“Oh Santana - oh won’t you play for me, Well ya come to Louisiana with a gee-tar on your knee.” Carlos Santana saw, he came and oh so assuredly conquered Jazz Fest once again with his almost 200 minutes of non-stop sheer magnificent magical, mystical, and most memorable performance that closed out the main stage of Jazz Fest its opening day last April. The man is simply amazing and my hero. I do not attempt to catch many of the international acts that perform at the huge Acura stage at Jazz Fest because of the heat and crowd. However, I’ll never miss a Santana show as he is one of my all-time favorite musicians who always delivers his best. I last saw him at Jazz Fest in 2008 standing right up front in a crowd of many thousands. I remember a delightful gal from New Jersey performed random acts of kindness by handing out fans to those of us near her to help with the heat. Santana was my favorite act in ‘08 and this year as well.   At the age of ... » Click here for the full story.

    Jazz Fest always features a number of tributes each year to music icons on the hundredth anniversary year of their birth.  However, I don’t ever recall a tribute being given to a musician while he’s still alive and actively pursuing his profession. Thatss right my friends, let me tell you about trumpeter and vocalist Lionel Ferbos who performed with the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra the first Saturday of Jazz Fest, and the Palm Court Jazz Band the second Friday of Jazz Fest at age 99 and 7/8 years young. This musician played at the first Jazz Fest in 1970 and has played all but two Jazz Fests during his career.     Mr. Ferbos was born July 17, 1911 and grew up in the downtown Creole section of New Orleans. A late comer to music in that city, he took up the trumpet at age 15 and has been blowing N‚walins style Dance Hall Jazz ever since. He’s known as “The Melody Man.” In the early days of his career he playe... » Click here for the full story.

    My son, David, got suspended for the first time in second grade the day before I attended my first CHADD national conference held in D.C. that year. CHADD stands for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. David had been patiently waiting in the bus line to go home and was fidgeting with a pencil (kids with ADHD often have a fidget item to help curb their hyperactivity). According to other kids in line that day, a fourth grade bully had pushed David from behind three separate times before David turned around on the fourth push to push back. I think this took amazing restraint on David’s part (for any kid’s part for that matter) and where were the teachers when the bullying began? Because David had a pencil in his hand when he pushed back, the pencil was considered a weapon and David was the one who got suspended. Worse than that, my son said to me when we got home, “I’m sorry I’m such a bad boy. Mrs. Feeney (the Vice Princip... » Click here for the full story.

   Do you recall me talking about my long-time friend Bryan Lee, The Braille Blues Daddy, several weeks ago? Katrina left its mark on so many musicians in New Orleans and released their creative juices as a means to deal with the pain caused by the storm and its continuing aftermath. Bryan released his first CD after the storm and titled it after the heart wrenching title track song “Katrina Was Her Name.” Bryan said that song was recorded in only two takes. When I arrived in New Orleans for Jazzfest in ’08, Bryan was leaving the next morning for a tour in Germany.  We made plans to have dinner when he returned just before he was heading for the annual Blues Awards (formally the W.C. Handy Awards) in Memphis.  Bryan was so excited that his album, Katrina Was Her Name, was nominated for album of the year.       Well, Bryan became deathly ill in Germany so we missed our dinner and he missed the Blues Awards. The organizers of the... » Click here for the full story.

   I treasure my memories of seeing Snooks Eaglin perform on numerous occasions at d.b.a. on Frenchman Street.  I’m so glad I bit the bullet and paid the cover to see this guitar legend because he left us this past February.  Whether it was your first or one hundredth time seeing Snooks, you just had to shake your head and say “how’s he do it?”. Snooks had the most incredible hands and he was known as a human jukebox. He could play anything and never used a pick. He’d wrap his thumb around the top of the guitar neck to play bass lines while his fingers deftly provided rhythm and lead.  His finger picking was just awesome. He’d switch from New Orleans style R & B to blues to classical “Malagueña” and was just, simply stated, a genius.     Snooks got this nickname by his family from the radio character “Baby Snooks” who was always getting into trouble. From what I’ve heard... » Click here for the full story.

