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May052008
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History Exam |
There was no hurry to get to the office this morning. I had time to get lunch before we left today. I only worked on a couple reports today before I left for the day at three. Dad dropped me downtown for the 3:10 shuttle.I went to the LBC after getting to campus. I stopped in the bookstore for some bluebooks and ran into Larry, my old boss who I saw play with New Leviathan this past weekend at Jazz Fest. We spoke for a little while, mostly about the fest and other gigs the orchestra has played. Before my final exam this evening I did a little studying before heading to Hebert.This evening was the history in everyday life exam, which consisted of several short answer questions and four essays. I think I did reasonably well but the professor may not like the short length of my essays. Dad was waiting for me out front when I finished, about an hour after the exam started.I didn’t do much later this evening outside of watching the final quarter of the Hornets game.
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May042008
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Jazz Fest 2008 Comes to a Close |
Dad gave me a ride to the fairgrounds before he went to church this morning. This was the last day of the festival and I spent most of it wandering around as there were no acts I was especially interested in seeing. I arrived early and got a daiquiri at Liuzza’s to nurse for a while before heading inside. I spoke with a fellow New Orleanian, Claire, for a little while, mostly about the festival and our affection for the city.I got through the gate shortly before 11. I went to the nearby gospel tent to see the some of the first act of the day there, the New Orleans Spiritualettes. After the first two numbers there I walked the short distance to the jazz & heritage stage to see the Loyola University Jazz Ensemble. They were pretty good. I spoke briefly with a gentleman who was related to one of the students playing, Andrew Wright on guitar. He asked if I would take some pictures of his nephew, which I did.After I left there I went to get lunch. I picked the crawfish strudel and white chocolate bread pudding. I took it to a tree at the folk village so I could eat in the shade and be nearby for the Native American pow-wow at 12:30. I wanted to see this because I got some interesting pictures of it last year. There was a different group doing it in 2008, however, and the participants were in traditional dress rather than elaborate costumes. The pictures I shot didn’t come close to what I managed last year though.After leaving the folk village I wandered around and wound up at the jazz tent where Jonathan Batiste. I stayed for a couple numbers and attempted to shoot a handful of pictures. I then wandered back to the grandstands and sat in on a food demo at the “Zatarain’s Cajun Cabin” outside which had just started at 1:45. Mike Gowland of NOFD and Fireman Mike’s Kitchen was making what he called “Shrimp Caila,” which I can best describe as a creamy barbeque shrimp. While he was cooking and not talking about the food he spoke about the New Orleans Fire Department including goings-on related to Katrina and daily life for firemen, which was pretty entertaining. A good crowd had gathered including several fellow firemen by the time he finished cooking. Everybody got a sample of what he cooked, which was quite good. The only trouble is you had to peel the shrimp yourself which is a bit messy.I heard from Patrick during the demo and he told me he’d be at the fairgrounds for Galactic so I went by the Gentilly stage to meet him but I guess he was having trouble getting to the fairgrounds, perhaps just because he parked far away.Shortly after three I left there to do to the Acura stage for Santana. He had already started when I approached the stage. I got a spot between the medical stent and the stage dead center, not close enough to get any decent pictures though. I stayed there for about a half hour before I decided I’d had enough of the crowd. I wandered around a while and saw some of Abagail Washburn before deciding I was hungry. I wanted to try the fried chicken and jambalaya but the lines were too long. I got a muffuletta instead and took it the WWOZ hospitality tent to eat in peace.After I finished I walked over to the jazz tent to hear some of Dianne Reeves. I didn’t stay long because she was nearly finished and the tent was packed. I couldn’t reach Patrick on the phone so I decided to see if I could find him by the Acura stage. I was finally able to raise him on the phone and we agreed to meet by the blues tent. It took him a good while to make it there, it was exceptionally crowded so it was hard to get around. He eventually showed up with some friends, Chelsi and Valerie. The Derek Trucks band was playing inside the blues tent but it was jam packed inside and there was a significant crowd outside. We remained outside the tent, mostly talking for a good while until near the end of the show when we were able to creep into the tent for the end of the sho, extremely enthusiastic and continuing applause, and subsequent encore.A short while after the show Chelsi and Valerie departed and Jenna and Danielle, both of whom I first met last week, joined us. Patrick agreed to give me a ride to the riverfront so I could get home easier than waiting at the cab stand. The walk to his car, which was backed at the art museum, was a show in itself, suffice it to say. I ended up catching a cab home from Tulane. That evening I finished sorting yesterday’s pictures as well as today’s pictures.
