NOLA in NYC - Lincoln Center Outdoors

Last weekend we went to New York for a free concert at Lincoln Center with all New Orleans lineup that was like a good day at Jazz Fest. The program was called "Roots of American Music", an outdoor concert series now in its 25th year. The Pinettes Brass Band, an all girl brass band, and the Hot 8 Brass band faced off on a small stage at one end, then paraded around to the larger stage in the band shell at Damrosch park outside of Lincoln Center. It was nice to see the Pinettes, whom I had never heard of before. Being somewhat of an amateur musician myself, I've often wondered why there aren't more women in brass bands. The only thing that bugs me is why does it always have to be an"all girl" band, making it seem like a novelty? But these girls could definitely could hold their own. The Hot 8 , with trumpet player Shamarr Allen, and the Pinettes each played a set on the large stage, then joined forces for a brass blowout including a rousing version of "when the Saints go marching in". which got a good number of folks second-lining around the plaza. Everyone wanted to be in that number!

Next up was Marc Stone's all-star soul review. Marc Stone is a DJ on WWOZ and plays guitar. Betty Harris, a soul singer from the 50's & 60's who had a hit with "Cry to Me" joined them for that and a few other songs. After that was my favorite set of the evening, the Campbell Brothers. They got us all to "Jump for Joy" with their fired up sacred steel music. They had 2 pedal steel guitars and some backup singers, and were joined by Kirk (Dirty Dozen) Joseph's Backyard Horns. They got everyone up on their feet to testify and sanctify, and we were festified. If my church was as lively as that, I'd probably go more often! And why else do people go to church? To be part of a community. Well at this little NYC festival there were at least forty others we knew from all our trips to New Orleans Jazzfest - Threadheads - fun-loving, fest-going internet-chatting folks whom we've become acquainted with over the years on the New Orleans jazzfest message board (which is how we found out about this Lincoln Center show in the first place). This online community has spawned a real community all over the world with the common thread being a love of life, music, food, and all things New Orleans. While most of us who were at the NY show are from the east coast, others came from as far away as Texas and California and North Carolina to get a little shot of New Orleans and catch up with some of our extended fest-family.

Singer John Boutte was up next with his unique brand of vocalizing. He makes every song his own. His version of Neil Young's Southern Man gave me chills-I'd never heard it like that bef'ore. and of course there was Louisiana 1927 as well as plenty of originals, like "Door Poppin". And of course he had to sing "Saints" as well, prompting another spirited second line.

Irma Thomas was the final performer of the evening, and she sounded as strong as ever. She did a mix of soulful ballads, some from her grammy award winning CD, and hip shakin' old favorites, like "You Can Have my Husband (but please don't mess wtih my man)", "Iko-Iko", "Done got Over" (with the usual ad-lib second line bit). And yes, more second lining from the adoring crowd.

My pictures from the day's festivities are here on webshots.

The festival continued on Sunday, with performances by Pete Seeger, the Knitters, and Patti Smith, who was joined by Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas. So it was quite a diverse lineup. I would have liked to see some of that too but it started late in the day. We had taken the train in from Stamford CT., where we found a deal at the Marriott. For the price of a tiny room in Manhattan, we got a nice room, round trip train tickets, ride to the station, parking, and breakfast, plus a chance to splash around in the outdoor pool before hitting the road to get home, cut the grass, and start to get ready for Rhythm and Roots next weekend. So many festivals, so little time!

2008 Newport Folk Festival

Fort Adams is a uniquely beautiful venue, and Sunday was picture perfect for the first ever appearance of Jimmy Buffett at the Newport Folk Fest. With the bright clear sunshine, gentle breezes coming off the water, boats in the harbor, and a relaxed vibe, it was a parrothead’s dream! The whole day was perfect. Willy Mason opened the main stage, complete with a saw player (!), something I actually witnessed twice in 4 days, having just seen the Asylum Street Spankers on Thursday. But Willy's material seemed too somber, so I went to see Ryan Fitzsimmons on the Waterside stage instead. Full of energy, he gave his all in the 20 minute set - too bad he wasn't on the main stage. Brandi Carlile was a new discovery for me. I had never heard of her before but enjoyed her singing and songwriting. She played acoustic guitar and sang mostly original material, accompanied by a rocking 3 piece band that included 2 twins. She belted out "Folsom Prison Blues", and ended with a soul-stirring encore version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Over the Rhine (from Cincinnati) and Calexico (from Arizona) played overlapping sets on two different stages, and although they featured different instrumentation, seemed to have a similar, cinematic sound. Perhaps not coincidentally, the singer from Over the Rhine told a story about how she and her keyboard playing husband had just returned from a trip to Santa Fe - maybe there's a southwest connection there somewhere. I like the dream-like sound of Calexico, a band which mixes Mariachi horns, pedal steel, and accordion with their guitars, sounding like something out of a spaghetti western at times.