   Every year I make sure to catch the shows of my favorite musicians who are getting up there in age.  The first person in this category to come to mind is Pete Fountain. Like far too many locals, Pete Fountain lost all his worldly possessions to the storm and then suffered major heart problems post Katrina and had open heart surgery. I’m delighted to report that Pete is alive and well and sounds as good as ever.     I remember my Dad playing Pete Fountain 78-speed records as a young child growing up in the ‘50s. I started going to New Orleans in the late ‘70s and always enjoyed Pete’s shows at his club on Bourbon Street. This darling gentleman has recorded over 100 albums and can play a clarinet as sweet as you’ve ever heard; his unique style is called ‘Swinging Dixie.’ This native from N’awlins played at the very first Jazzfest and to my knowledge, he’s never missed a festival. Pete has mentored so... » Click here for the full story.

   Recently I attended the 22nd Starpower World Championships for Dance for ages primarily 18 and under although there were some categories for 20 and over this year.  All the competitors had to place at a certain level at one of the regional competitions to be able to compete at this world championship event held at our convention center the later part of July.  Every year I think I’ll just pop in for a little while and end up living in the Convention Center the remainder of that day and the rest of the week.     Starpower Dance Competition is so much more than a cute kids dance recital.  What I got was over 1400 incredible dance acts with most troops performing at a level that would be appropriate for Broadway.  Maryland was represented by several troupes including A Step in Time from Ocean City whose lyrical small group dance for average age 15, entitled Gravity, was one of my favorite dances of the week.  Their “On the ... » Click here for the full story.

   No one has a hissiefit if you say “Calendar Girl”, “Cover Girl” or “Poster Girl”, but heaven forbid using the reference of boy to any man of color so I’ll use the term “Poster Dudes” in this article.  When the gates open the first day of Jazzfest (and every day thereafter), art collectors and regular folks like me make a bee line for the Art4Now tent to purchase the highly cherished official Jazzfest and Congo Square posters.       There were several different posters for the first Jazzfest. Bruce Brice created the day time poster for that first festival held in Congo Square (now Armstrong Park). The black and white, bare bones poster was free and featured a map-like view of the event showing the gospel tent, Cajun music stage, ice cream and food vendors and Mardi Gras Indians. Forty years later this well known local artist has shown his works near the Folklife Village area of the festival ever... » Click here for the full story.

    Oh yes, it’s in the air and everyone in New Orleans is talking about it – “just 5 days till the fest”…”only four more days” … “three..two…one blastoff”!  The greatest festival perhaps in the world celebrates its 40th anniversary. As Senator Mary Landrieu said to Jazzfest Producer Quint Davis, “yes, it’s the 40th anniversary of Woodstock also but hey, they only did it once and you’ve been throwing this party every year and at this location for the last 38 years.” Quint was just 22 years old when jazz pianist George Wein, who cofounded the Newport Jazz Festival in ’54, Newport Folk Festival in ’59, and infamous Monterrey and Woodstock festivals in the late ‘60s, began the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and hired Quint Davis and Allison Minor as co-producers.  Take a look at George Wein and Quint Davis chatting just prior to a press conference the fir... » Click here for the full story.

   You know I love Ocean City and it’s oh-so-talented and wonderful group of musicians.  Friends also know that New Orleans holds a very special place in my heart and is my chosen home away from home.  After tax season ends, I volunteer to work with the Jazz and Heritage Foundation during Jazzfest each year. I’ve spent almost three weeks in NOLA and have taken scads of notes in order to write a series of articles for the Coconut Times on life in New Orleans.     Yep, as soon as I found out the dates for the French Quarter Festival I said, “At last - I can do it”.   When I’m not enjoying the music in O C, I’m working as a tax accountant in Baltimore.  For many years I’ve dreamed of going to the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans but have never been able to attend as the Festival is usually held the first or second weekend of April when I’m working 90-plus hours a week.  This year... » Click here for the full story.