Gambit's picks for Jazz Fest's second Friday.
Enkele
11:20 a.m.-12 p.m. Friday
Festival Stage
3:30-4:20 p.m. Friday
Cultural Exchange Pavilion
While women have been welcomed as singers in traditional Afro-Colombian music, they rarely have been found playing instruments. The all-women group Enkele is breaking that barrier in Colombian music through its percussion-forward music from the northern regions of the country.
Patrice Fisher & Arpa
12:40-1:30 p.m. Friday
Lagniappe Stage
New Orleans harpist Patrice Fisher and her group Arpa focus on Latin jazz with some local flavor thrown in. Fisher has been a Jazz Fest staple since the early ’90s, and this year, she’ll be joined by guest musicians from French Guyana and Martinique.
Creole Group
12:40-1:40 p.m. Friday
Cultural Exchange Pavilion
3:15-4:15 p.m. Friday
Jazz & Heritage Stage
Hailing from San Andres, a Caribbean island governed by Colombia, Creole Group formed in 1986 as a way to preserve the island’s Creole language and musical identity. Using acoustic guitars, mandolin, a jaw bone and washtub bass, the band plays a blend of calypso, mento, reggae, quadrille and other Caribbean styles.
Creole Group also plays at 12:40 p.m. Saturday in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion.
Bejuco
1:30-2:20 p.m. Friday
Congo Square Stage
5-6 p.m. Friday
Cultural Exchange Pavilion
From Tumaco, a city along Colombia’s Pacific Coast, Bejuco roots its sound in marimba music, bambuco and Afro-Colombian musical traditions, but also incorporates Afrobeat, rap and other global influences for a high-energy, percussive style the band has coined “bambuco beat.” The group of forward-looking musicians released its captivating first album, “Batea,” in 2021.
Bejuco also plays Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion and at 4:35 p.m. on the Jazz & Heritage Stage.
Germaine Bazzle will perform Friday at Jazz Fest.
Germaine Bazzle
1:30-2:20 p.m. Friday
WWOZ Jazz Tent
Germaine Bazzle has been recognized as New Orleans’ “First Lady of Jazz” and drawn acclaim for her vocal abilities and expert knowledge of the American Songbook. Last year, though, she decided to retire, and there just aren’t as many opportunities anymore to see Bazzle perform. Jazz Fest is a special occasion — and a rare chance that shouldn’t be missed.
Anders Osborne
1:30-2:35 p.m. Friday
Festival Stage
By the time he takes the Jazz Fest stage, roots rocker Anders Osborne will have just released his 17th full-length album, “Picasso’s Villa.” On his latest record, the New Orleans singer-guitarist reflects on American life between 2018-2021, the fears and chaos but also the good that can be found in friendship, family and self-work. Osborne is acclaimed for his fierce guitar work, and along with his extensive solo career, he has written hits for artists including Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and Keb Mo.
Girls Play Trumpet Too
1:50-2:35 p.m. Friday
Children’s Tent
Girls Play Trumpet Too is a music education program teaching the trumpet to New Orleans girls ages 8-19 and introducing them into the city’s brass band tradition. The group has been showcased at the Satchmo SummerFest, and now the young women of Girls Play Trumpet Too will show off their skills at Jazz Fest’s Children’s Tent. Trumpeter and educator Troy Sawyer started the group in 2022, and earlier this year, he and two of the program’s students appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
Charlie Gabriel & Friends
1:55-2:45 p.m. Friday
Economy Hall
Charlie Gabriel, a clarinetist, saxophonist and flutist, was raised in a family of New Orleans musicians and started playing with the Eureka Brass Band when he was just 11 years old. In the 80 years since then, Gabriel has played with Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Doc Cheatham and many others. Today, he’s the musical director of the Preservation Hall Foundation and a New Orleans jazz icon. He released an album, “89,” in 2022.
Cyril Neville
2:40-3:40 p.m. Friday
Congo Square Stage
A member of The Meters and The Neville Brothers, leader of Swamp Funk and Tribe 13 and a collaborator with acts like Galactic, Cyril Neville is one of the living legends of New Orleans funk. His Jazz Fest sets tend to include originals, some New Orleans staples and occasionally a Wild Tchoupitoulas song.
Arrianne Keelen
2:50-3:35 p.m. Friday
Gospel Tent
New Orleans-born vocalist Arrianne Keelen has performed with gospel musicians Don Moen, Lisa McClendon, Cynthia Liggins-Thomas, and she won the Essence Making a Star Competition, leading to a performance at the Apollo Theater. In her solo performances, Keelen blends gospel and contemporary soul.
Allison Russell
3:55-5:05 p.m. Friday
Blues Tent
Before launching her solo career, Americana singer-songwriter Allison Russell performed in the roots bands Po’ Girl, Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters, the acclaimed project with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Leyla McCalla. Her 2021 album, “Outside Child,” was met with a wave of accolades, as was the follow-up, last year’s “The Returner.” With funk, soul and R&B influences, “The Returner” is an album about finding joy “despite all of the turmoil and tragedy and trouble,” Russell told Gambit last year.
