The New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival is a major event on America's festival calendar, each year it attracts a huge crowd and many great acts of many different genres.
It all started in 1970 when local tourism officials created the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. George Wein, producer of the wildly successful Newport Jazz and Newport Folk Festivals, was brought on board to do the actual production of the event.
The first person hired to appear at the first festival in 1970 was Blues musician Snooks Eaglin, then playing mainly as a street musician in New Orleans. Eaglin has gone on to play every festival until his passing in 2009. I note Eaglin's primacy as it shows how the Blues has been present at the festival from the start. The list of great Blues musicians who have since headlined the event are far too numerous to mention.
The first event was held in the historically significant Congo Square, but it soon expanded and now has spread out to more than a dozen stages and tents. Beyond that there has been a citywide embracing of the festival. Clubs and other venues throughout New Orleans feature myriad events that precede and coincide with what is sometimes referred to as "Jazz Fest."
For many years Dr. John, The Neville Brothers and the Marsalis family have been regular attractions and in recent years younger New Orleans staples like Troy "Trombone Shorty" Anderson have become frequent performers. Headlining Sunday on the Blues stage for 2015 was Delbert McClinton, who will also headline The Greeley Blues Jam on June 13, 2015.
There's another connection between the "Jazz Fest" and The Greeley Blues Jam. The Jam can basically trace its beginning to the trips Pam and Al Bricker make to the festival. They would return and Al would ask why we couldn't do something similar here. One night at the Rio Grande friends told Al he should stop complaining and do something about it. Al took the idea to the City of Greeley and the rest is history. We owe them and The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival a debt of gratitude.
