New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2009 Guide

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is an embarrassment of riches for music lovers, touching not just upon jazz music but also lots of R&B, blues, rock, gospel, world music, hip-hop, and cajun/zydeco. So how can an oldies fan best spend his time at the 2009 "Fest"? Here's a handy day-by-day guide from yours truly, who's been going since he was a child.

Friday, April 24

11:20am - 12:10pm: Mem Shannon & the Membership
Acura Stage
Accomplished New Orleans urban blues and funk from a former French Quarter cabbie.

11:35am - 1:35pm: David Egan
Acura Stage
This Shreveport native's written songs for Irma Thomas, Solomon Burke, and Tab Benoit, among others.

2:55 am - 3:55 pm: Henry Butler
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
Called "the greatest living proponent of the classic New Orleans piano tradition."

4:20pm - 5:35pm: Warren Storm, Willie Tee and the Cypress Band
Sheraton New Orleans Fais-Do-Do Stage
The godfather of Swamp Pop meets up with the a king of Crescent City Soul.

5:45pm - 7:00pm: Tab Benoit
Blues Tent
The greatest living proponent of the Baton Rouge "swamp blues" tradition.

Saturday, April 25

11:20am - 12:10pm Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Russell Batiste, Jr.
Gentilly Stage
The city's best B-3 organist joins with one of its great blues-funk guitarists and its jazziest funk drummer.

12:35pm - 1:35pm Big Sam's Funky Nation
Gentilly Stage
The trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has his own, even funkier band.

2:00pm - 3:10pm Rebirth Brass Band
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
New Orleans' most streetwise trad brass band.

3:35pm - 4:40pm: Irma Thomas
Acura Stage
"It's Raining," "Ruler Of My Heart," "Time Is On My Side," "Break-A-Way"... her contributions to '60s soul are immeasurable.

5:55pm - 7:00pm: Johnny Winter
Blues Tent
One of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. But you knew that.

Sunday, April 26

11:20am - 12:15pm: Rockie Charles & The Stax Of Love
Blues Tent
The "President of Soul" was a key player in the New Orleans, Nashville, Detroit, and Mississippi soul scenes of the Sixties.

12:25 pm - 1:10 pm: Guitar Slim Jr.
Blues Tent
Son of the famous "Things I Used To Do" bluesman, Jr. has a special blend of soul and modern blues all his own.

2:10pm - 3:10pm: Sonny Landreth
Gentilly Stage
Eric Clapton considers this Mississippi slide guitarist one of the best on the planet.

4:35pm - 5:35pm: Mavis Staples
Gospel Stage
She's back in a gospel bag now, but she still has that voice, and it's always walked a fine line between the sacred and the secular.

5:30pm - 7:00pm: Earth, Wind and Fire
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
The core group's still here, the ones who helped invent modern R&B and inject spirituality into the funk.

Thursday, April 30

11:15pm - 12:05pm: Jumpin' Johnny Sansone
Blues Tent
That rare bluesman who's good with harmonica and accordion.

12:25am - 1:15pm: Little Freddie King Blues Band
Blues Tent
Hypnotic blues grooves and frightening tales from the guitarists' own weird life.

2:05am - 3:05pm: Anders Osborne
Acura Stage
This French-Quarter-via-Sweden transplant numbers Keb Mo among the fans of his emotional blues-rock.

3:35am - 4:45pm: The Meter Men: Leo, Zig and George
Acura Stage
Subtract vocalist/keyboardist Art Neville from the legendary Meters and you get this funk supergroup.

5:45pm - 7:00pm: Solomon Burke
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
The last living link to country-soul and one of the leading lights of soul-blues, Burke (Of "Cry To Me" fame) makes a rare Fest appearance.

Friday, May 1

11:10 am - 11:55 am: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio
Blues Tent
Local legends and one of the strangest acoustic blues trios you'll ever hear.

12:55 pm - 1:55 pm: Frankie Ford
Gentilly Stage
"Sea Cruise" is only the beginning of this R&B/swamp-pop legend's contributions to music.

1:50 pm - 2:50 pm: Marcia Ball
Acura Stage
Her Tallness is one of the best blues pianists around, but her repertoire covers classic R&B, soul, and more.

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm: Bonnie Raitt
Acura Stage
She's an Adult Contemporary icon, of course, but at the Fest Bonnie slips back into her original feminist blues-rock mode.

5:45 pm - 7:00 pm: Tony Bennett
Gentilly Stage
The legend who Sinatra once praised as better than he was (gasp!) gets his first crack at the Fest.

Saturday, May 2

11:15 pm - 12:00 pm: J.D. Hill
Blues Tent
A Deacon John sideman and local harp master who became semi-famous for being one of the last survivors of Katrina.

12:25 pm - 1:15 pm: Zachary Richard
Acura Stage
One of the first to mix classic rock with classic Cajun music.

11:45 pm - 2:55 pm: Deacon John
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
He played guitar on almost every famous New Orleans R&B hit of the 60s, and now John's singlehandedly keeping jump-blues alive in the city.

3:10 pm - 4:15 pm: Dr. John
Acura Stage
The man behind "Right Place Wrong Time" and "Such A Night" has a long history inextricably tied to New Orleans rock and R&B.

5:30 pm - 6:50 pm: The O'Jays
Congo Square "My Louisiana" Stage
One of the finest and most socially aware of the "Philly Soul" groups makes their first visit.

Sunday, May 3

11:20 am - 12:10 pm: The Red Stick Ramblers
Sheraton New Orleans Fais-Do-Do Stage
The energy of bluegrass, the power of rock, the swing of jazz.

1:00 pm - 2:10 pm: Allen Toussaint
Acura Stage
The songwriter behind so many of the city's national R&B hits of the Sixties and Seventies, and one of the city's few remaining piano masters.

2:05pm - 3:15pm: Voice of the Wetlands All-stars feat. Tab Benoit, Monk Boudreaux, Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, Johnny Sansone, & Waylon Thibodeaux
Gentilly Stage
You won't see this many New Orleans funksters on one stage anywhere else at this year's fest.

2:55pm - 4:55pm: Neil Young
Acura Stage
The man, the myth, the legend, making his first Fest stop.

5:40pm - 7:00pm: The Neville Brothers
Acura Stage
Wrap up the Fest on a high note with this First Family of New Orleans Funk, Soul, and R&B, reuniting for only the second performance since Hurricane Katrina scattered them.