! Llet me get this straight, for an average cover of about $10-12 you get to see the likes of Calexico, Marcia Ball, So. Culture..., Radiators, No. Miss. Allstars, Hut Tuna, J. Thackery and Drivers, Beausoleil, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal, Subdudes, Flatlanders, Smy Rigby, Red Elvises, and Los Lonely Boys? Right? Now I know why you really moved down there. Plus Baby Backs, full slab, $11.99? Sorry you couldn't make it. We will get together one of these days tho. DD

[tentoze]

You've got to be kidding!! Llet me get this straight, for an average cover of about $10-12 you get to see the likes of Calexico, Marcia Ball, So. Culture..., Radiators, No. Miss. Allstars, Hut Tuna, J. Thackery and Drivers, Beausoleil, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal, Subdudes, Flatlanders, Smy Rigby, Red Elvises, and Los Lonely Boys? Right? Now I know why you really moved down there. Plus Baby Backs, full slab, $11.99? Sorry you couldn't make it. We will get together one of these days tho. DD

YAh, for some reason, Tampa seems to attract a heluva live music scene. Only disappointment I heard about the Jazz Fest was yr comment on the Subdudes, being one of my under-the-radar favorite bands..........

[Finch Platte]

I enjoyed reading that- you have a good way with a phrase.

ep

[dld]

YAh, for some reason, Tampa seems to attract a heluva live music scene. Only disappointment I heard about the Jazz Fest was yr comment on the Subdudes, being one of my under-the-radar favorite bands..........

Yea, the Subdudes were a little bit of a downer, but I gotta think it was their choice of songs. I've heard too many good things about them from folx I respect. I'll still be scoring teir new CeeDee, Miracle Mule, which is garnering good reviews.