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:
10. Louisiana 1927 - By John Boutte
Disc 2:
10. Litanie des Saints / Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya / I Walk on Gilded Splinters - By Dr. John
Disc 3:
11. I Can Go to God in Prayer - By Johnson Extension
Disc 4:
11. Double-Eyed Whammy - By Tommy Ridgley
Disc 5:
I'll Wear It Proudly: Elvis Costello Coronates 'King of America' for New Box Set
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Sounds amazing, but at $93 bucks, a bit spendy....
8 cds could have held up to 400 minutes. With a wealth of quality music, it seems that they could have done more.
Oops meant 5 cds
Seems skimpy at five discs. Could have added another dozen or two tracks to this.
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.
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!