The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazzfest, has announced the lineup for its 2022 edition, which will be held, as it has been for many years, at the Fair Ground Race Course in the Crescent City. Like many large-scale festivals and concerts, Jazzfest was forced to scramble during the pandemic, with the 2020 and 2021 editions (including one rescheduled for the fall of 2021) being canceled due to COVID. This year the festival returns to its usual consecutive weekends at the end of April and early May, specifically April 29-May 1 and May 6-8.
Many jazz fans complain that Jazzfest is not a jazz festival at all, what with all the high-profile pop, rock, and hip-hop artists that headline at the Acura and Gentilly Stages every year. For example, this year’s lineup features the Who, Stevie Nicks, the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett, Death Cab for Cutie, Randy Newman, and several other mainstream acts. However, the reality is that you can find plenty of jazz of just about every style at the festival over those six days, with much of it presented at the Jazz Tent, along with the more traditional New Orleans fare at both the Jazz & Heritage stage and the Economy Hall Tent.
Among the jazz artists slated to perform at the festival in 2022 are: Terence Blanchard; the Newport All-Stars (in a salute to the late Newport Jazz Festival—and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival—founder George Wein); Nicholas Payton; Arturo Sandoval; David Sanborn; the Count Basie Orchestra; the Cookers; the Headhunters; Donald Harrison; Adonis Rose & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra; Don Vappie; Tuba Skinny; Antonio Sánchez; and dozens more. Tributes abound at the festival, including salutes to Allen Toussaint, Bessie Smith, Dave Bartholomew, James Booker, Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, and George Lewis, as well as several jazz funerals for notable figures who died during the past two years.
For a full lineup and more information about the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, visit nojazzfest.com.
