JAZZ FEST 1999
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY DAYTIME


THURSDAY - APRIL 23
FEST DEPARTURE DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! In to work for half a day. Spend the whole time on the PDKK board, getting last minute info and "can't wait to meet you's!" from the Kats. Finally run downstairs and zip home to pick up Joe. Stop to upload one really, truly, FINAL edition of the Kat hotel grid, all the while hearing Steve/Miami's laughter in my head. Discover that Gambit finally posted the Count's Picks list - but only have time to print out 1 day's worth. Then it's time to kiss the doggies goodbye and hit the highway. Atlanta to NOLA = about 8 hours car ride with pit-stops. I don't mind at all because I have Joe as a captive audience (GRIN) and we're on our way to the Fest. We listen to music and Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegone on tape and the ride flies by.

Finally exit at Canal St around 8pm central time, and I'm straining to spot the LaSalle. We circle twice, suddenly I see it - just a tiny awning over a door. The hotel is literally attached to the Saenger Theater – in fact, many of the rooms are on top of the theater. We pull up in front and meet the doorman, who quickly becomes our buddy in true friendly, New Orleans fashion. He helps us unload and tries to talk us into heading out with him at the end of his shift. He's going to hear Kermit Ruffin's traditional Thursday night gig at Vaughn's. He tells us "Kermit is a really good friend of mine!" We beg off, too tired from the long ride. A shame, because I'm sure we missed an amazing night. At the front desk checking in, we see X-risma (Jan) from D.C. Hugs & hellos, then up to the 3rd floor to unpack, dine on cheeses & crackers in the room and have a little private celebration. (After all, we're on vacation - the ultimate aphrodisiac for me (LOL)!)
      
FRONT: Katlanta, BeachBob, Neen, Beach Linda
MIDDLE: Crispy, Zydeco Joe, Lisa-RI
BACK: Big Joe, Mike the Artist, JuJuVoo
      photo by MamaRoux

Overall, the LaSalle was a great choice for us. We're finally staying in the city, after years of staying in Gretna or Chalmette. The room we get is large with high ceilings, 2 double beds, and a private bath, for around $90 per night. It's within walking distance of The Funky Butt, Donna's, Storyville District, Bourbon Street, the whole quarter, really. The room seems relatively clean, just a little bit old. Lots of folks say that the area is dangerous, but our experience is only positive, even though we had many late, late night walks to and from our car in the parking lots down Rampart or Basin. As long as you stay alert and aware, it seems to be pretty safe. I would definitely recommend the LaSalle to anyone trying to stay in close without spending a fortune. If you don't mind sharing private bathrooms down the hall, you can get rooms for as low as $45/night during Fest, which is remarkable.

     
A familiar sight . . .
Neen digging for eggs
 FRIDAY - APRIL 24
First morning in New Orleans and I'm too excited to sleep. Up very early, wandering the quarter, then down to Café Du Monde to meet up with Willie and his SoFla Krewe. Find Willie, but not his Krewe - they're all sleeping off the wildness from the night before at the Rock & Bowl. After a cup of chicory coffee with Willie, it's back to the room to get my shit together for first Fest day. This actually takes awhile because I've made individually personalized shaker eggs for the Kats. I decide to carry only the eggs for Kats who are in town today (the Kat grid comes in very in handy-GRIN!). Meanwhile, we're getting knocks on our door – other LaSalle Kats stopping by, including Bethesda Boy, Big Dan and Xrisma. We telephone Katlanta (Julie) and Crispy (Chris) at the Best Western and set up a meeting place at the Fest.

Finally, it's time to go. We pile Bethesda Boy, Dan and Jan into our car and I head up Esplanade. I make the tactical error of detouring to Denver along the way, and suddenly, driving through narrow neighborhood streets to find our traditional Fest parking lot was a bigger challenge then it should have been (GRIN). Not only do we find it, but good Parking Karma kicks in and we find a free spot right outside the lot, on the street. This is even better because it means we won't have to walk back to move our car during the Liuzza's happy hour festivities this evening (they lock the gates on the parking lot pretty early).

Then we're at the Fairgrounds - wandering into the fields. We quickly lose track of the other Kats, so first order of the day is to buy two large iced coffees using our cyber coupons, along with crawfish cakes with Remulaude sauce for breakfast. We wander over to the Langiappe Stage to eat our breakfast to the sweet sounds of The Poor Clares (celtic). We're sorry to discover that the grassy strips where we stretched out last year to hear the music are gone. Instead they've added more rows of chairs and flowers. Oh well, it's still a cool and relaxing stage area. We hang around the grandstand, hit the indoor restrooms and catch part of a set by Teresa Romero Torkanowsky & Ole' Flamenco Ole' - great flamenco guitar and lovely dancing. Then it's time to move on.

