Month: April 2026

“Jazzfest Week One”

On Wednesday evening we ventured over to something new – the Constantinople porch stage to see River Eckert give a solo performance.

That turned into a good decision.  Kenny, Kara and Nina met us and we enjoyed some classic River songs.  Heartbreakingly, Marcia Ball was in the audience.  She is one of my all time favourite musicians, has ALS and can no longer talk.  River did a nice job of recognizing her.

That was a nice and casual warm up for the crazy days ahead.  I like this sign that they put out during the porch concerts.

We tried something new on the first Thursday (referred to as locals day because of the reduced ticket price for local residents) and set up under the large tree at the Fais Do-Do stage.  What on earth is that?  Well…in French it is an affectionate phrase used to tell young children to “go to sleep.”  I don’t think that’s what they’re going for with this stage.  In this case it refers to a lively, traditional Saturday night country dance.  These were family affairs and mothers would say “fais do-do” to their children so that the dancing could continue.  We set up here in order to enjoy Shinyribs when he closed out the stage later in the afternoon.

I usually start Jazzfest with a plan and things get less and less organized as the days pass.  Here were the things I was interested in for the first day:

We started out with a walk over to see Gov’t Majik at the Festival stage.  They had an interesting and varied set.

We followed that with a little bit of Johnny Sketch and then heard some of Vieux Farka Toure in the Blues Tent.  He is a Malian singer, composer and guitarist. He is the son of Malian musician Ali Farka Toure.  There was an album years ago by Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure that I really enjoyed:

We made our first stop into the WWOZ tent – iced coffee, water, all kinds of fruit, and very well maintained bathrooms.  This was all very pleasant – a small oasis amidst the crowds.

Our next stop was the grandstand (main viewing area for the horse racing track) to watch an interview of Jon Batiste by David Fricke.  This was a very popular and poorly planned event.  Organizers should have readily predicted that this would be popular and used the many TVs to broadcast throughout the grandstand rather than in just one small section.  It was hopeless to try and listen with all the chatter around us and so we left to find something better to entertain us.

The Blind Boys of Alabama in the Gospel tent quickly helped us forget about the mess of the interview.

Just an excellent set from start to finish.

We sampled a short amount of Kings of Leon on the main Festival stage.  Diana and I looked at each other and agreed that they were not our thing at all – sounded terrible.  We beat a hasty retreat to listen to some Shinyribs.  One of our group talked way too much during this set – very annoying.  On our way out, we listened to some of Raye, a young English singer.  She was excellent – a huge and talented band, good songs, and had a great talent for endearing herself to the huge crowd between songs.

The first day was in the books and our brass passes seemed to provide some benefits.

Friday set up was at the Festival stage – our new preferred spot up against the front of the Big Chief viewing gallery – better views and easier access than our previous spot.

Julie’s dress made it out to the festival.

We started with sets from local groups Naughty Professor and The Rumble – both very good performances.  Then the last of the Nevilles who still performs in New Orleans, Cyril, put on a very strong show.

Here’s a clip of a young family member with a fancy suit:

After a solid set from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, it was time for what we hoped would be a festival highlight – Jon Batiste.  Things started off well with the Blind Boys of Alabama kicking of his show.

Batiste’s set was a little bit all over the map with some things I loved, Hallelujah:

And some other sections that weren’t what I was looking for.  Overall, a very good day 2.

For Saturday, Day 3, we set up at the Gentilly Stage.  The first band up was The Deslondes – my favourite from the last few years.  I decided to go up front and get a close up experience.

They closed with a cover of J.J. Cale’s “Drifter’s Wife.”  Really excellent stuff to start the day.

The Crowe Boys, another local band, was a new one for me.  I was quite impressed with their performance.

Jason Isbell and the 400 unit followed that with a solid set – just nothing close to the one I saw in Telluride when I became an instant big fan.  I don’t have any videos to share because he apparently has folks trolling around looking for short video clips from a festival and blocking them for copyright – what a ridiculous waste of resources.

Tyler Childers finished out the day on the Gentilly stage.  He’s a country/Americana artist that has become very popular lately, especially with the kids.  Jack and Mason joined us to watch.  We gave it a few songs and were not impressed at all.

We decided to walk around the track and catch some of Stevie Nicks at the Festival stage.  That turned out to be quite the undertaking, the track being completely blocked by people watching the show from outside the field.  We fought our way through and were able to listen to a few songs.  Stevie still sounds very good.  And is clearly just as popular.

Back at Gentilly to pack up, Childers was sounding much better.  Mason confirmed that he picked up about half way through, but was upset that he hadn’t played any of his very popular songs.

