Sabian - Because Sound Matters

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2008

New Orleans, Louisiana May 08, 2008

The Ultimate Groove Event

Still haunted by the devastation of hurricane Katrina, the residents of New Orleans - joined by tens of thousands of visitors from around the world - celebrated this year's event with over 500 performers and bands playing everything from blues and cajun, to gospel, funk, pop and rock.

Friday April 25^th

Performances included Will Calhoun with Leo Nocentelli (guitarist from the Meters), Bernie Worrell (keyboards funkmeister) and Doug Wimbish (Will's bass buddy from Living Colour).

Closing out the day was Wally Ingram with headliner Sheryl Crow. Playing a 90-minute set of mostly hits and a couple covers, the band rocked the over 10,000 in attendance. After the show,  and running all night long, there's music in almost every club in the city.  A couple surprises included meeting Dan Akroyd (Blues Brothers) and running in to Led Zep's Robert Plant.

Saturday April 26^th

This began as an overcast, drizzly day, though that didn't dampen the crowd from enjoying Fred LaBlanc with Cowboy Mouth and Eddie Christmas with Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, who led up to headliners Dr. John (Herman Earnest drumming) and Billy Joel (Crystal Taliefero on percussion). Crystal has been a mainstay in Joel's band for over ten years and her percussion abilities speak for themselves (not to mention her talents on vocals, guitar and sax). The band rocked, and though a downpour dumped several inches of water, well over 10,000 people stayed, which is symbolic of the spirit of the still struggling city; a bit of water isn't going to prevent these people from enjoying their music!

May 2^nd- 4th

There was a lot of groove happening, with Widespread Panic, Tower of Power (David Garibaldi), the legendary Zigaboo Modeliste with his funk group, reggae sensation Steel Pulse and Santana (Karl Perazzo & Raul Rekow) among many others.

This festival, the 39^th, with its large crowds invading New Orleans again, was a musical event of giant proportions. If you have the opportunity, be there next year.