Having some rare hours free on a Sunday afternoon, I caught a quick gym workout when I heard Ray Nagin had been re-elected mayor of New Orleans. The same Ray Nagin dressed as a would-be Willie Wonka on tee shirts throughout NOLA's French quarter, starring in "Nagin and the Chocolate City."
Absolutely amazing.
All this after my beloved and I returned two weeks ago from the second weekend of NO's Jazz and Heritage Festival, which this year was as much an act of defiance as celebration for the city's music and culture. The big names showed up: Keith Urban gave a rollicking set for what seemed to be a sea of teenagers and young adults, walking through the festival crowd as he sang "You'll Think of Me" and "Days Gone By." He closed the song by quoting with lines from Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising," continuing a theme the Boss himself established with his stunning Jazz Fest appearance the week before.
Jimmy Buffett, one of the most reliable concert attractions ever, graced the stage Saturday afternoon amidst reports of storms heading to New Orleans. The storms broke in two and went around the city, just as Jimmy said he was promised by two nuns he'd seen that morning in the Quarter. He then sang "City of New Orleans," partly to salute the city and for closure after performing the song during his legendary performance at Chicago's Wriglet Field. He worked from there through his classics, mixing New Orleans references in like Chef Paul's spice in songs like "I Will Work for Gumbo," "Come Monday," "Brown Eyed Girl," and a jamming version of Jerry Garcia's "Deal." And yes, the crowd yelled for salt during "Margaritaville," and finned to the left and to the right.
Paul Simon was the key national attraction for Sunday, with warm versions of early Simon & Garfunkel and solo hits ("Slip Slidin' Away," "Me and Julio," a rollicking "Cecilia." He also invited local heroes Irma Thomas, Allen Touissant, and Buckwheat Zydeco to play with him on "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Graceland." His fine set had even more impact when it was announced festival closer Fats Domino would not be able to play due to ill health.
The city's vibrant local music scene was also well represented. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band mixed classic New Orleans drumline with R&B and hip hop as they worked through "Feets Don't Fail Me Now," AWB's "Pick Up The Pieces," and the stalwart "When The Saints Go Marching In." Marcia Ball revved it up in the blues tent, delivering a powerhouse version of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" surrounded by Jerry Lee Lewis-style boogie woogie piano. Only Little Feat's set fell flat, with the exception of Buffett helping out on "Dixie Chicken."
It seemed the town, still trying to rebuild, put its best face on for its visitors. People smiled when we biked by washed out neighborhoods asking how we were enjoying the Fest. The food was as delicious as ever, not only at tourist stalwarts like Emeril's and the Court of Two Sisters but along stands at the festival itself. All this even as the piles of trash and abandoned cars remind you again of the punishment New Orleans suffered (shocking even to someone like yours truly who endured Hurricane Charlie in 2004 and Wilma in 2005, with another hurricane season set to arrive in two weeks.
We made many friends, and shared music reviews with them as we met for morning coffee or an evening glass of wine. We heard a lot of great music, not only on the Jazz Fest stages but a superb gospel show Saturday night featuring the legendary Five Blind Boys of Alabama. We enjoyed delicious food (and even saw the celebrity chef, Emeril, bam it through.) And we biked everywhere we needed to go in between to burn it all off. In the end, Michelle and I now know what it means to miss New Orleans and are thinking about where to go next and how soon we can come back. She said it best: "They move when the music plays. They're my kind of people."
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