It was back over to the Festival stage on Sunday, Day 4.  Some rain threatened as we waited in line and didn’t come to too much.

After setting up, we made our way over to the Blues tent to see River Eckert and his band absolutely kill it in their first ever Jazzfest performance.  Several more thousand people than our living room or the Constantinople stage.

The two big closers on Sunday were both octogenarians – Irma Thomas and Rod Stewart.  So impressive to still be performing at a high level in their 80s.  Here’s Irma with her classic “Time is on my side:”

And “Forever Young:”

Moving on to the next act, Rod Stewart.

He insists on being “piped” on stage with “Scotland the Brave” and has the Celtic football team logo on the bass drum.

This was very much his Vegas residency type show and I enjoyed it all.  There’s nothing wrong with cheezy if well executed.

My favourite was this old Faces song:

You do have to smile at his choice of backup singers, all great musicians also playing harp, violin, and guitar:

Phew!!  Week One is in the books.  Let’s do it again next weekend.

“French Quarter Fest 2026”

Diana was excited to get back to pickleball on Monday morning.  She won all but one of her games in the clinic ending tournament.

I picked up our Brass Passes for Jazzfest around lunchtime in the Jazz and Heritage Festival building on Rampart.  Music was playing on an amazing sound system in the pickup room.  The Brass Passes include a healthy donation to the local WWOZ radio station in the price.  This is the first year we’ve tried them and we’ll see how it all goes.

Anne hosted Happy Hour tennis (she drags a cooler out to the courts) for Denny’s birthday on Tuesday afternoon.  We had a nice group to celebrate.

In the evening trivia session, we got the fall of the Berlin Wall and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time after time” switched on our timeline and lost at the end.

I almost forgot to mention one of the more entertaining portions of the trivia experience.  Our “scribe” didn’t agree with the score that quizmaster Tom reported for our team.  He sat down at the computer with Tom and got things corrected – attention to detail!

The typical Wednesday morning run and yoga were executed by McD.  After that we made a productive trip to Trader Joes’.

In the early evening, we made the short drive down to Lafayette square to see River Eckert and his band perform in the free Wednesday night spring show series.

River had assembled an excellent band, including his dad, Jake, on guitar.

We left a bit before the end of the set to meet Denny and Anne to celebrate Denny’s birthday at Dolfy’s.  This is the new Basque restaurant and they did a great job of mirroring the food we had just experienced.  The pork dish was outstanding and the pintxos and appetizers also very good.

Thursday was day one of French Quarter Fest (FQF).  We made it down to the brand new park and the Pan Am stage just in time to see the very last of the Tin Men.  We set up in the spot with Randy, Amy, Jeanne, Larry, Brian and Lisa.  The park really is a very nice new space with expansive views of the river and downtown.

After setting up, we walked over to Jackson Square to check out the Nori Guys food offerings.  That was a mistake – the foot traffic getting over there was very busy and undisciplined – lots of bobbing and weaving.   Jackson Square was very busy – we got our sushi tacos, ate them, and headed back to the relative peace and quiet of the new parks.

When we returned, Muevelo, a Cuban salsa band was taking the stage.  Brian had advertised this as a potential highlight.

Muévelo, the Celia Cruz-inspired Cuban music dance band, was packed with ringers including Victor Campbell on piano, David Navarro on trumpet and vocals, Brent Rose on saxophone and Chris Butcher on trombone. Margie Perez was animated on lead vocals.

John Mooney and Bluesiana finished off our afternoon of music.  I had seen Mooney in a solo show at the Circle bar (sadly no longer with us) with Denny years ago.  I remember good blues music after an inordinate amount of time setting up and trying to perfect the sound in the tiny back room.  Set up was quick this time and Mooney demonstrated great slide work and feel on his guitar.

We heard a little bit of the Rebirth Brass Band on the Jack Daniels stage as we packed up and exited.

Friday at French Quarter Fest started out with Lulu and the Broadsides.  I really enjoy her song “Dear Rachel Carson” with the lyrics, “If we lose New Orleans, we lose everything.”

Such a big and powerful voice.

Diana and I split a soft shell crab po-boy from the Ajun Cajun tent and I snuck a spicy beef Mrs wheat’s meat pie into my pocket for dessert later.

After lunch, we walked over to the “Esplanade in the Shade” stage at the Jazz Museum to listen to the New Orleans legacy coalition, a group of next generation musicians who were rumoured to be joined by their fathers for some of the songs.  These are the next generation members – Omari Neville, River Eckert, Michael Mullins, Bradford Lewis, Austin Clements, Rodney Weber.  Cyril Neville, Jake Eckert and Mark Mullins all joined their sons for a couple of songs, with Cyril Neville paying a very nice tribute to River after “Tipitina.”

