From April 29 to May 8, New Orleans’ Fair Grounds Race Course opened its gates to one of the world’s most famous music festivals for the first time since 2019. Musicians and revelers alike (and often they were one and the same) celebrated the post-pandemic return of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a.k.a Jazz Fest.
As usual, the headliners on the main stages were huge: the Who, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, and Ludacris, to name just a few. But also as usual, aficionados of the fest found the biggest rewards at other times and in other locations, particularly on the Congo Square Stage and in the WWOZ Jazz Tent.
Photographer Joel A. Siegel was there at the track and, fittingly for JazzTimes readers, he spent a lot of time in the aforementioned locations. His principal goal: to capture in action some of the great singers and players who truly make the Jazz & Heritage Festival what it is year in and year out.
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New Orleans Jazz Fest at 50: Keep on Rolling (Without the Stones)
