My Spilt Milk at Jazz Fest
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.
Review of Naughty Professor’s Good Things
A Guide to International Acts at Jazz Fest
A review of Lulu and the Broadsides’ debut album
The 79rs Gang Update the Mardi Gras Indian sound
A first weekend playlist with our friends at Car-Floats.com
A review of Tank And The Bangas’ Red Balloon
Asleep at the Wheel celebrates 50-plus years
The Who review and Sunday’s picks
Sunday’s highlights including Las Cafeteras, Son Rompe Pera, Avetts, Neslorchestra and more
What to do about the Grand Marshal enclosures?
Our picks for Thursday at Jazz Fest
Kelcy Wilburn charts the route from Kelcy Mae to Ever More Nest
A Look Back at Thursday and ahead to Friday at Jazz Fest
An Encore Presentation of our review of Pell’s Floating While Dreaming II
The best of the second Friday, and our picks for Saturday
Stevie Nicks stealing the scene in 1978
A review of Trombone Shorty’s Lifted
The best of the second Saturday, and our picks for Sunday
The best of Sunday at Jazz Fest
Our takeaways from Jazz Fest 2022
This page will be updated regularly throughout the festival.