Here’s a local TV new segment about the coalition:

Legacy Coalition TV segment

There was a very strange transition from that wonderful group of musicians to some kind of rap/DJ set.  The area cleared out quickly.  We returned later to listen to the Riverbenders- a band led by Jack Eckert and Aaron Wilkinson (formerly of the Honey Island Swamp Band.)  I enjoyed this set very much – great musicians with a laid back sound.

Here are the Riverbenders live on WWOZ:

The River Benders on WWOZ

We had read about the dedication of an amazing new organ at the St Charles Presbyterian church and, after a brief refresh from French Quarter Fest, joined Kenny and Andrew there for the inaugural recital.

Here’s an article about the dedication:

Church Organ Dedication for St Charles Presbyterian

The performance was very technical and impressive and did nothing for me.  Would it have been too much to play something that folks might have recognized or something that really showcased the power of the organ rather than trying to see how many notes could be crammed into a measure?

I didn’t have a lot of time for reading this week, and we’ve heard plenty of music already.  Time to rest up for eight days of Jazzfest ahead.

Monday began with a stroll down to Bistro  Aquilla for coffee and breakfast.  I ordered a San Giovanni sandwich which came on a base of beet dip.  Diana found how much of that ended up on my fingers quite entertaining.

We had an impromptu visit from Kenny and Squirrel later in the morning.  Duane picked up the name squirrel many years ago thanks to a football coach.  He had been out for a bike ride with Kenny and Ray when Ray took a fall and had to head home with some sore ribs.  So the duo made their way over to see us.  A nice surprise and our first visitors after being gone so long.

Diana met Jeff, Merry Lee, Jeff’s nephew and his wife at the Columns later int he afternoon.  I was mostly asleep on the couch and feeling jet lag too much to venture out.

I enjoyed the NCAA basketball championship on Monday night.  Michigan did not score as they did throughout the rest of the tournament but managed to eke out a win.

Diana and I walked down to French Truck coffee on Tuesday morning, the newspaper delivery starting up again just in time for us to enjoy it with our coffee.  From there, we strolled down magazine to pick up a card to Walgreens and then made our way home in time to meet Robert, the foundation repair guy at home.  We’ve noticed some new cracks and wanted to make sure all the foundation piers were still looking good.  Robert reports that all looks good and we are just experiencing some normal “settling.”

A new month of pickleball clinics started up and Laurie picked up Diana to get that all started again.  I walked over to Aidan Gill for a haircut while they ran around the court.  Aidan was in fine form with his banter about my trip.

We met with Jeff and Merry Lee for an early dinner at Tacos del Cartel on Tuesday evening.  Early so that we could eat before jet lag kicked in too much and also so that I could attend trivia if I thought I could last that late.  I was too sleepy to face the couple of hours of trivia and called it an early night.

Diana’s Wednesday began with yoga a new location on Freret Street.  She seemed to enjoy it.  We met Kenny and Kara for the parsimonious Happy Hour at Cafe Degas.  We followed that with a brief stop at the new business that opened where DMAC’s was, “True South”, and finished up at the Twelve Mile Limit.  I loved this place – a true craft cocktail maker in a slightly divey bar.  Their history is interesting:

“The history of Twelve Mile Limit is actually layered—it’s not just a modern bar, but a spot with over a century of local history tied to New Orleans development, baseball, and post-Katrina recovery.

🏗️ Early history (1910–1920s)

• The building was originally constructed around 1910 as a pumping station, part of the city’s effort to drain swamps and expand New Orleans.
• By the 1920s, it had already become a bar.

⚾ Baseball-era hangout

• The bar sat near Pelican Park, once a spring training site.
• In the mid-1920s, the New York Yankees trained there—during the era when Babe Ruth had just joined the team.
• Local lore suggests Ruth (famous for drinking) may have frequented the bar.

🍻 20th century → early 2000s

• The location stayed a bar for decades, usually named after its owner.
• Its last pre-modern incarnation was “Marvin’s”, run by “Marvelous Marvin” starting around 2000.

🌊 Hurricane Katrina impact (2005)

• The building was badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina, like much of Mid-City (which was deeply underwater).
• It reopened, but struggled to fully recover afterward.

