First Weekend of the 2026 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

The Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans is transformed for two weekends a year into the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Once inside the gates the walk to the far end of the fair grounds to the Jazz Tent is filled the sounds of  music from the Kid's Tent, zydeco, soul and funk, rock, pop, bluegrass, gospel, blues and the succulent aromas of Cochon de Lait Po-boys, Crawfish Bread, Vietnamese noodle bowls, Ya Ka Mein and on and on. Also, along the way are Jazzfest t-shirt stands, baseball caps, bandanas, Native American and African crafts, and a section of fine art from visiting artists. 

Once inside the jazz tent, which holds 1000-1500 seats, fans can hear straight ahead, improvised and contemporary jazz. The jazz tent provides a true listening experience as opposed to the open air standing only main stages. True, the jazz tent will have over flow standing crowds for major headliners but the majority of the time the tent is not full. Truthfully, the first weekend, outside of a few acts, was not a strong jazz festival. It wasn't until 4:05 the first day before a "name" took the stage. Nicholas Payton appeared with Butcher Brown in a set honoring Miles Davis and John Coltrane (both centenarians) titled "A Supreme Blue."  The group also played  Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"  from their upcoming album A Supreme BlueThe next and last set of the first day was Dr. Monty Alexander's "Jamericana," a tribute to his native Jamaica fusing Jamaican rhythms with American jazz. The 81 year old pianist plays with the dexterity of a 21 year old. There should have been more people at his set but it's hard to compete with Kings of Leon on the Festival Stage and Raye on the other main stage, Gentilly. 

Friday's jazz tent featured New Orleans' Astral Project. Tony DaGradi founded the band in 1978 and it's been a jazz fest staple from the beginning. Consisting of drummer Johnny Vidacovich, bassist James Singleton and 7-string guitarist Steve Masakowski, the band is known for it's cutting edge improvisation and is always a jazz tent favorite. The Adonis Rose Jazz Orchestra followed with special guest Andromeda Turre (daughter of trombonist Steve Turre) featuring a set of traditional New Orleans music. Closing out Friday was the kinetic pianist Hiromi with a set aptly called Hiromi's Sonicwonder. Watching Hiromi play is like watching old Tasmanian Devil cartoons, everything is a blur. Sharing the stage and quite capable of keeping up with her pace was drummer Gene Coye, trumpeter Adam O' Farrill and bassist Hadrien Feraud. Hiromi and bandmates blended jazz-rock, funk and prog fusion to an enthusiastic crowd.

Saturday was an iffy weather day so it was a good day to take five( local favorite John Boutte had a late afternoon slot followed by Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns).

Sunday featured New Orleans' vocalists Jolynda Chapman and Roderick Harper in a duet performance of the Great American Songbook. Chapman, the daughter of the legendary New Orleans vocalist Topsy Chapman, and Harper knew what their audience wanted to hear and presented an enthusiastic set and satisfying set. Next up was Love Is Supreme A Tribute to John Coltrane. Featured players were Derek Douget, Trevarri Huff-Boone , and Ricardo Pascal. The band presented yet another tribute to Coltrane with the three up and coming saxophonists. 

When Bill Summers came on stage with The Headhunters the not quite full jazz tent audience got to their feet and gave them a deafening welcome. Summers is the only original member of the band which recently celebrated it's 50th anniversary. Drummer Mike Clark joined the band on their second album and has been with them ever since. Summers kept the crowd entertained with stories between songs as well as playing a familiar but always entertaining show. Finishing off the jazz tent stage for the first weekend was Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet. Carter and his group, Renee Rosnes on piano, saxophonist Jimmy Greene and Payton Crossley on drums, never fail to deliver. Viewing a Foursight set is like being in a masterclass for jazz aficionados. The only surprise for this set was that the tent was not full.

Two acts not in the jazz tent were Catherine Russell and Jon Batiste. Russell appeared in the Economy Tent which is dedicated to primarily traditional New Orleans jazz, brass bands and early jazz styles. Backed by her quartet, Matt Munisteri on guitar, Domo Branch on drums, bassist Russell Hall and on piano Ben Paterson, Russell presented a program of early 20th century jazz and blues and at one point was joined by New Orleans institution Wendell Brunious on trumpet. The Economy Tent has a dance floor that was put to good use during the set.

On the Festival Stage, the festival's largest standing only stage, Jon Batiste closed out Friday afternoon with an estimated 50,000 people gathered in front of the stage. Batiste performed a high energy spiritual production combining jazz, funk, gospel and soul. He was joined on stage with The Blind Boys of Alabama, singer-songwriter Valerie June, guitarist Brandon Niederauer Mardi Gras Indians and dancers and a full gospel choir. To finish out the set Batiste, his band, and everyone else on stage marched through the crowd for a true second line parade.

The estimated attendance for both weekends totaled 425,000 fans with a majority of those people attending for the pop and rock acts.  This is not to say the jazz tent was without sets all day, everyday. It's just that most of the jazz musicians performing are not known out of New Orleans. The two main stages, Festival and Gentilly, showcased giant acts such as Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Raye, David Byrne and no jazz musicians unless Batiste is considered jazz (which he isn't). It's the big rock names who bring in the crowds who in turn bring in the money and at the end of the day that's the bottom line. 

P.S.—The headliners the following weekend were Isaiah Collier, Fred Wesley, who had previously worked with James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic , Terence Blanchard with Ravi Coltrane, Dianne Reeves, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Keyon Harrold, and Herbie Hancock.

Following are photos from the weekend.

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