One Night Only: Smithsonian Folkways Celebrates 50 Years of "Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival," Box Set Due in May

PRE-ORDER FROM AMAZON.COM

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or simply "Jazz Fest," as it's become known, is more than a gathering of musicians performing for a crowd. Since its founding, it's become a cultural event; an annual celebration of the unique music, art, food, and people of New Orleans and beyond, with acts ranging from jazz, rock, pop, country, blues, and more.

To celebrate the festival's fiftieth year, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has announced the May 10 release of Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. It's a 5-disc box set presented as a large-format, 12"x12" book. Inside its 136 pages are numerous photos spanning the festival's history, plus many essays and discographical annotations. There's a forward from festival founder George Wein, as well as notes from Jeff Place and Huib Schippers from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation archivist Rachel Lyons; WWOZ's Director of Content, Dave Ankers; and The New York Times' Jon Pareles.

The music promises to be equally impressive, with previously unreleased recordings from the vault of WWOZ Radio and beyond. In all, it totals up to 300 minutes of music and spans the years 1974 to 2016. Disc 1 spotlights jazz, while Discs 2 and 3 feature R&B, blues, and gospel. Disc 4, meanwhile, celebrates Zydeco, Cajun and other New Orleans regional music, and Disc 5 brings the funk, along with rock, blues, and hip-hop. Among the legendary artists present are Irma Thomas, Professor Longhair, The Dixie Cups, The Neville Brothers, Allen Toussaint (appearing solo and with Bonnie Raitt), Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Dr. John, Terence Blanchard, and Trombone Shorty, whose "One Night Only" is now available as a digital single (see below).

So celebrate a half-century of a New Orleans institution with Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, available May 10 from Smithsonian Folkways. You can find the links and a full track listing below. To whet your appetite for the set, check out the Trombone Shorty's "One Night Only," as well as Irma Thomas' "Ruler of My Heart" and The White Eagles' "Big Chief Got the Golden Crown," available from the Spotify player below.

Various Artists, Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1:

1. Indian Red - By The Golden Eagles

2. Welcome to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival - By Larry McKinley

3. One Night Only (The March) - By Trombone Shorty

4. Free to Be - By Donald Harrison, Jr.

5. Basin Street Blues - By Danny Barker

6. A Streetcar Named Desire - By Terence Blanchard

7. Royal Garden Blues - By Kermit Ruffins Big Band

8. Bring Me Flowers While I'm Living / Rub a Little Boogie - By Champion Jack Dupree

9. Back Home Again in Indiana - By George Wein & Newport All-Stars

10. Louisiana 1927 - By John Boutte

Disc 2:

1. Yes We Can Can - By Allen Toussaint

2. Trick Bag - By Earl King

3. Ruler of My Heart - By Irma Thomas

4. Dizzy Miss Lizzy - By Snooks Eaglin

5. Ain't Got No Home - By Clarence "Frogman" Henry

6. Big Chief Got the Golden Crown - By The White Eagles

7. Big Chief - By Professor Longhair

8. Iko Iko / Brother John / Saints Go Marching In - By Dixie Cups

9. Red Beans - By Marcia Ball

10. Litanie des Saints / Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya / I Walk on Gilded Splinters - By Dr. John

Disc 3:

1. How Ya Gonna Clap? - By Ray Hackett

2. Blackbird Special - By The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

3. Hey Now, Baby - By Henry Butler

4. Secret Love - By Germaine Bazzle & Red Tyler Quintet

5. Jazznocracy - By Al Belletto Big Band

6. Summertime - By Original Liberty Jazz Band

7. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It - By Preservation Hall Jazz Band

8. I Want to Be at That Meeting / Golden Gate Gospel Train - By The Zion Harmonizers

9. Old Rugged Cross - By Irma Thomas

10. Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus - By Raymond Myles & The Gospel Soul Children

11. I Can Go to God in Prayer - By Johnson Extension

Disc 4:

1. Hard to Stop - By Buckwheat Zydeco

2. Paper in My Shoe - By Boozoo Chavis

3. Midland Two-Step - By The Savoy Family Cajun Band

4. Disco et Fais Do-Do - By Bruce Daigrepont

5. Recherche d'Acadie - By Beausoleil

6. Yellow Moon - By The Neville Brothers

7. When the Levee Breaks - By John Campbell

8. It Don't Mean a Doggone Thing - By John Mooney

9. Starlight Diamond / Jimmy Reed Medley: You Don't Have to Go / Baby, What You Want Me to Do / Going to New York / Honest I Do - By Kenny Neal

10. What Is Success - By Allen Toussaint & Bonnie Raitt

11. Double-Eyed Whammy - By Tommy Ridgley

Disc 5:

1. Fire on the Bayou - By funky METERS

2. Take the "A" Train - By Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

3. Blue Moon Rising - By Walter "Wolfman" Washington

4. Happy Home - By Deacon John

5. Rain Alert - By Larry McKinley

6. Blue Tarp Blues - By Sonny Landreth

7. Back on Dumaine - By Anders Osborne

8. Thorn in Her Side - By The Subdudes

9. N.O. Bounce - By Big Freedia

10. Smoke My Peace Pipe - By Wild Magnolias

11. Amazing Grace / One Love - By The Neville Brothers

Sam Stone

Sam Stone has been obsessed with catalog music ever since his folks gave him a Contours best-of collection for his fourth birthday. He quickly began to learn all he could about rock and roll history and beyond, a passion that continues to this day. Sam followed his love for music to the classroom, earning a B.A. from Towson University in Electronic Media and Film, concentrating on radio and audio production, as well as an M.A. in Audio Arts from Syracuse University. He has put his knowledge and skills to work at prominent reissue labels and is excited to bring his perspectives on catalog music to a broader audience. When he’s not writing for The Second Disc, Sam can be found researching about music, talking about Joni Mitchell’s career, and adding another box set to his Amazon wish list.

Connect With Sam: Twitter

Comments

Don says

April 9, 2019 at 11:16 am

Sounds amazing, but at $93 bucks, a bit spendy....

Joe says

April 9, 2019 at 12:07 pm

8 cds could have held up to 400 minutes. With a wealth of quality music, it seems that they could have done more.

Joe says

April 9, 2019 at 12:23 pm

Oops meant 5 cds

Matt Jungblut says

April 9, 2019 at 10:56 pm

Seems skimpy at five discs. Could have added another dozen or two tracks to this.

Joseph Kyle says

April 13, 2019 at 12:04 pm

For those complaining that the set looks skimpy....most of the songs run between five and ten minutes in length, with the majority being in the upper levels of that range, so you're getting a lot of performance per each disc.

Don says

April 13, 2019 at 1:26 pm

My other semi-complaint is there appears to none of the amazing collection from the mid 70's that, I believe, Island put out...there was a great set from Toussaint, and a bunch of other cool stuff...was recorded, if memory serves, on a paddle-wheeler!