Into the Night
Navigating the music maze after dark during Jazz Fest
By Alison Fensterstock
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The Radiators
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Maybe you’re a nightclubbing hipster who can’t shake last night’s hangover in time for a noon performance at the gospel tent, or a fashion slave who wouldn’t think of dragging your Prada sandals through all that Fair Grounds dirt just to catch a few bands.
Wherever you fit in, you’ll be glad that the Jazz Fest action doesn’t stop at the Fairgrounds — all weekend the clubs are crawling with the best and brightest from in town and out. It’s time to plan your course of action, so here are a few possible stops on your journey. (For complete listings, see Gambit p. 32.)
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
Pacing yourself during the daytime shows (that means sobering up by 9 p.m. or so) means you get to catch some of the more tweaked-out underground acts this town has to offer. Peculiar pianist (and former Lydia Lunch co-conspirator) Glyn Styler fits the bill with his odd and mournful crooning at Circle Bar. Anyone who spent the day at the Fairgrounds searching in vain for the mosh pit will find solace in Soilent Green at the Dixie Taverne, spiritual home of the New Orleans homegrown punk scene, or Supagroup at the Mermaid Lounge. Garage-rock aficionados will dig the mod meowing of the Sophisticats (and the wild watusi of their accompanying Sophistikittens) at El Matador. And anyone who didn’t sober up for the evening will find inebriated camaraderie with the Morning 40 Federation, who’ll be laying down their “sleazy burlesque” and knocking back hard liquor at the Dragon’s Den.
To many, modern New Orleans music means bringing out the funk. Galactic drummer Stanton Moore does just that at the Howlin’ Wolf with Moore & More, as does Papa Grows Funk at the Maple Leaf. The Radiators mix it up with old-style rock and funk at Tipitina’s, and Mid-City Lanes presents a triple threat of New Orleans hybrid roots rock and R&B with Anders Osborne, Tab Benoit, and the Iguanas.
The old-school New Orleans style is well represented in the clubs as well, whether it’s zydeco, classic blues, R&B or jazz. As for the latter, esteemed patriarch and pianist Ellis Marsalis presides over two sets at Snug Harbor, and the equally venerable Pete Fountain heats up his eponymous club. Representing for New Orleans’ other famous musical family, the Neville Brothers begin a three-night stand at House of Blues. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters and Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys rock the washboard and the accordion at the Maple Leaf and Storyville District, respectively.
Right before Rosie, Kermit Ruffins struts with his Barbecue Swingers at Storyville District, while more sedate horn man Jeremy Davenport plays for the civilized crowd at the Ritz-Carlton. Across the river, Walter “Wolfman” Washington serves up the blues at Algiers’ Old Point Bar, while over on this side, the wicked six-stringer Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown does the same at Mama’s Blues.
And for something off the beaten path, the 10th annual Touro Synagogue Jazz Fest Shabbat welcomes Matt Turk and Teku, an all-star lineup of musicians from New York and Israel.
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The Neville Brothers
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SATURDAY, APRIL 28
If you wore yourself out Friday, you can still catch several acts doing a repeat in the clubs tonight, like Jeremy Lyons at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Cafe, where the down-home boy regularly breaks out some serious slide guitar with his bluesy, honky-tonk rockabilly. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. at Mid-City Lanes and Rosie Ledet with Sunpie Barnes at Mama’s Blues. Anders Osborne is sandwiched in between the indomitable Dr. John and local funkmasters Galactic at Tipitina’s. House of Blues pits Kermit Ruffins vs. Irvin Mayfield after Charlie Hunter in the Parish.
The running Saturday night show at El Matador features the dancers and guitarists of Allianza Flamenco, which fit in perfectly with the velvet bullfighter paintings on the walls. Los Hombres Calientes also grooves Latin-style at Tipitina’s French Quarter. Local funk hybrid Iris May Tango will definitely be rocking Checkpoint Charlie’s, and equally diverse soul/funk/groovesters Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe are at the Howlin’ Wolf. If you didn’t get enough of hot, sweaty crowds during the day, Circle Bar (famous for high-energy, crowd-drawing shows in a teeny-tiny space) presents the Creole-flavored blues of Li’l Buck Sinegal and Rudy Richard. For a little more room to breathe (and swankier air for the breathing) check out local retro swing king Johnny Angel & the Swingin’ Demons rocking vintage hip and mile-high pompadours at the Red Room. And for truly authentic ’40s-style torchy blues, treat yourself to a set or two from saucy octogenarian songstress Hadda Brooks at the Shim Sham Club.
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Anders Osborne
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SUNDAY, APRIL 29
The upstairs opium den-like bar at Dragon’s Den will get treated to the anything-but-loungey sounds of hot Cuban-music quartet Los Vecinos. Dr. John hosts another hoodoo happening tonight at Tipitina’s, while the Neville Brothers reprise at the House of Blues.
Few things (except the food areas at the Fair Grounds) have more local flavor than brass bands in terms of sheer foot-stomping energy. They’re out in abundance tonight to close the first weekend of Jazz Fest with a literal bang (or at least a racket), from the New Orleans Nightcrawlers at the Funky Butt to ReBirth Brass Band at Mid-City Lanes to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band following Charmaine Neville at Storyville District. Anders Osborne follows ReBirth upstairs while Snooks Eaglin gets downstairs at Mid-City Lanes.
Uptown, John Mooney & Bluesiana and Walter “Wolfman” Washington shake the Maple Leaf with New Orleans-style blues. Or for something less old-fashioned, check out Sound Tribe Sector 9’s mix of electric jam and futuristic electronica at House of Blues in the wee hours. Astral Project gets cosmic with modern jazz at the Old Point Bar, while the Nicholas Payton Quartet stays classic at Snug Harbor. And for a taste of something really different, check out spoken word with a local flavor at the Red Room with the PoZazz Jazz and Poetry Slam, a combination of live jazz and beat-style performance poetry.
Now rest up, because next weekend it’s time to get up and do it all again.
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