This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/arts/music/new-orleans-jazz-festival-50th-anniversary.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Jazz Fest at 50: The Stubbornness and Joy of New Orleans Jazz Fest at 50: The Stubbornness and Joy of New Orleans
(about 20 hours later)
It started small, half a century ago, but with a mission.It started small, half a century ago, but with a mission.
The first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was held in 1970 in Beauregard Square, previously and afterward known as Congo Square, where African drumming and dancing had persisted through the era of slavery. It was modeled on the traditional-music showcases at the Newport Folk Festival, but filled entirely with Louisiana’s own styles — jazz, blues, gospel, brass bands, zydeco, Mardi Gras Indians and much more. Duke Ellington, the only performer without Louisiana roots, was commissioned to write and perform a “New Orleans Suite.” Nearly two dozen food vendors offered jambalaya, étouffée and other specialties.The first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was held in 1970 in Beauregard Square, previously and afterward known as Congo Square, where African drumming and dancing had persisted through the era of slavery. It was modeled on the traditional-music showcases at the Newport Folk Festival, but filled entirely with Louisiana’s own styles — jazz, blues, gospel, brass bands, zydeco, Mardi Gras Indians and much more. Duke Ellington, the only performer without Louisiana roots, was commissioned to write and perform a “New Orleans Suite.” Nearly two dozen food vendors offered jambalaya, étouffée and other specialties.
Tickets were $3. But only about 300 people showed up, and the overstocked vendors ended up feeding children from a nearby orphanage.Tickets were $3. But only about 300 people showed up, and the overstocked vendors ended up feeding children from a nearby orphanage.
Yet the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has proved ambitious and resilient: It has survived deficits, rainouts and the aftermath of hurricanes. As it enters its 50th official run on Thursday, Jazz Fest, as everyone calls it, has grown inseparable from the cultural ecosystem of its hometown, embracing the sounds of the city and welcoming outsiders to enjoy them.Yet the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has proved ambitious and resilient: It has survived deficits, rainouts and the aftermath of hurricanes. As it enters its 50th official run on Thursday, Jazz Fest, as everyone calls it, has grown inseparable from the cultural ecosystem of its hometown, embracing the sounds of the city and welcoming outsiders to enjoy them.
“Jazz Fest is everything that you love about New Orleans to begin with,” said Ivan Neville, the keyboardist who made his first appearance there in 1977; he is performing this year with his band Dumpstaphunk and in the Foundation of Funk with the rhythm section of the Meters, the band co-founded in 1965 by his father, Art Neville. “It’s the most variety of music that you’ll ever see in one given place, so that’s first, and then the best food that you will ever eat in your entire life.” “Jazz Fest is everything that you love about New Orleans to begin with,” said Ivan Neville, the keyboardist who made his first appearance there in 1977; he is performing this year with his band Dumpstaphunk and in the Foundation of Funk with the rhythm section of the Meters, the band co-founded in 1965 by his uncle, Art Neville. “It’s the most variety of music that you’ll ever see in one given place, so that’s first, and then the best food that you will ever eat in your entire life.”
[Never miss a pop music story: Get our weekly newsletter, Louder.]
In recent years, Jazz Fest has drawn between 400,000 and 500,000 attendees across its two extended weekends; its peak, in 2001, was 618,000. Festival organizers estimate that it brings $300 million into the New Orleans economy. This year’s event includes nationally known headliners and hitmakers, among them Katy Perry, J Balvin, Chris Stapleton, Diana Ross and Pitbull, as well as habitual Jazz Fest performers including Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Buffett, Al Green, Herbie Hancock and the Dave Matthews Band.In recent years, Jazz Fest has drawn between 400,000 and 500,000 attendees across its two extended weekends; its peak, in 2001, was 618,000. Festival organizers estimate that it brings $300 million into the New Orleans economy. This year’s event includes nationally known headliners and hitmakers, among them Katy Perry, J Balvin, Chris Stapleton, Diana Ross and Pitbull, as well as habitual Jazz Fest performers including Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Buffett, Al Green, Herbie Hancock and the Dave Matthews Band.
Yet while visiting attractions have boosted attendance, they have never defined the festival. Quint Davis, who has booked music for Jazz Fest since it began and is now the C.E.O. of Festival Productions-New Orleans, noted that this year’s lineup includes 688 groups, “and 600 of them are from New Orleans and South Louisiana.”Yet while visiting attractions have boosted attendance, they have never defined the festival. Quint Davis, who has booked music for Jazz Fest since it began and is now the C.E.O. of Festival Productions-New Orleans, noted that this year’s lineup includes 688 groups, “and 600 of them are from New Orleans and South Louisiana.”
