Jazz Fest same as it ever was (thankfully)

NEW ORLEANS

'It's been a few years since you-know-what."

Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the Roots didn't need to go into specifics to remind the bulging crowd at last weekend's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival about Hurricane Katrina. For the third straight year, the city's biggest tourist-getting event besides Mardi Gras came off like a party with a purpose.

The 39th annual event has clearly rebounded, going back to the seven-day schedule it had before the storm in 2005 (it cut back to six after Katrina) and once again drawing as many attendees as that year (400,000) despite a nerve-racking deluge of rain its first weekend (April 25-27).

But even as the good times persisted at the festival, it would take more sugar coating than all the beignets at Café Du Monde for revelers to forget that bad times still permeate the city.

"We see by your presence in this tent, none of you are taking anything for granted," NOLA soul legend Irma Thomas said to an overflowing Gospel Tent crowd during a hope-filled tribute to Mahalia Jackson on closing day last Sunday.

In the same tent a day earlier, Aaron Neville turned pin-drop stillness into a teardrop climax when he encored with Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927," an old song with the all-too-timely refrain, "They're trying to wash us away."

Carlos Santana was praised by the Neville Brothers for his fundraising efforts when he jammed with the all-star clan during their usual fest-closing set. Jimmy Buffett was joined by Allen Toussaint for "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" at his afternoon gig, and Buffett made sure his Parrotheaded fans/nutcases spent money at night by hosting a block party in the French Quarter. Hip-hop/movie star Ludacris also brought a Discovery Channel TV crew with him when he joined the Roots onstage, bringing attention to rebuilding efforts.

Both the Roots and the Raconteurs made Jazz Fest one of their first stops to promote strong new albums. With the Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza fests also on tap this summer, the Raconteurs were primed and ready to wow a big crowd. Co-leader Jack White egged on the audience to sing "Steady as She Goes," and the band turned up its intensity to arena-rock levels during "Level" and its new standout, "Hold Up."

The festival's biggest draw, though, was Stevie Wonder, whose crowd seemed to stretch all the way to Lake Pontchartrain despite more rain that threatened to turn the grounds into the Atchafalaya Swamp. "Higher Ground," of course, took on new meaning.

In keeping with the fest's bright-side mantra, though, the weather became part of the fun. Dancers two-stepped and waltzed their way through the mud at the Fais Do Do Stage during zydeco heir Geno Delafose's feel-good performance. Inside the Dixieland-oriented Economy Hall Tent, umbrellas became bouncing and twirling dance accessories during masterful sets by Dr. Michael White's Original Liberty Jazz Band and perhaps the fest's unlikeliest of stars, the New Orleans Jazz Hounds of Tokyo.

Plenty of new Louisiana stars also emerged, proving that the local community is still musically fertile. Probably the brightest was Troy (Trombone Shorty) Andrews, an umpteenth-generation musician whose overcrowded Congo Square set combined NOLA funk and brass-band traditions into a vibrant new package. On the Cajun side, the Pine Leaf Boys' mohawk-headed guitarist symbolized their edgy take on old-school sounds. And the all-female Pinettes Brass Band proved that gender was hardly their best selling point.

"And thank God I'm still living," he quipped, a comment that the fest itself seemed to be screaming on its last sun-brightened day.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658