Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Best of New Orleans Contest: YOU be Quint Davis
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Opinions are split in the Gambit office regarding the lineup for the 2009 Jazz & Heritage Festival (besides all the great local musicians, whom we're lucky enough to see all year anyway). A sampling of quotes from around the building:
• "I got a call from a friend out west who's excited about Aretha."• "James Taylor? Are they kidding?"
• "Spoon? That's cool."
• "Dave Matthews? [insert retching sound here]"
And we won't even get into the love Wilco/don't get Wilco debate. (For the record, the jam-band-lovin' folks at Jambase seem ecstatic with the lineup...as one correspondent put it, "thats a fatty lineup.")
Think you can do a better job than the Jazz Fest folk? Now's your chance.
In the comments section below, leave your suggestions for which headliners would make this The Best Damn Jazz Fest Ever, and you'll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to New Orleans Party & Costume (Mardi Gras is coming, y'all).
Deadline will be Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. The winner will be drawn at random and notified by email (so make sure you enter a valid e-addy -- we won't use it for anything else or spam you). And the winner will be announced on Blog of New Orleans on Thursday morning.
Now...channel your inner Quint. Surprise us.
Comments (4)
Showing 1-4 of 4
I have scoured the line-up and am disappointed again this year that "Oscar and the Blues Cats" don't appear to have been selected for the blues tent. They're not looking to be JF headliners...just appropriately added to the mix. Why are they worthy? These guys hold down the fort at one of the few regular blues gigs going on in New Orleans -- the Big Daddy's Juke Joint Blues Jam every Wednesday night at Deckbar and Grill. They have so many local friends who sit in on those gigs that it would have made for a great blues tent session, perhaps including Owen (Big Daddy O") Tufts (who really should have been selected for a set of his own), Bob Andrews, and other top-notch local blues players. They are every bit as worthy of a set in the blues tent as some others I see listed, and think it's an injustice that they haven't yet had a jazzfest opportunity. Wake up, Quint!
like
dislike
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks Tony Clifton Bettye LaVette, once again Al Green, once again Hell Yes! to Sharon Jones and her Dap-Kings Robert Randolph and the Family Band Sufjan Stevens and his Band of Butterflies Soul Rebels Hot 8 Brass Band Ry Cooder Bonnie Raitt & Keb' Mo Oh, and can we resurrect Tito Puente while we're at it? Kthx
Motorhead Buckethead Ramblin' Jack Elliott Beastie Boys Germs Social Distortion X Shamarr Allen Gorgoroth Eagles of Death Metal Cattle Decapitation Bad Brains Allman Brothers Supagroup
an open letter to Quint Davis: Why do you turn your back on the local musicians who performed for you almost from the beginning of the Fest? Why does your staff intentionally underpay, refuse to hire, and disrespect the local musicians who always draw at the Fest? I am speaking primarily about the city's one and only Leigh Harris, aka Little Queenie. Quint, you have known her ever since, yet you refuse to hire her? Why is that? It isn't draw- when she was there in 06 and 07, it was SRO in spite of the lousy times and places you put her- she still knocked them out and filled the chairs! I saw her at the Lagniappe, and people were asking where has she been? I heard that for the fest right after Katrina, she had to beg and claw her way to the gig and she had to dig into her own dam' pocket to pay her musicians cause you were too dam cheap to pay her! For all she has done for you, you should be ashamed to call yourself a native. You have no excuse what so ever for this. None. You should be on your knees thankful that she accepted the opportunity to play, and you should be paying her way more than you have. Quint, do the right thing and call her NOW, find her a place to play and pay her what she is worth- like three times what you have been paying her. Leigh is and has been a mainstay of the Fest and you should have her on the roster at the best times and you should be paying her what she is worth. Prove that you care about those that stayed with you and you care about New Orleans music and call her.
