New Music in Time for Jazz Fest from Samantha Fish, Laufey, Etran de L'Air and More

Samantha Fish, by Aries Photography Nola

Artists that play Jazz Fest regularly schedule new releases to the one of the biggest shows and sales opportunities they’ll have all year. Samantha Fish, for example, played in front of The Rolling Stones last year and will perform on Saturday May 3 at 1:45 p.m. on the Festival Stage in front of Dumpstaphunk and Pearl Jam.

Fish will release a new album, Paper Doll, on April 25, and she leans harder into her guitar this time around. “I wanted to lean into my strengths in a way I never completely had before, to make a big guitar album with some epic performances and really sing my ass off,” Fish said in a press release. “I’d love for this record to be somebody’s jet fuel.”

“Can Ya Handle the Heat?” is the newest release from the album and definitely points in that direction.

In 2024, Laufey won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Bewitched, and it’s telling that Norah Jones won that award earlier this year. They’re very different artists, but the jazz singers and the singer/songwriters in them are closely connected.

Laufey will play the Shell Gentilly Stage at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, and last week she released her first new music since Bewitched, “Silver Lining.” On we can still hear the jazz singer, but she takes an R&B turn this time around.

Etran de L’Air will play two shows at Jazz Fest on Sunday, April 27—one at 1:40 p.m. in the Blues Tent, and one at 3:40 p.m. in the Expedia Cultural Exchange Pavilion Stage. Pro tip: The sound is usually better in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion tent.

The wedding band from Niger is based in the capital city of Agadez, which reflects the influence of Asian, European, African and American cultures, all of which show up Etran de L’Air’s sound. They’ll start a North American tour on May 8, and to mark the moment they have released a new digital single, “Agadez.”

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 will release a deluxe edition of their Lenny Kravitz-produced Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head) on May 28. The new edition includes reworked tracks from the album including this one, “Stand Well Well (Grand Stand Version)” featuring Pos from De La Soul.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 will bring Afrobeat to Jazz Fest on Thursday, May 24 when they’ll play at 5:45 p.m. on the Congo Square Stage. Two of Kuti’s collaborators on the project—Lenny Kravitz and Kamasi Washington—will play Jazz Fest as well, but since they’re both scheduled for the last day of Jazz Fest, May 4, it’s unlikely either will show up for Kuti’s set.

Earlier, we shared the first release from Boyfriend’s upcoming album In the Garden, which is her feminist, queer-friendly rewrite of the Garden of Eden story. Her guests on the album include Jake Spears of Scissor Sister as Adam and Big Freedia as God.

This second release, “Bite,” hints at the perspective you might expect, then maybe something you don’t as the song becomes a largely instrumental dance track. Is there more performance to go with this? We’ll get an idea when she plays Jazz Fest at 2:40 p.m. on the Shell Gentilly Stage on Sunday, April 27, but I suspect the most complete staging of whatever Boyfriend had in mind will be seen at the Esplanade Studios on Saturday, April 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.