Sánchez, Leo, and Bartholomew Tribute among Thursday's Jazz Fest Highlights

Antonio Sanchez & Bad Hombre, by Jacob Blickenstaff

On Locals Thursday, local artists are a big reason to attend the festival.

The first weekend of Jazz Fest seemed charmed. The rain that slowed Sunday’s entrance and threatened to return during the day never threw even a cloud across the sky. The tech issues that slowed entrances gummed up the works but not to a problematic degree. The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Charlie Wilson delivered crowds that spilled out on to the track, but not in such numbers that the days became work. After two years off and a new ticketing system was instituted, Festival Productions has to feel like the first weekend went about as well as it could. 

Weekend two starts on Thursday with Locals Thursday, where tickets cost $50 with valid Louisiana ID. The day concludes with country singer Luke Combs, Billy Strings, and Ziggy Marley playing Bob Marley’s music, and while all of those are credible closers, the day appears to be booked to give people the looser vibe that they recall from Jazz Fests past, whether they were actually like that or not. Combs has enough of a working class sensibility to hold my attention, but I’m more likely to end up in the Jazz Tent with Antonio Sanchez & Bad Hombre, which promises to be the most adventurous set at the end of the day. 

As a rule of thumb, I’m looking for the show where the live presentation matters most. I’m sure I would enjoy Combs and like the songs that I’ve heard, but I’ll opt for the show that is most likely to give me music I could only hear for the duration of the show.

Here are our highlights for Thursday.

Ever More Nest - Kelcy Mae creator Kelcy Wilburn has redoubled her focus on Americana, so much so that she has changed her band name to suit her sound.

(Lagniappe, 11:30a)

Nigel Hall - Hall played keyboards for the funk band Lettuce, which has a new album, Unity, out in time for Jazz Fest. On last year’s Spiritual, he leans into the jazzy R&B side of his sound.

(Congo Square, 12:40p)

Leo Nocentelli presents Another Side - The story of this lost album has got a lot of attention. The tapes from this shelved Leo album from 1971 turned up at a swap meet in Los Angeles, where a music fan who knew Nocentelli from the Meters knew that with his background, it was likely to be something worthwhile. No one expected it to be Nocentelli showing his singer/songwriter side with barely a sign of the note-generation machine he has become. 

(Shell Gentilly, 2:10p)

Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s Tribute to Dave Bartholomew - Dave Bartholomew was one of the architects of New Orleans rock ’n’ roll heyday, and he outlasted most of his contemporaries until he died in 2019 at the age of 100. The Dirty Dozen have recorded a number of Bartholomew’s compositions over the course of their career, including “That’s How You Got Killed Before,” which they will likely perform with special guest Elvis Costello.

(Shell Gentilly, 3:35p)

Antonio Sánchez & Bad Hombre - Drummer Antonio Sánchez has made a project in recent years of exploring the sounds, textures, and compositional possibilities of his drums and associated electronics, whether in the soundtracks to the Get Shorty television show, Birdman, or Bad Hombre. Collaborators Thana Alexa, BIGYUKI & Lex Sadler expand his palate to include bass, synthesizers, and a voice.

(WWOZ Jazz, 5:45p)