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May032008
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Great Day at Economy Hall |
New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra… Treme Brass Band… Cuban sandwich… New Orleans Jazz Hounds of Tokyo… Aroon Neville’s Gospel Soul… John Mooney & Bluesiana… Dr. Michael White… Jimmy Buffet & the Coral Reefer Band… update to comeAs I’m writing this entry four days after the fact, I’m not entirely sure how I got out to the fairgrounds this afternoon. This may have been the day I took a cab and a familiar driver, Elliot, picked me up. He’s driven out to the west bank to pick me up on a handful of occasions in the recent past.I got to the fairgrounds before the first act of the day. Unlike some days of wandering, I had the day largely planned out. I knew I’d be spending a good portion of the day in economy hall and seeing Jimmy Buffet in the evening.The first act of the day was the The New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra. They’re a revival orchestra I’ve spoken of at length in previous Jazz Fest log entries. Suffice it to say, they’re very entertaining and a highlight of Jazz Fest for me. They are hard to photograph being such a big group with lots of people, music stands and microphones on stage.After New Leviathan, I kept my seat for the next act, the Treme Brass Band. I spoke with a gentleman sitting behind me with a laptop during the break. It was Doug MacCash, an art critic for the Times-Picayune. He was writing a blog entry about the orchestra as we spoke.Treme Brass band is another must-see act at Jazz Fest in my opinion. They’re one of the best brass bands around. I shot some great pictures from their show last year and I wanted another crack at it. They put on a very lively show with loud music and second-lining in the aisles through most of the performance. They played the lazy song walking through the aisles themselves with the second line trailing them. It’s really something you have to see, or at least read about it from somebody considerably more eloquent than myself. I shot some okay pictures but I didn’t get one great shot like I got last year.After the show I went to find something to eat and deiced on the Cuban sandwich, which was pretty good. I took it back to economy hall for the next performance there of the day, the New Orleans Jazz Hounds of Tokyo, Japan. They were a very impressive group with a very talented banjo player. You’d have trouble telling their sound apart from any of the great local jazz bands until they start to sing, when their land of origin becomes pretty obvious.After the Jazz Hounds, I went to the WWOZ tent for a little while to relax and look at my pictures and then walked to the gospel tent for Aaron Neville’s Gospel Soul. Unfortunately for me, it was so crowded you could barely get near the tent so I didn’t stay. I walked over to the somewhat less crowded blues tent where John Mooney and Bluesiana were playing. They sounded pretty good and I stayed for the first half of their show before I left to take the scenic route to the Acura stage.On the way there I remember stopping by economy hall and seeing a couple minutes of Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band.I took a spot at the barricade just to the right of the stage. I managed to get a good spot as I arrived well before Jimmy Buffet started this evening. The crowd of well over 100,000 got an interesting treat at around five o’clock. We got to see “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports,” the Kentucky Derby on the big screens adjacent to the stage. Quint Davis introduced the derby my mentioning that one of the horses in the race, Recapturetheglory is locally owned. He led briefly during the race but ultimately placed fifth. Big Brown was the winner.Jimmy Buffet started nearly on time this evening. I saw home at Jazz Fest a couple years ago and he put on a great show tonight just like last time. HE can’t sing worth a damn, but he is a fine entertainer and the Coral Reefer Band backs him up well. Seeing him “up close” was a much different experience than in 2005 when I was back by the track. It was a lot of fun with one exception. The beach balls that bounce around the audience, which normally don’t bother me, were frequently laced with mud from the wet ground, which was very annoying and several people around me got pretty dirty and I didn’t escape unscathed myself. The folks immediately behind me eventually got fed up with it and we eventually started pulling them to the ground when they came by and someone stabbed them with a large umbrella, much to the rejoicing of the spectators. We took out at least a dozen of them.Near the end of the show, Jimmy Buffet caught sight of someone in the audience with a shirt that read “Rebuilding New Orleans One Margarita at a Time.” Jimmy offered the his flip flops for the shirt and they traded, which was pretty interesting. Jimmy played a little past his scheduled block which ended at seven. For the final song, Allen Toussaint came out to play piano while Jimmy sang Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?, a true “jazz fest moment,” as Quint Davis put it as he bid the crowd good night.I don’t remember how I got home that evening, although I think Dad gave me a ride. That evening I went through my pictures, of which there were plenty. I maxed out all three of my memory cards today.
