Cajun, jazz singers perform at Jazz Fest, Day 3

[April 27, 2009]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Cajun singer Wayne Toups and his Zydecajun band picked their accordions and guitars while thousands enthusiastically stomped, clapped, swayed and danced -- some doing the Cajun two-step at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday.

The energetic band famous for the way it blends Cajun, zydeco and rock were among the local favorites featured on the third day of the festival. The day's headliners included R&B singer and Grammy winner Etta James, South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Earth, Wind and Fire.

"I'm having a blast," said Jazz Fest first-timer Morgan Kirsh, 20, of Austin, Texas, who bobbed and swayed to the Zydecajuns with a margarita in hand. Kirsh said she was waiting to hear the rock groups Better Than Ezra and Dave Matthews Band, who were slated to perform later Sunday, but was enjoying "this zydeco stuff" in the meantime.

Sunday marked the third straight day of sunny skies and breezy weather that greeted thousands of music fans gathered at the Fair Grounds Race Course. As revelers ate crawfish beignets and soft-shell crab po-boys, bands played jazz, blues, Cajun, zydeco and other music genres on 12 different stages.

"I had catfish for the first time," said 38-year-old Kara Garrett of Wilmington, N.C., who was at her first Jazz Fest with her parents, Shaun and Sue Reynolds of Chicago, festival veterans. "I'm addicted to po-boys now," Garrett said laughing.

Garrett said she was excited to see the Avett Brothers on Sunday's lineup. She called the folk-rock group from her home state "very entertaining." The band includes two brothers who play the guitar and banjo.

"They're too big for our town now," Garrett said. "I have to go all over to catch them."

With this year marking the 40th anniversary of Jazz Fest, organizers have taken care to pay homage to the city's musical roots. Opening day included a tribute to the late gospel singer Mahalia Jackson by blues singers Irma Thomas and Mavis Staples.

Over the weekend, the city's Mardi Gras Indian tribes paraded through the festival grounds playing drums and tambourines while dressed in elaborate garb complete with tall feather headdresses.

"The Indians are so cool and a big part of New Orleans history," said Mike Boyle, 49, of New Orleans, who danced in the grass Sunday as a tribe performed on stage, chanting and singing.

Also Sunday, singer-pianist Allen Toussaint performed with blues singers Deacon John and Al "Carnival Time" Johnson. All three artists have a history with one of the city's most legendary clubs, the Dew Drop Inn, which was a hot spot for black musicians before desegregation. Ray Charles, Little Richard, James Brown, Fats Domino and Aretha Franklin are among the big-name artists said to have performed there. But after the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, the club's use dwindled.

"As good as civil rights was for African Americans, it had a mixed affect on African American venues like the Dew Drop Inn," said Glenn Gaines, president of the Dew Drop Inn Foundation, which is working to rebuild the club that was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Toussaint, the subject of this year's official Jazz Fest poster, is slated to perform songs from his first solo album in more than a decade, "The Bright Mississippi," next Sunday, the festival's closing day. Toussaint's album was released earlier this month.

Also performing next weekend are blues singer Marva Wright, country singer Emmylou Harris, trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and singer Tony Bennett. Headline acts include Bon Jovi, The O'Jays, Kings of Leon and Cowboy Mouth.

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On the Net:

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival:
http://nojazzfest.com/

[Associated Press; By STACEY PLAISANCE]

Associated Press writer Chevel Johnson contributed to this report.

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