That dedicated focus on the local is the core of the festival, which has bolstered the sublime stubbornness of New Orleans culture — where continuity is cherished and singular local customs are continued across generations — and brought worldwide appreciation to what were once just neighborhood festivities. “There’s no question that Jazz Fest has been the event that put New Orleans music on the map,” said Jan Ramsey, the publisher and editor in chief of the New Orleans music magazine OffBeat.That dedicated focus on the local is the core of the festival, which has bolstered the sublime stubbornness of New Orleans culture — where continuity is cherished and singular local customs are continued across generations — and brought worldwide appreciation to what were once just neighborhood festivities. “There’s no question that Jazz Fest has been the event that put New Orleans music on the map,” said Jan Ramsey, the publisher and editor in chief of the New Orleans music magazine OffBeat.
Jazz Fest has maintained its mandate because it operates far differently from other American festivals its size. Its music encompasses vintage jazz to chart-topping reggaeton; its audience is genuinely all-ages. It takes place in daylight, ending at 7 p.m. — which not only encourages visitors to seek out night life, but also rules out stage spectacles dependent on lights and video, emphasizing old-school musicianship instead.Jazz Fest has maintained its mandate because it operates far differently from other American festivals its size. Its music encompasses vintage jazz to chart-topping reggaeton; its audience is genuinely all-ages. It takes place in daylight, ending at 7 p.m. — which not only encourages visitors to seek out night life, but also rules out stage spectacles dependent on lights and video, emphasizing old-school musicianship instead.
More significantly, Jazz Fest is nonprofit, channeling revenues back into Louisiana music. “The mission of the festival all along has been to make a full circle,” Davis said. “To go back and support the culture that you’re promoting.”More significantly, Jazz Fest is nonprofit, channeling revenues back into Louisiana music. “The mission of the festival all along has been to make a full circle,” Davis said. “To go back and support the culture that you’re promoting.”
Jazz Fest generates about $3 million each year for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, according to the foundation’s executive director, Don Marshall. The foundation owns the license of the New Orleans public radio station WWOZ-FM — which plays the kind of music heard at the festival year-round — and provides the bulk of its funding. The foundation also gives 8,500 Jazz Fest tickets to community groups; runs the free Heritage School of Music and supports other music-education programs; presents four free annual music festivals in New Orleans; subsidizes performances by Louisiana musicians across the state; underwrites a musicians’ clinic; documents the region’s musical history, and steps in with other efforts at maintaining New Orleans traditions.Jazz Fest generates about $3 million each year for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, according to the foundation’s executive director, Don Marshall. The foundation owns the license of the New Orleans public radio station WWOZ-FM — which plays the kind of music heard at the festival year-round — and provides the bulk of its funding. The foundation also gives 8,500 Jazz Fest tickets to community groups; runs the free Heritage School of Music and supports other music-education programs; presents four free annual music festivals in New Orleans; subsidizes performances by Louisiana musicians across the state; underwrites a musicians’ clinic; documents the region’s musical history, and steps in with other efforts at maintaining New Orleans traditions.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the foundation arranged to buy beads and feathers for the Mardi Gras Indian tribes who, in a New Orleans tradition, sew new, eye-popping costumes each year and dance in the streets — and did so even after losing everything in the storm. And when the city raised the price of police permits for street parades, affecting jazz funerals and other community events, the foundation helped pay for them.After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the foundation arranged to buy beads and feathers for the Mardi Gras Indian tribes who, in a New Orleans tradition, sew new, eye-popping costumes each year and dance in the streets — and did so even after losing everything in the storm. And when the city raised the price of police permits for street parades, affecting jazz funerals and other community events, the foundation helped pay for them.
“In so many areas the heritage traditions are struggling to survive,” Marshall said. “But in New Orleans they’re growing. There are more Mardi Gras Indians now than there were before Katrina.”“In so many areas the heritage traditions are struggling to survive,” Marshall said. “But in New Orleans they’re growing. There are more Mardi Gras Indians now than there were before Katrina.”
The festival’s own legacy began with the producer George Wein. He had presented the Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival, and in the early 1960s he was approached by New Orleans city officials and its hotel association. He told them he could not produce a jazz festival in a city that enforced segregation.The festival’s own legacy began with the producer George Wein. He had presented the Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival, and in the early 1960s he was approached by New Orleans city officials and its hotel association. He told them he could not produce a jazz festival in a city that enforced segregation.
