Blog Posts by Tristram Lozaw

For those unaware, let's review why people like me think the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell is one of the world's premier music experiences, one that has broken many a jaded attitude with its sensory carnival of all types of music, food and art--all largely drawn from the region's built-in talent pool. In this, its 41st year, Jazz Fest once again features 400 acts on 11 stages from 11 am to 7 pm on 7 days over two weekends at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Track. We (from 50 to 135 thousand people per day) can also expect dozens of cultural exhibits, a few dozen parades, American Indian pow wows, over 100 food specialties (no burgers), a few hundred artisans, and temps in the 80s on sunny, breezy days.

OK, not this time. Thunder, lightning, hail and tornado warnings can make for a good Woodstock-style "I was there, dude" story down the line. But really, downpours and downspouts are not prime conditions for listening to music or the stage-to-stage dodge

By the end of the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Fest's 40th Anniversary--counting the first Jazz Fest weekend, Ponderosa Stomp, free in-store appearances at Louisiana Music Factory, shows at the new Rock'n'Bowl and other nightlife--I'll have seen over 200 performances in 10 days. I need to relax the frantic pace, I tell myself, for Jazz Fest's last four days. We'll see how long that works. In any case, I think I prefer following Allen Toussaint's lead: "Everything I do will be funky from now on."

THURSDAY

Your faithful reporter had a late night at Ponderosa Stomp and took the morning to write and file that review. So I miss the 11 a.m. opening bell for Jazz Fest's second weekend. The Thursday quietly nestled between the two weekends is my favorite day--manageable crowds, more emphasis on the "easy" in Big Easy, more local focus. "It's the Louisiana bands who bring people back year after year," says Mark Samuels, president of New Orlean's Basin Street Records, home to Kermit

It's not like one needs more ways to fill the time in New Orleans, especially during Jazz Fest. But in its eighth year, Ponderosa Stomp has become a must-see bridge between the two Jazz Fest weekends. A two-night, 40-plus-band extravaganza now augmented by a three-day music conference, Ponderosa Stomp rediscovers lost legends, launches comebacks, initiates reunions, and uncovers secret histories as it celebrates an honor roll of unsung heroes of American music. And, sometimes, the unsung heroes behind unsung heroes.

"When we started out we had no real design, we were just doing shows with artists we admired," says Ponderosa Stomp founder Ira "Dr. Ike" Padnos, a walking vinyl records database who's an anesthesiologist by day. "The idea was to bring musicians who never played out to New Orleans -- lost heroes, sidemen, one-hit wonders. We want to show history, where music comes from, strip away the museum and oldies show mentality. If you listen to this music you realize how much