MusicAlex RawlsApril 26, 2022Jazz Fest, jazzfest, review, preview, New Orleans, music festival, Naughty Professor, jazz funk, world music, international musicComment

My Spilt Milk at Jazz Fest

MusicAlex RawlsApril 26, 2022Jazz Fest, jazzfest, review, preview, New Orleans, music festival, Naughty Professor, jazz funk, world music, international musicComment

Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk plays Jazz Fest on Sunday, May 1

A one-stop page for all of our coverage of the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell.

After two years off, Jazz Fest returns to the Fair Grounds for two weekends starting on Friday. Some changes will be obvious; some will be less so. This year, there is no Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage for artist interviews, and even though there is a Cultural Exchange Pavilion, there is no spotlight country whose artists will play it this year, and the lineup is largely local as a result of the vagaries of international travel. Those with children will also notice that while there is a Kids Tent, the area around it has been scaled down. We can only hope that these elements of the festival will return next year.

This year’s festival is not as star-studded as usual, but the bigger loss is the number of New Orleans artists who have passed away since the last Jazz Fest in 2019. Writer John Swenson long contended that the losses of Eddie Bo, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin, and the links to the heyday of New Orleans R&B changed the tone of Jazz Fest, and this year without Dr. John and Dave Bartholomew, that loss will be noticed.

This year, that generation will be represented by Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Wanda Rouzan, and the remaining Dixie Cups (minus Rosa Lee Hawkins, who passed away in January) when they play Sunday, May 1 in the Blues Tent as part of the New Orleans Classic Recording Revue. Irma Thomas will perform a gospel set on Saturday, April 30 and a secular set on Sunday, May 8 .

We’ll be busy at My Spilt Milk between now and the end of Jazz Fest, previewing shows, reviewing new music, and telling stories from Jazz Fest. This page will be your one-stop for our coverage and will be updated daily with new stories. You can also keep up with our coverage on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you see anything cool, let me know. I want to see it too.