Eventually, years after the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, he seized the chance to create a New Orleans festival “combining the two festivals I had done in Newport, the folk and the jazz,” he said in an interview. He didn’t want to simply import well-known musicians for jazz concerts in auditoriums; for him, the “heritage” aspect of the festival, bringing all of New Orleans’s musical subcultures to the stage, was paramount from the start. “We had in mind to create a permanent relationship with the culture of New Orleans,” he said.Eventually, years after the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, he seized the chance to create a New Orleans festival “combining the two festivals I had done in Newport, the folk and the jazz,” he said in an interview. He didn’t want to simply import well-known musicians for jazz concerts in auditoriums; for him, the “heritage” aspect of the festival, bringing all of New Orleans’s musical subcultures to the stage, was paramount from the start. “We had in mind to create a permanent relationship with the culture of New Orleans,” he said.
Davis, a New Orleans native, had coinciding ambitions. “My first idea was to have the world’s biggest backyard barbecue, like the old rent parties,” he said.Davis, a New Orleans native, had coinciding ambitions. “My first idea was to have the world’s biggest backyard barbecue, like the old rent parties,” he said.
That first festival in 1970 lost $40,000, then a sizable downside. But it survived a few shaky years and soon outgrew Beauregard Square, moving to its current site, the Fair Grounds racetrack, where it could add more stages and more food vendors, all still homegrown. This year’s festival has 14 stages, large and small, and five dozen food vendors.That first festival in 1970 lost $40,000, then a sizable downside. But it survived a few shaky years and soon outgrew Beauregard Square, moving to its current site, the Fair Grounds racetrack, where it could add more stages and more food vendors, all still homegrown. This year’s festival has 14 stages, large and small, and five dozen food vendors.
The festival became self-supporting by the mid-1970s, and Wein’s Festival Productions considered turning it into a for-profit corporation. But the New Orleans-based staff resisted that idea, and Wein conceded. In his memoir, “Myself Among Others,” he wrote, “It was probably the biggest financial mistake I ever made.”The festival became self-supporting by the mid-1970s, and Wein’s Festival Productions considered turning it into a for-profit corporation. But the New Orleans-based staff resisted that idea, and Wein conceded. In his memoir, “Myself Among Others,” he wrote, “It was probably the biggest financial mistake I ever made.”
Decades later, the many repeat visitors to Jazz Fest — often wearing past years’ souvenir New Orleans-themed Hawaiian shirts — bask in its routines. They welcome the annual reappearance of favorite performers, including New Orleans R&B stalwarts like Irma Thomas and Clarence (Frogman) Henry, long-running groups like the Rebirth Brass Band and members of Louisiana music dynasties like the Neville, Chenier and Marsalis families.Decades later, the many repeat visitors to Jazz Fest — often wearing past years’ souvenir New Orleans-themed Hawaiian shirts — bask in its routines. They welcome the annual reappearance of favorite performers, including New Orleans R&B stalwarts like Irma Thomas and Clarence (Frogman) Henry, long-running groups like the Rebirth Brass Band and members of Louisiana music dynasties like the Neville, Chenier and Marsalis families.
In 1970, the pianist Ellis Marsalis advised the first festival on booking the city’s up-and-coming jazz bandleaders. “George didn’t know the musicians yet, and I knew all of the musicians that could play,” Marsalis recalled. “I said, yeah, no problem.” Now 84, Marsalis will be performing his compositions at Jazz Fest on April 28 with his four sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason.In 1970, the pianist Ellis Marsalis advised the first festival on booking the city’s up-and-coming jazz bandleaders. “George didn’t know the musicians yet, and I knew all of the musicians that could play,” Marsalis recalled. “I said, yeah, no problem.” Now 84, Marsalis will be performing his compositions at Jazz Fest on April 28 with his four sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason.
After years of growth, the first decade of the 2000s brought challenges for Jazz Fest. The 2003 festival was a financial and physical washout, rained out for five days and running a large loss. The foundation’s executive committee courted new producers, until Davis and Festival Productions-New Orleans arranged a partnership with A.E.G. Entertainment, the second largest promoter of music events worldwide (after Live Nation).After years of growth, the first decade of the 2000s brought challenges for Jazz Fest. The 2003 festival was a financial and physical washout, rained out for five days and running a large loss. The foundation’s executive committee courted new producers, until Davis and Festival Productions-New Orleans arranged a partnership with A.E.G. Entertainment, the second largest promoter of music events worldwide (after Live Nation).
