Thrills and chills A look back at Jazz Fest 2013. By Count Basin
With help from Megan BradenPerry, Deborah Cotton, Will Coviello, Frank Etheridge, Ken Korman, David Kunian, Lauren LaBorde, Ian McNulty, Brad Rhines, Michael Patrick Welch, Missy Wilkinson and Alex Woodward
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ount Basin™ weathered all the highs and lows of an exciting New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. There was everything from Fleetwood Mac’s two hour and 20 minute set on the Acura stage to Canadian DJs of A Tribe Called Red shorting out the sound system in the Native American Pavilion with their revved up electric powwow. Days were split between sunny skies and heavy showers, but the mud pits stayed. Several bands offered tributes to George Jones, who died April 26. The festival also gained a new ancestor, as a marker dedicated to the Treme Brass Band’s “Uncle” Lionel Batiste was added to the grounds and there were secondline parades on both the grounds and in Economy Hall Tent. It was seven days full of memorable moments. Here are some of the Count’s highlights. Warming up As temperatures rose on opening day, shooting star bluesman Gary Clark Jr. unleashed his signature scorching of Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone from the Sun” mixed with the R&B groove of Albert Collins’ “If you Love Me Like you Say.” Hip-horns The Soul Rebels flexed some muscle and showed the band’s range as it moved from a Curtis Mayfield tune into an extended jam between all horns that drummer Derrick “Oops” Moss thumped into “504” — a mashup of hiphop grooves highlighted by call-and-response with the enthusiastic Gentilly Stage crowd.
Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham peformed most of the material from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours in their set. PHOTO By SCOTT SALTzMAN
Heart strings Cajun trio T’Monde added rich vocal harmonies to its traditional accordionfiddle-guitar lineup throughout its set on the Fais Do-Do Stage, with songs like “Miller’s Cave” by D.L. Menard. “George Jones passed away this morning,” frontman Drew Simon told the stunned crowd. “We just heard it on the radio on the way up from Lafayette.” The band then launched into a moving version of Jones’ “Flame In My Heart.” Later in the set, the nonsequitur “No drums?” came suddenly from the audience. “It’s too early for drums,” responded fiddle player Kelli Jones-Savoy. Road work With Paul Sanchez’s entire Rolling Road Show band on stage, the set was delayed as the sound crew struggled to get Alex McMurray’s mic working. When it came on, Sanchez deadpanned, “This was a conceptual performance piece to show that from one voice rises community.” In a warm and powerful set, Sanchez repeatedly turned the spotlight on regulars including Debbie Davis, Shamarr Allen,
McMurray and special guests including Fats Domino’s grandson Chevis Brimmer, who wowed the crowd with his R&B song “Angel.” Return of the Night Tripper With twin skulls resting atop his grand piano, Dr. John conjured the spirits in a convincing set with his lean-andmean Night Trippers band. He dipped into fresh material from his recent Grammy-winning album Locked Down, produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, and went back in time with classics like “Walk on Gilded Splinters,” during which he prowled the stage using voodoo implements as percussion. Dr. John picked up a red Telecaster for “Let the Good Times Roll,” peeling off classic guitar riffs that recalled his days in the late 1950s with bands like Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners. Neck and neck Anders Osborne turned in a blistering set of classic rock at the Gentilly Stage. Set opener “Burning on the Inside” evolved into a dueling guitar jam with special guest Luther Dick-
inson of North Mississippi Allstars, before ending with a reggae-inflected coda. Osborne wove the Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower” around his old-school romp “Greasy Money” (from the 1999 album Living Room). With a relentless two-guitar attack throughout the lengthy set, Osborne and Dickinson — occasionally playing slide at the same time — sounded like a slightly heavier version of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman in Derek and the Dominos. Northern exposure The Canadian hip-hop trio A Tribe Called Red started an early set on the Gentilly Stage with a traditional flourish: dancers in traditional Native American costumes. Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau, Dan “DJ Shub” General and Bear Witness mix a reggae and dub-step influenced blend of beats with Native Nations songs and chants. The vocal chants and slow tempo create a mellow, original and compelling sound. The DJs pumped some politics into the final tune when they dedicated it to “racist sports teams everywhere.” The song sampled the Hollywood