Terence Blanchard will perform Friday at Jazz Fest.
Terence Blanchard
4:10-5:20 p.m. Friday
WWOZ Jazz Tent
Since last year’s Jazz Fest, New Orleans-born trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and became the executive artistic director of the prestigious San Francisco organization SFJazz. In 2023, he won a Grammy for the recording of his opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” He’ll again be joined at this year’s festival by the E-Collective and the classical and jazz string group The Turtle Island Quartet.
Lulu & The Broadsides
4:15-5:05 p.m. Friday
Lagniappe Stage
Lulu & The Broadsides plays vintage-style rhythm and blues meant for dancing. Vocalist Dayna Kurtz fronts this top-notch band with bassist James Singleton, guitarist Robert Mache, drummer Randy Crafton and pianist Glenn Hartman. Their 2022 self-titled debut will help loosen up your feet.
The Lee Boys
4:25-5:35 p.m. Friday
Fais Do-Do Stage
The Lee Boys specialize in sacred steel, a genre centered around the steel guitar, rooted in gospel and Black church traditions and fired up with blues, rock and funk. The energetic family band formed in south Florida and over the last 20 years have toured consistently and performed with artists like Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples and Robert Plant. The Lee Boys will be interviewed at 2:15 on the Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage.
Tubad
4:45-5:30 p.m. Friday
Rhythmpourium
New Orleans multi-instrumentalist and singer Tubad blends laid-back soul, hip-hop and funk. Along with his original music, Tubad also is a producer who makes his own beats and plays trumpet and electric clarinet around the French Quarter. This is his Jazz Fest debut.
Foo Fighters
5-7 p.m. Friday
Festival Stage
The Foo Fighters’ return to Jazz Fest has been a long road. The rock band was scheduled for the 2020 and 2021 festivals, which were both canceled due to the pandemic, and it seemed things were in the clear for them to headline in 2022. But drummer Taylor Hawkins’ sudden death that spring prompted Dave Grohl and the band to cancel the rest of their dates and take some time to process the loss. There was an outpouring of heartbreak over the news, including tributes from Stevie Nicks and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Jazz Fest 2022. After a tough year, Foo Fighters released the powerful album “But Here We Are” last summer in memory of Hawkins and Grohl’s late mother, Virginia.
Hozier
5:30-7 p.m. Friday
Gentilly Stage
Hozier came out of the gate in 2013 with a juggernaut of a debut song, “Take Me To Church.” The bluesy, gospel-tinged hymn to his lover was — and still is — everywhere, and people have been enthralled with Hozier’s warm, powerful baritone ever since. The soul and folk-inspired singer-songwriter last year released his third full-length album, “Unreal Unearth,” and followed it up last month with the EP, “Unheard,” which includes a new hit, the thumping slow burn “Too Sweet.”
Steel Pulse
5:35-7 p.m., Friday
Congo Square Stage
Anchored by founding singer-guitarist David Hinds and longtime keyboardist Selwyn Brown, the British reggae band Steel Pulse is closing in on 50 years of anti-oppression, social justice-focused music. The band’s new music output has slowed in recent years — there’s been just two full-lengths since the ’90s — but Steel Pulse maintains a busy tour schedule and is a leader in the roots reggae scene.
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
5:35-7 p.m. Friday
Blues Tent
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram was on fire during his Jazz Fest debut last year. The Grammy-winning Mississippi singer-guitarist has been heralded as one of the leading players in a young generation carrying forward the blues torch, and his soul-digging set in the Blues Tent proved it. In January, Ingram released his first live album, recorded last summer in London. He’ll also sit down for an interview with American Routes host Nick Spitzer at 3:15 p.m. Friday on the Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage.
Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rodailleurs
6-7 p.m. Friday
Fais Do-Do Stage
Jourdan Thibodeaux, a native of Cypress Island (south of Breaux Bridge), is among a group of young south Louisiana musicians working to not only preserve but progress Louisiana French and Cajun music. Recently, he’s been gaining a social media following with his “Louisiana French du jour” lessons — which are usually pretty good Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes told in French. Along with his set with his band Les Rodailleurs on the Fais Do-Do Stage, he’ll play a trio show earlier in the day with Cedric Watson and Joel Savoy at 3:35-4:20 p.m. Friday in the Rhythmpourium.
Gambit previews the second weekend of Jazz Fest 2024.
The Rolling Stones headline Thursday at Jazz Fest, and there's plenty of other acts leading up to their show.
Gambit's picks for the second Saturday out at Jazz Fest.
Gambit's picks for the final day of Jazz Fest 2024.
Information about going cashless, transportation, the Food Heritage Stage and more.
Here is a map of the Jazz Fest grounds and daily schedules for both weekends.
