At least a half hour before Young arrived and as the rain was at its worst, over at the Acura stage there was a thin crowd screaming in anticipation for the Neville Brothers. The rain subsided and the crowd filled up to numbers that the New Orleans favorites deserved.
As much as I enjoy a local-heavy Jazz Fest, I couldn't turn down an opportunity to see Neil Young performing at the Fairgrounds for the first time ever. When I heard the electric buzz of just the first few chords, I got goosebumps.
The words seem strange as I type them, but Sunday you could really catch some of the best this festival has to offer without moving from the Acura stage. Example: Allen Toussaint sat himself at the piano and belted out a string of classics from the nearly endless collection of songs he wrote, including some great Lee Dorsey and Ernie K-Doe tunes.
With everything going on it had been a while since I visited my dependable fallback the Gospel Tent. I was greeted by the Voices of Distinction, an all-female quartet studded in sparkly green dresses. Their foot-stomping soul was an absolute blast, and it felt good to know that my faith in the Gospel Tent pulled through.
Esperanza Spalding has been exploding lately, and with good reason. Her enthusiastic and earthy character is matched by an articulate and proficient style of breezy jazz. The WWOZ Jazz Tent was certainly hypnotized, and I think more than a few crushes were formed.
The Congo Square Stage was just as overflowing as its Festival schedule square for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Glass House Reunion with the Rebirth Brass Band. Later on, John Boutté put on a refreshing set at the 'OZ Jazz Tent.
I'll admit I decided to go see Freddie Ford mostly out of curiosity, but apparently he anticipated this. Twenty-seven Jazz Festivals, and way more since his R&B smash "Sea Cruise", the "New Orleans Dynamo" gladly beat us to every joke about his age that we could have imagined, to the point where his drummer would supply rimshots right on cue.
The Meter Men described themselves as senior citizen funk, but by looking and listening to them it was hard to agree. George, Leo and Zig were tight and together, playing the low-down grooves they were known for in their Meters days but with plenty of vicious shredding from Leo. Without a doubt this was one of the day's highlights at the Acura Stage.
I'm starting to think there's a competition among Blues Tent performers to outdress each other. I'm having a hard time choosing a winner so far, but Lil' Ed (pictured at right) is certainly in the running. Showy regalia aside, I'm a big fan of his recent Alligator Records release Full Tilt and was pleased to find that energy fully intact for his Jazz Fest performance.
Little Freddie King was already a big glowing square on my Jazz Fest schedule, but his single-song appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp last night really whetted my appetite. You see, despite his modest moniker and innocent smile on the cover of his MadeWright Records release, Messin' Around Tha House, Freddie's got more fire in him than plenty of performers half his age. Now I don't just mean that he can flick out devious blues riffs in his sleep; he can really (to employ some antiquated slang) shake a leg.