Even with Jimmy Buffett as the featured act, it did not seem as crowded as other years. I think all the true parrot-heads were enjoying the show from their boats - from spartan kayaks to luxurious yachts and everything in between. Plus drinking in the state park is confined to a tent way out near the water.

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Without a title sponsor, the Newport Folk Festival seems to be searching for new ways to make money. This year they offered a VIP package for $500 a day ($850 for 2 days) that included food and drink served in a shaded lounge, a bag of goodies, and a reserved seating area. At least this year, the reserved seating was toward the back, so the seats, which remained empty for most of the day, were not taking up prime viewing space up front as they did last year. Who would want to sit in those little plastic chairs in the sun with no cooler, when you can bring your own chair or blanket and relax? That's so much more "folk-fest" than reserved seating - who ever heard of such a thing?

Last time I went to the folk fest in an election year, it seemed everyone had a political statement to make. This was noticeably missing from Sunday's performances. Except for a brief announcement from Clean Water Action, there wasn't a lot of political grandstanding from the main stage. Maybe that's not very "folk-fest" either but I didn't mind - it was a relief actually.

Back to the music, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings played a great set of Americana/ bluegrass music, highlighted by their fine harmony singing. She played some banjo too, and they did a version of "Jackson" by Johnny & June Carter Cash, saying everyone always requests it of them, so they decided to learn it. Something about the setting and the history of the Newport folk fest seems to inspire the performers, and they urged the boats to toot their horns if they could hear, and they did.

I caught some of Jake Shimabukuro, the young Hawaiian ukelele phenom who has been seen by millions on youtube. The small tent was packed, and he was marveling at his new-found fame, which he said he never imagined. I guess he has toured with Bela Fleck and had recently discovered bluegrass, so he treated us to an original composition based on Orange Blossom Special, plus his signature version of "While my Guitar gently Weeps."

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Levon Helm stole the show with his Americana revue, performing a mix of blues, country, bluegrass, and songs from the Band's catalog. There were so many musicians on stage - horns, including tuba, trombone, sax, trumpet - keyboards, harmonica (little Sammy Davis), accordion, banjo, fiddle. He played mandolin half the time, while daughter Amy got behind the drums, and also sang quite a bit. His voice sounded somewhat strained at times, but lent a familiar air to some of the bluegrass songs, ala Ralph Stanley. Their version of "Ashes of Love" had a kind of Cajun rhythm to it. There was always someone new stepping up to take a solo or sing, including Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. It kind of reminded me of Bruce Springsteen's Seeger sessions. I guess Levon figured, hey, I've been doing this type of music a lot longer than the boss so why not do it all the way? After that I would have been happy to call it a day, but wait, there's more (!)

Jimmy Buffett started out with a solo performance of "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw", but was soon joined by the full band, contrary to what some of the advance billing suggested. He seemed to revel in the opportunity to finally play at Newport after 40 years, and acknowledged the sailors in the extended audience out in Narragansett Bay. He's always good at throwing in local and timely references, like conjuring up a volcano on Block Island in the intro to "Volcano", and changing lyrics to songs like "Fruitcakes" ("the future will be here soon - we should be living like George Jetson, but we're getting screwed by oil tycoons"). In keeping with the festival format, the show included some special guests, like ukelele star Jake Shimabukuro playing backup on several songs. Jake also played part of his claim-to-fame version of "My Guitar Gently Weeps". The darlings of the day, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, joined him for a toe-tapping version of Gillian's "Elvis Presley Blues", on which Jimmy played a National steel guitar. And of course there was the full complement of songs and stories of drunken debauchery, island mischief, and good times on the high seas - or is that high times on good seas? I am not really a parrothead, having only seen him once before, when his local summer tour appearance did not coincide with Rhythm and Roots. But I enjoy a good show, and I don't think there could be a better setting in which to experience a Jimmy Buffett concert. Jimmy even ordered up a rainbow during Margaritaville, and a "pirate ship" fired its cannons for him. Does it get any better than this?

The one thing I dislike about the Newport festival is the difficulty in getting out of there - if you stay until the end it usually takes over an hour to get out of the parking lot. But we made our escape during the "encore" of One Particular Harbor and made it home in no time.

It was such a beautiful day I couldn't help but take lots of pictures... here's a sampling on webshots.

and we can relive some of the performances, which are available on NPR