Memories of attending past Jazz Fests in New Orleans Louisiana at the Fairgrounds tied in to Mother's Day!
Pic: Keith, Marion, Neal - Jazz Fest 1979, Schlitz Tent
“April Showers Bring May Flowers!” - especially for Mother's Day, but sometimes, unfortunately, for the Jazz Fests (JF) as well! While I don't think that my late mother ever made it to a JF, I can't help but think about her around this time of the year also.
How can I forget some of those first JF that I attended in the late 1970s in my beloved hometown of N'Awlins with my buddy Neal? Many folks just took in Jimmy Buffet, The Who, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga this past weekend, and many others are prepping for the likes of Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Steve Winwood and locals like the Meters, Deacon and Dr. John during this 45th Anniversary for JF!
Those formative years of the JF at the NO Fair Grounds – when you could even drag in your own food like red beans and rice, Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken or jambalaya and even an ice chest filled with long neck Dixie Beers in your kid's red wagon – were wonderful.
While at any JF you will be showered with so much culture through arts, crafts, food and music, the exception is that you have to prepare for when you are showered with heavy rain, as had happened to me a few times in those early years, and I had walk through some muddy pathways.
Quint Davis, one of the main founders for JF, has always done a great job of preparing for and putting on the JF, so they would employ wooden planks and pine needles or mulch to help folks navigate the Fair “Swampy Grounds” as they can come to be known! Memories of attendees joyfully slipping and sliding purposefully into those puddles are etched into my head – and probably my shoes still!
My wife, Maria, and I treasure recalling past JF events where we would always fit in the Neville Brothers, but also the late Roy Orbison, whom my late father-in-law loved – especially his “Crying, Pretty Woman and You Got It” tunes.
We also loved taking our children to all kinds of fun and music geared to them at the “Kid's Tent.” “Dennis” was a folksy singer who made up some super song that kids loved like “The Donut Man” did. One of his fun sing-a-longs was “I'm at the (Audubon) Zoo!” Maria and I also loved the attending to the Gospel Tent for all kinds of neat church groups!
In 1980 before I got married, I was able to work with a health oriented entrepreneur, “Dr. Banana,” who pioneered smoothies in the Big Easy and whom I worked for at Loyola. At the JF, he had us cut a refrigerated pineapple into four long pieces, which we had trimmed to just the fruit; these we connected to a wooden stick and sold them for $2 apiece and included a marketing “Dr. Banana” sticker!
So as I also reminisce now about my beloved late mother during these JF times, it sure would've been neat to have asked her out as my “pre-mother's day date” to go to this year's JF for us to see Tony Bennett, whom she liked! I don't quite think she would've been so hyped up for Lady Gaga! Happy Jazz Fest and Mother's Day to all!
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, April 26, 2015.
Some great memories and some great singers and groups. I only regret that I never got to the Monterey Jazz Festival when I lived in California 1966-69. It was a time of great change and great music at that landmark event.
“April Showers Bring May Flowers!” - especially for Mother's Day, but sometimes, unfortunately, for the Jazz Fests (JF) as well! While I don't think that my late mother ever made it to a JF, I can't help but think about her around this time of the year also.
