They kept the city’s musical legacy alive in the mid- and late-20th century with the evolving contemporary music of their time, much as jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and others did in the early 1900s. John, Alan Toussaint and others - royalty among New Orleans artists. “They’ll be exposed to the indigenous culture and the older musicians and the other genres of music that the festival promotes, like Zydeco, Cajun, R&B, folk, jazz, traditional jazz, avant-garde jazz - the whole thing.”įestival elders like Porter, 75 Thomas, 82, and Moore are the contemporaries of departed greats such as Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Dr. “We have to bring those kind of bands in to attract younger people to come to the festival,” he said. “That’s what the festival’s built on,” he said. Davis estimates close to 500 of them are from New Orleans or southwest Louisiana. When it’s over Sunday night, around 580 acts will have played on more than a dozen stages. Jazz Fest unfolds over seven days that play out over two long weekends. Still, longtime Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis would argue that the home-based acts remain the real headliners. Plenty of nationally and internationally known acts populate the roster for the 2023 festival, which includes current megastars like Lizzo and Ed Sheeran and long-established crowd-pleasing artists like Santana and the Steve Miller Band. “Local and regional bands - meaning Baton Rouge, Lafayette - those acts were always the headliners,” he said. “Originally it was all local bands,” Porter said in a recent interview, reminiscing about days when he would close down one Jazz Fest stage with The Meters and run with Modeliste to another stage for a final set with piano legend Professor Longhair. So are singer Irma Thomas, the renowned “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” who first played the fest in 1974 and guitarist and singer Deacon John Moore, also a regular since 1970.

More than 50 years later, The Meters are no more, but Porter and Modeliste are still among the festival’s mainstays. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste played the very first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival in 1970 with their groundbreaking funk band The Meters. NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Bassist George Porter Jr.

Steel city jazz festival schedule