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May022008
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Stevie Wonder |
Dad dropped me at the fairgrounds one his way to work again this morning. I got there not long after 10 this morning. After a drink at Liuzza’s I headed in at about ten to 11. I walked to the Gentilly stage where Tulane University Jazz Ensemble was scheduled to start at 11:35. To be frank, they were the worst act I saw at Jazz Fest last year but I read a recommendation recently and they were moved to a bigger stage so I decided to satisfy my curiosity and try seeing them again. They were significantly larger in number this year, although there were a couple familiar faces. Most of the numbers I saw were original compositions that I had not heard before. They did sound a hell of a lot better today, although groups like this are best heard without amplification.I left the Gentilly stage early to get at decent seat at Economy Hall to see the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble. They play traditional jazz music from the early 20th century. They go to a lot of trouble to make it sound the same as it did back in the twenties, including the use of period instruments.I left there a bit early to see the last few minutes of Lyle Henderson and Emmanuel at the gospel tent. I saw him last year and it was a pretty decent, although he had a smaller group behind him this year if memory serves.After leaving there and wandering briefly I went to get something to eat. I decided on the pheasant, quail & andouille gumbo as well as the crawfish enchiladas. I had the enchiladas last year but the gumbo was new to me. Both were quite good and I was especially impressed with the gumbo. I usually have low expectations for such things that are cooked in large quantities. I took my food to the blues tent where Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone’s Harmonica Revue. It was hot and crowded there so it wasn’t the most pleasant place to eat, but the music was interesting.I left the blues tent as soon as I finished eating, much to the relief of my pores. I made my way to Economy Hall to get a seat for the New Orleans Jazz Vipers with Miss Sophie Lee. I’ve seen the Jazz Vipers play the Spotted Cat on Frenchman Street and they put on a great show in the cramped venue. They handed the tent just fine too and gave a great show to a packed house. The vocalist they had as a guest was pretty decent too. Unlike the earlier stuff today I saw the duration of this show.After the Vipers finished I walked down toward the Acura stage to see Stevie Wonder this evening. Art Neville was just finishing when I picked out a spot about 20 paces from the barricade. As could be expected, it was quite crowded near the stage, and pretty far back from it too. Stevie started just a couple minutes at about 5:20. I didn’t really recognize the first few songs he played, the familiar crowd pleasers came later. It was cloudy all day but it finally started raining during the set. It would pour for a minute or two and then subside. This happened at least four times. His performance was quite entertaining. Another harmonica player whose name I didn’t catch did a number with Stevie and Irma Thomas came out for a few songs too. Overall it was a lot of fun, in spite of the rain.After Stevie Wonder finished at about seven I made my out of the fairgrounds. I walked to the cab stand at Mystery Street but there looked to be an hour wait so I went to Luizza’s for a drink. While I was there I talked to a Theresa and Amy, mostly about our cameras. On my way out I knocked over a lady’s drink and graciously bought a replacement. I finally got a cab home shortly before nine. Later that evening I watched Battlestar Galactica and yesterday’s O’Reily Factor which I worked on this entry before finally turning in for the night.
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May012008
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The Second Weekend Starts Thursday |
The second weekend of Jazz Fest began on today, Thursday. Dad dropped me by the fairgrounds on the way to work. This weekend I rented the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens and carried along my 70-200mm f/4 L lens. This being the “extra day,” there weren’t any big names in my opinion so I had no plans of being somewhere for any particular time.My first stop after getting through the gate today was Economy Hall, for no particular reason. The first act of the day was Joseph Torregano. He’s a clarinet player and he had a nice little band behind him. Later on I walked to the Fais Do-Do stage where the Lafayette Rhythm Devils were playing. They’re a Cajun band I first saw when two of their members were interviewed by a professor I had a class with last year. They put on a good show and I remained there until it was about over when I walked to the jazz tent to catch some of John Ellis and Double-Wide. When they were through I walked to Economy Hall to catch the last two numbers by the Dukes of Dixieland.After the Dukes finished I walked to the first food area to get something for lunch. I picked out a combo with Creole Stuffed Crab, Catfish Almondine and Potato Salad. I took it over to the grandstand to eat in the shade and relax for a bit. Kerry Grombacher, a fold/western singer was playing. It’s not really my kind of music but the man plays it well.After lunch I took a walk. I meant to get over to the blues tent to see a Revue but I ended up looking at the crafts section instead. I saw a number of interesting things, some of which I photographed. I also ended up around congo square for a while and saw the end of Freddy Omar Con su Banda.Eventually I wound up back at Economy Hall. On the way there I got some banana bread pudding and some lemonade. Hot Club of New Orleans. By 4:30 I was feeling tired. I eventually met Dad on his way home from work on Esplanade where he dropped me off.Later that evening I watched to make sure Dad didn’t fall of the roof while working on it. I ended up taking a longer than desired nap from about 7 to 10.
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