“Up till then,” Davis recalled, “We’re down here doing this, we’ve got no connections professionally to the outside world, we’ve got no clout, we’re not connected to the music industry. When we partnered with A.E.G., now, if we needed a big gun, we had the second biggest company in music behind us.”“Up till then,” Davis recalled, “We’re down here doing this, we’ve got no connections professionally to the outside world, we’ve got no clout, we’re not connected to the music industry. When we partnered with A.E.G., now, if we needed a big gun, we had the second biggest company in music behind us.”
Instead of cutting his talent budget, Davis said, A.E.G. raised it considerably; since then, Jazz Fest has had more nationally known acts alongside its Louisiana staples. “They’re not telling me who to get,” Davis said, “but they’ve rebuilt the financial structure.”Instead of cutting his talent budget, Davis said, A.E.G. raised it considerably; since then, Jazz Fest has had more nationally known acts alongside its Louisiana staples. “They’re not telling me who to get,” Davis said, “but they’ve rebuilt the financial structure.”
Then came Katrina in August 2005. New Orleans was emptied. The local groups that are the heart of Jazz Fest — gospel choirs, second-line marchers, Mardi Gras Indians — were dispersed. The Fair Grounds infrastructure was severely damaged by flooding.Then came Katrina in August 2005. New Orleans was emptied. The local groups that are the heart of Jazz Fest — gospel choirs, second-line marchers, Mardi Gras Indians — were dispersed. The Fair Grounds infrastructure was severely damaged by flooding.
Jazz Fest considered locations outside New Orleans, but decided to rebuild at home. It lined up a corporate sponsor, Shell. Musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Dave Matthews and Lionel Richie agreed to perform. Electricity and plumbing were reinstalled in time to erect the seemingly unchanged stages and food booths, like Vaucresson’s Sausage Company, which had been at every Jazz Fest. Its factory had been destroyed by the hurricane; a competitor lent his facilities to get it through the event.Jazz Fest considered locations outside New Orleans, but decided to rebuild at home. It lined up a corporate sponsor, Shell. Musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Dave Matthews and Lionel Richie agreed to perform. Electricity and plumbing were reinstalled in time to erect the seemingly unchanged stages and food booths, like Vaucresson’s Sausage Company, which had been at every Jazz Fest. Its factory had been destroyed by the hurricane; a competitor lent his facilities to get it through the event.
Many musicians and festivalgoers were returning to their hometown for the first time since the storm. It was a deeply tearful celebration, a sign of how much Jazz Fest had become a symbol and ritual of New Orleans.Many musicians and festivalgoers were returning to their hometown for the first time since the storm. It was a deeply tearful celebration, a sign of how much Jazz Fest had become a symbol and ritual of New Orleans.
Jazz Fest has held steady in the years since, though booking troubles caused some headaches this year. Jazz Fest was to feature the Rolling Stones on May 2, but the band suddenly dropped out, postponing its tour so that Mick Jagger could undergo heart surgery. Fleetwood Mac was announced as a replacement, then canceled, citing health problems for Stevie Nicks. The jam band Widespread Panic finally took over the slot.Jazz Fest has held steady in the years since, though booking troubles caused some headaches this year. Jazz Fest was to feature the Rolling Stones on May 2, but the band suddenly dropped out, postponing its tour so that Mick Jagger could undergo heart surgery. Fleetwood Mac was announced as a replacement, then canceled, citing health problems for Stevie Nicks. The jam band Widespread Panic finally took over the slot.
A continuing question for Jazz Fest, Ramsey said, is, “How does the festival change and adjust to keep its focus on the heritage music, and also still satisfy an audience and draw the numbers that it needs to survive financially?”A continuing question for Jazz Fest, Ramsey said, is, “How does the festival change and adjust to keep its focus on the heritage music, and also still satisfy an audience and draw the numbers that it needs to survive financially?”
But in 2019, Jazz Fest will proudly serve up its familiar pleasures. Over five decades, it has become a tradition of its own. “The real bulwark of our success,” Davis said, “is not knowing any better.”But in 2019, Jazz Fest will proudly serve up its familiar pleasures. Over five decades, it has become a tradition of its own. “The real bulwark of our success,” Davis said, “is not knowing any better.”