Music’s always been woven into the essence of the Big Easy. And so it is the coming two weekends. The weekends of April 27 – 29 and May 3 – 6, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival sets the beat down on the bayou.
There’s far more to that beat than extemporaneous jazz, than the sound that’s so synonymous with this city. Consider some of the people scheduled to perform: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jimmy Buffett, the Neville Brothers, Al Green. We could go on, but you see what we mean.
If the sound stage is set down south, so’s the dining room table. The Heritage piece of the pie aggregates food artisans from throughout southern Louisiana. What’s on the menu?
How ‘bout Oyster Rockefeller Bisque from Food for Thought, Crawfish Strudel from Coffee Cottage, Pheasant, Quail and Andouille Gumbo from Prejean’s Restaurant, or Cajun Duck Po-Boy from Troncoso. Please, hold the hamburgers and hot dogs. They just don’t fit.
What does fit are the handicrafts fashioned artisans at the Louisiana Folklife Village. See musicians meticulously handcraft accordions, and artists create sculptures for Mardi Gras floats.
The festival’s first weekend lays out the legacy of Mardi Gras Indians. The second weekend shows off the Crafts of Latin America. As part of a celebration of Cinco de Mayo, mariachis will set the tempo. Mariachi Jalisco perform at the Folklife Village on Friday, May 5, at noon.
New Orleans weather for this time of year is pretty typical: partly cloudy this Friday and Saturday, with thunderstorms forecast for Sunday. No need to bring a coat or sweater, not in late April. The high temperature should hit about 82.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Zach Smith)
