for years, decades really, i have been aware of the large music festival held each year in new orleans, known mostly as jazzfest. what i did know about it turned out to be mostly true, in that it was a very large event that featured a wide variety of musical styles, not just jazz, and that you could wander around all day and take in as many artists as you could muster. for a music lover like myself, this sounded like manna from heaven. i also envisioned that in a perfect world, i could go there on my own, not have a specific plan in place, and just go where the muse led me, unencumbered by any other distractions.

but for whatever reason, i never took the initiative to go down there. that is, until i met some like minded friends about 5 years ago who had similar tastes in music, and had been going down there every year for a long time. they graciously offered to allow mrs redeyegin and myself to tag along with them the next spring, and walk us through the experience. that was in 2018, and we had so much fun we went again, taking another couple with us the next year. after two trips down, i sought permission to go down on my own with the group. with the pandemic, that reality did not come into play until last weekend, the first jazzfest since my 2019 trip.

for a voracious music consumer like myself, it is somewhat akin to a football game with four quarters (if you do the whole final weekend – it is four days of music from 11 am to 7 pm). you look at the various stages and artists ahead of time, have a game plan, and then prepare accordingly. and if you are smart, you have a plan b in case you need to make some game time adjustments. an example would have been on friday, when the heat got to me, and i decided to hang out in the gospel tent (out of the sun and water misters overhead) for about an hour. you also have to pace yourself, because each day has a great lineup, and you want to see as much as possible. it is not hard to see 5 different artists each day, and if the logistics work out see at least part of 2 other acts.

have i mentioned the food yet? logistically, the overall event is very well run, but maybe the best feature, other than the music, is the vast variety of food that is offered by local vendors. you will not go hungry here.

one of things i like best about this festival is that all of the final acts finish by 7 pm. you are back at your hotel and ready to go out to dinner by 8 pm. at dinner we would compare notes – who was the best you saw today, which one surprised you, and what were the best covers.

on thursday i saw the iguanas, leo nocentelli, new orleans suspects, playing for change band, billy strings, and ended the evening in the blues tent with betty lavette. the suspects and playing for change were two bands not on my radar, but they are now. the latter did a great cover of stevie wonder’s ‘higher ground’. betty’s cover of john prine’s ‘souvenirs’ was very moving. A good way to end a great day.

on friday, after a rain delay, i saw flow tribe, cimafunk, the zion harmonizers, sonny landreth, and finished with black crowes at the big stage. cimafunk, a funk band from cuba, was one of my highlights. not exactly my cup of tea, but they were killing it. black crowes covered ‘papa was a rolling stone’ , which they said was on their newest album, ‘1972’. apparently all covers from that year. i have that on order and will let you know what i think.

saturday i started the day in the blues tent with bill kirchen, then buckwheat zydeco jr, rory block, a bit of rickie lee jones, puss n boots (a norah jones side project), shovels and rope, then the legendary mavis staples. i was impressed with shovels and rope – they did a very energetic set. kirchen’s ‘times they are a changing’ cover was the highlight of his set.

sunday started with brother tyrone and the mindbenders, then off to the gospel tent for some religion with the dynamic smooth family. yvette landry and the jukes, honey island swamp band, dwayne dopsie and the zydeco hellraisers, beausoleil, ricky skaggs, and then finished in the blues tent once again with buddy guy. a very busy day. yvette, dwayne and ricky were great, and my favorite cover was the latter doing bill monroe’s ‘uncle pen’.

all in all a great weekend, and i look forward to going back again.

did i mention 1972 above? on a side note, today is the 50th anniversary of the release of the stone’s ‘exile on main street’. reader bill vv sent this tribute to me.