It's the first day at the Fest and we're ready to gorge ourselves all day on the great food that we'd been dreaming of. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the fairground this first day, Joe and I each picking different dishes so we can sample a wide variety. Wonderful stuff all day long - Crawfish Bread, Shrimp Creole, Crawfish Tails w/Taters, Oyster Po'Boy, Jambalaya, Vegetarian Muffalata - a mango freeze and snowball of course, and always iced coffees to keep our feet dancing. I can't remember all the details of the day, but I did circle the acts on my grid sheet and wrote a few notes about what we saw. It seemed to be a day for traditional music for Joe and me:

James Andrews Allstar Brass Band at Congo - meet up with Pony and Marisol and lots of Kats, and receive our first Kat langiappe - pins from Pony Dancer. Wonderful morning music - trumpet playing in the Louis Armstrong tradition.



Early Kats at The Congo:
The Gonzos, Steve/Miami (seated)
Pony Dancer, SoFla Mary, Big Joe
Shamat, Willie, Blue & Frank (Willie's friends)
          
Crispy from Atl, SoFla Mary
Shamat, Julie's back

Gregory Boyd & VOS at Fox - Latin/Caribbean jazz and R&B with a steel drum player. We're swaying and dancing and spot the familiar sight of Alan the Alien doing the same thing nearby in the morning sun. Hugs & hellos as Alan showers us with glitter & stickers, then more dancing . . .

Balfa Tojours w/Bois Sec Ardoin at Fais Do Dos - We always try to catch Balfa Tojours for a taste of traditional cajun music to start off the week. Ardoin is an amazing accordion player. I spot a huge blue shoe on a pole in the crowd, so we dance through to meet up with Pavio with his Big Blue Shoe, along with his Krewe and lots of the Arctic Kats too.

Doreen Kitchens at Economy - I'm a big fan of Dixieland clarinet, plus we'd seen Doreen perform on a TV special about street musicians in New Orleans, so we make sure to catch the set by this amazing woman. The Economy tent was filled with avid fans, and Doreen responded by playing and dancing her heart out. She covered all the traditional second-line songs, and the aisles were filled with dancers the whole time.



Doreen Kitchens
           
Chubby Carrier & Shamat!


Kent Jordan at WWOZ Jazz - The reviews raved about this acclaimed jazz flautist - but Joe and I found are bored and quickly move along.

Lil' Band of Gold at Fox - What a great set by this "super group", including Steve Riley on accordion and Warren Storm on drums. We meet JuJuVoo and Mama Roux at the Pizza Sluts blanket, and dance and smoke in the hot afternoon sun.

Chubby Carrier at Fais Do Do - After the incredible weekend at Fiesta Tropicale in January, I had vowed not to miss this set. I drag Joe over to see Shamat do his thing on stage, and to dance along with lots of other Kats to Chubby's great band.



FRONT: Beach Linda, Zydeco Joe, Neen
Lisa RI, Crispy, Julie
REAR: The Guy, Beach Bob
Mama Roux, Honey Bear, Kimo, ??
        
Lisa RI shakin her egg
JuJu and Mama Roux dancing
behind her


Dirty Dozen at Congo - The one 'MUST" on our list for the day, simply because we know that every Kat on the Fairgrounds will be there. Sure enough - we have a mob of Kats dancing together to our favorite brass band.




Steve/Miami, Banzai Bill, Naoma, George
         
Bethesda Boy, Willie & Mary


MudBuggy (aka TurboDog)
         
Polkaholic (aka Dan/Mnpls)


Juls/NJ and Zydeco Bonnie
          
Juls & Homer


Warren Storm at Heritage Stage - After so much sweaty Kat dancing, the misting tents just can't cut it anymore, so Joe and I slip off to the grandstand to wash off for real. While we're upstairs, we sit in the lovely, air-conditioned stands for awhile, listening to Warren Storm talk and demonstrate his drumming talent on the Heritage Stage. We enjoy the cool, comfortable setting and imagine that we'll come back to this stage often in the coming days.

Woodenhead & Trombones From Hell at Langiappe - As we head back downstairs, we're drawn to music at the Lagniappe Stage, and discover . . . a lagniappe! Woodenhead plays great music, including an older woman on keys who was quite good. But the trombones were the best - wacky, alive, out-there sounds.



Woodenhead on the beautiful Lagniappe Stage


Willie Nelson at Ray Ban - We decide to end the day with Willie Nelson, since we've both been fans of his from long ago. It was lots of fun - Willie is able to hire the best talent around, and it showed in the performance of his backup band. This was our first time experiencing the new giant video screens at Ray Ban, and it worked well for this act. Willie sang the whole gamut, from the shmaltzy "All The Girls I loved Before", to a really jamming version of "Bucket Got A Hole In It". At one point John Goodman came out to play harmonica, sing & dance - and it seemed to fit just fine into the whole scene. Awfully corny, but nobody cared, everyone was having good fun.

We met so many kats this first day - I started writing down names and quickly lost track. We met up with Kimo and Honey Bear from Atlanta, finally met the Mensches from Chicago, boogeied with Mudbuggy and Polky from Minnesota, danced with JuJuVoo and Mama Roux, played under the shadow of Pavio's big blue shoe with his buddies, finally met the Gonzo's in person . . . and of course caught up with lots of old friends like Pony & Marisol, SteveMiami, Willie & Mary, Juls & Homer, Banzai, George and the lovely Naoma, Bethesda Boy, Xrisma, etc.

Then it was time to stroll out the back gate and head to Liuzza's for the street party with the Kat gathering!


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