🍸 Modern era (2010–present)

• In 2010, bartender T. Cole Newton bought the bar, renovated it, and reopened it as Twelve Mile Limit.
• His concept: a “cocktail dive”—high-quality drinks in a laid-back neighborhood setting.
• Since then, it’s become a well-known Mid-City spot, often listed among top bars in New Orleans.

🍹 Where the name comes from

• The name “Twelve Mile Limit” references:
  • A Prohibition-era concept—people had to go offshore beyond U.S. jurisdiction to drink.
  • The distance was extended to 12 miles in 1924, inspiring a cocktail called the “Twelve Mile Limit.””

Diana had a haircut on Thursday  and I suggested that we should have lunch at the world famous Domilise’s before.  This is regularly mentioned as the best po’boy spot in New Orleans – oscillating with Parkway.  We didn’t love it.  The food was good and plentiful – just nothing to blow me away.

I left Domilise’s and took care of the grocery shopping.  Diana ran into Roeland at the Parlor getting her hair done.  New Orleans seems to become a smaller city ever day to me..

Here’s a lot of information on the history of Domilise’s.  It’s interesting how easy it is to find this versus other types of important New Orleans history.

Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar

is a historic, family-owned institution in Uptown New Orleans that has been operating since 1918. Located at 5240 Annunciation Street, it began as a neighborhood bar and eventually evolved into one of the city’s most famous po-boy shops. 

Where Y’at New Orleans +2

• Establishment: Founded by Peter and Sophie Domilise in 1918.
• Original Concept: It started as a corner bar serving the local workforce, including dockworkers and longshoremen from the nearby Mississippi River wharves.
• Transition to Food: Sophie began cooking “plate lunches” for these workers, which gradually morphed into a sandwich-focused menu. During the 1929 streetcar strike—the era when the “poor boy” sandwich was famously named—Domilise’s maintained its working-class roots by extending credit to laborers until they received their paychecks. 
  Culinary Backstreets +4

• Family Transition: After World War II, the business passed to Peter and Sophie’s son, Sam, and his wife, Dorothy “Miss Dot” Domilise, in 1947.
• A Local Legend: Dorothy Domilise became the face of the establishment, known for her sharp wit and warm hospitality. She personally prepared po-boys behind the counter well into her 90s.
• Survival and Reopening: The restaurant briefly closed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as the family evacuated. Its reopening was seen by many locals as a sign of the city’s recovery.
• End of an Era: Dorothy passed away in 2013 at the age of 90, having worked at the restaurant for over 65 years. 
  Domilise’s Po-boys +5

• Generational Ownership: The shop is currently run by the third and fourth generations of the family (led by Ken and Joann Domilise), with members of the fifth generation also involved.
• Famous Patronage: The walls are covered in photos of celebrity visitors, including the Manning family (Peyton and Eli), who are such regulars they have their own dedicated “Manning Wall of Fame”. The late Anthony Bourdain also famously visited and praised their off-the-menu “surf-and-turf” po-boy (shrimp, roast beef gravy, and Swiss cheese).
• Traditions: The menu remains simple and focused on high-quality ingredients, specifically using Leidenheimer French bread delivered twice daily. Many staff members have been with the restaurant for decades, including Ray the bartender (45+ years) and Gayle the sandwich maker (35+ years).

I accompanied Diana to her pain management group appointment on Friday.  The conclusion was that she will get two steroid shots later this month. –

Saturday was busy.  We started with an early walk/run in Audubon park.  That was followed by a visit to Tartine.  Nicoise salad for Diana and quiche for Keith.  We stopped at the hardware store on the drive home and had extra keys made, since the fancy locks are not reliable.  All that activity finished up with us hanging Miles Davis behind all the albums:

He looks a bit lonely and we’re in discussion about who to add to his band.  Bill Evans?  Dizzy?  What do you think?

I wanted to share some detail about the guy who made Miles: “Mikel Casal, a local San Sebastian illustrator with work sold through Lance & Malone.  “My father, uncles and cousins would come back to port with mementos from faraway places such as Canada, South Arivvca, Brazil, Norway and even Hong Kong.  SOme of those mementos that would come from sacks soaked in saltwater and diesel fuel were marvelously illustrated books and magazines.  I went wide eyed every time I would open them and it was at that moment I knew that when I grew up I wanted t be a draftsman.  Later i found out that what I really wanted to be was an illustrator.”

We relaxed in the afternoon at a crawfish boil hosted by Alex and Laura.  Wonderful food and company as always.

Sunday was very mellow.  We drove over to City Park so that Frank could show us the ultimate frisbee competition.  Those guys expend a lot of energy running around during a game.  After that we watched the Masters gold tournament.

We’re skipping books and music as this post is so late.