@ZackTeibloom Big Sam’s Funky Nation was so good, we had to see them twice. Little Sam (@Samifest) used to live with the keyboardist. I’d love to live with Big Sam.

When he’s not trombone-ing, he does the uniquely New Orleans “second lining” dance that commands your attention( and a few giggles) for its endearing, over-the-top energy. I would love to see that man out on the dancefloor without a trombone. Can you say the perfect wing man?

As Andy was pointing out when we saw them the second time at a converted middle , he might be the least talented musician of the bunch. No put down on him, the band is just overflowing with skill. From their guitar players to the horns, drums and keys, it was hard to tell where to focus your energy. (Unless Big Sam was dancing.)

Bassist Eric Vogel blew our minds with a “slappa the bass” solo that seemed to go on forever (in a good way) and the whole band was at full energy whether they were getting thousands dancing in the sun at the fest or playing to a sparse 75 in an old middle school.

It was a constant mix of originals and fun covers like “No Diggity,” “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” and the Black Crowes song Andy can’t get enough of. Our only complaint was that if you’re playing two shows in one day, you should probably not play the same cover twice. Even if Andy will sing along to “Hard to Handle” “100 times out of 100,”

@ZackTeibloom Andy got his first crash yesterday. I’m proud to say it was all him. We were only given a ticket for the first day of Yazz Fest and the tickets are $50 a day. What is a Festival Crasher to do? Go to the fu**ing venue. (Go 2 T.F.V.)

It’s the answer for the inevitable “So, how do you crash a festival” question you get when you tell someone you run Festival Crashers. Get yourself to the venue. Get close to the entrance. Scope out the situation. How many lines are there? Which line has too many people to keep track of? Any side entrances no one’s guarding?

The tickets we had from Friday were good for either Friday or Saturday, but they scanned them Friday, making them worthless unless we could talk our way in. We tried in vain and Andy almost gave up and bought a ticket. Then he saw it. The open line no one was guarding. The crash opened itself to him and he went for it. I walked hesitantly, but he made the crash his own, breezing through the outside track into the festival less than a minute after we told Sami and her parents to go on without us.

The point is you have to be at the venue. Having a ticket should be an afterthought. Be patient. Be creative. Don’t be afraid to get caught. Don’t stop moving. Go to the Fu**ing venue.

@ZackTeibloom I gotta say, Joe Cocker is a pretty lucky rock star. Let me know how this skill set would work out for most performers:  You never write a song, never learn an instrument and exclusively sing covers of instant classics that seem untouchable.

It probably wouldn’t take you too far. Cocker followed that path, opened for The Stones, got Jimmy Page to take lead guitar on his cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends,” got the blessing of The Beatles to cover all their songs, plays Woodstock and got the “Wonder Years” theme song gig. How? He’s just that good. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom As Joe Cocker winded down his encore, I took off my sunglasses as Andy excitedly told me I had one really long white eyebrow hair going on. I definitely didn’t have this brow hair going on this morning, but the real question becomes: how long until I pull it out?

Andy gave me an hour. Two and half hours later, I’m holding strong, though I have had the urge to yank it over a dozen times. I bet him I could go until James Taylor (tomorrow at 7 p.m.) without yanking it. We need something to bet to make it interesting. Suggestions? If I don’t have a good suggestion when I wake up, I’m yanking it.

Until then, enjoy this picture of me in post-Joe Cocker smile with a bizarre white eyebrow hair.

@AndyShore Jazz Fest appeals to the soul child in me. If there wasn’t so much other awesome music around, I probably wouldn’t leave the Gospel tent. Zack summed it up well today, saying that it’s almost impossible to mess up gospel music. As long as you can sing and talk about a higher power, you’ve got gospel covered.

Gross generalizations aside, I had been looking forward to catching the Tribute to Mahalia Jackson featuring Mavis Staples, Paula Dunbar and Irma Thomas. After leaving Trombone Shorty, I arrived at an overly crowded Gospel Tent. I walked all the way around, trying to find a way into the photo pit. Sweet talking the security guard backstage into escorting me into the pit didn’t even work. It took a cop having to open the barricades to let a photographer out for me to slip into the pit. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore The Drive By Truckers have been around for years, but I feel like they’ve been gaining steam lately. One of my good friends told me how impressive they were when he saw them at Bonnaroo when I was in high school.

Recently, I’ve been hearing their name come up a lot in conversation. It may have something to do with the upcoming album they’re releasing with Booker T. The buzz had me looking forward to their set at Jazz Fest, despite a less then stellar review from their PBS taping the night before. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Known around New Orleans as a child prodigy who played a trombone before he was even old enough to reach all the positions on the slide, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews has dropped the child from child prodigy. Like Bow Wow, but far more talented.

The prodigy dazzled on the trombone Friday afternoon, but got the most attention from the crowd for his sultry cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” on trumpet. His circular breathing and ability to command an audience makes him a formidable weapon with his band Orleans Avenue. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Henry Butler is a criminally underrated piano player and world class photographer. Re-read that sentence after I tell you this: He’s been blind since birth. When I first started researching the blind piano player who wowed us with his afternoon set, I checked his Wikipedia page.

First, I was shocked to see he’s under 60 years. Next, Andy and I had a hearty laugh at what we thought was a joke: He’s a “world class” photographer. The last thing I want to do is laugh at a blind person,* but how? How can a blind person take pictures, frame a shot, get the perfect depth of field, edit it for color, brightness, etc? More power to him. That’s incredible. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore The early afternoon at Jazz Fest was pretty low-key for the Festival Crashers. There was nobody that we were dying to see. Mark Broussard was pretty much the first person on Friday’s line up that I had even heard of. After happily stumbling upon Ladysmith Redlions, we headed over to the Acura Stage to check out Broussard.

After a few songs, we had pretty much gotten the gist of him. His style is accurately described as Bayou Soul. Sweet, soulful voice with a little bit of southern flavor mixed in. Nice songs, but nothing too special. After I left the photo pit, Zack and I decided to explore something a little more New Orleans.

@ZackTeibloom After checking out a few bands that weren’t doing it for us (I’m looking at you, Dave Egan & Water Seed) Andy and I were beckoned into the Blues tent, “empty as a pocket with nothing to lose.”*

I was instantly captivated by the sweet a capella sounds of Ladysmith Redlions.

If Paul Simon wanted to perform “Diamonds on the Soles of My Shoes” and the entire Graceland album tomorrow at Jazzfest, he could have the guys from Ladysmith Redlions as his backing male singers and not miss a beat Read the rest of this entry »