The Boss is coming to New Orleans. A performance by Bruce Springsteen is one of 35 added to the lineup for this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, scheduled over the course of two weekends this spring — April 28-30 and May 5-7.Springsteen is slated to close out the first weekend of the festival on April 30, the festival's producer Quint Davis said Wednesday, adding that the festival has found another sponsor.
The festival's longtime official hotel, the Sheraton New Orleans on Canal Street, is teaming with two other New Orleans hotels — the W New Orleans and W French Quarter — to become a major sponsor of the 2006 festival.
"Things are different here in 2006," said Tommy Morel, the director of sales and marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the company that owns the three hotels and more than 800 other properties around the world.
"If there was ever a reason to stimulate the heartbeat of this city, the music, this is it," he said.
The festival is also being sponsored by Shell Oil Co., and American Express is underwriting the Jazz & Heritage stage as part of its program to spotlight New Orleans' culture.
Springsteen will perform with the Seeger Sessions Band, the muscisians who backed him on a new album inspired by folk singer Pete Seeger. The album is slated for release on April 25. Davis said part of the album's title, "We Shall Overcome," is a fitting theme for the spirit of the storm-battered city.
It features Springsteen's interpretations of 13 traditional folk songs that have been associated for decades with Seeger. Among them are "Jessie James," "John Henry," "Jacob's Ladder," "Shenandoah" and the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome."
Etta James, Herbie Hancock, Dave Bartholomew and Warren Haynes were among the new additions announced Wednesday.
Most of the more than 350 acts consist of Louisiana artists, and Davis has said this year's festival is being billed as a homecoming for many musicians, some of whom were displaced after Katrina.
Among the big-name performers, Dr. John, Bob Dylan and Cowboy Mouth will be performing on opening day, April 28. Galactic, the Dave Matthews Band and Clarence "Frogman" Henry will perform April 29, and joining Springsteen on April 30 are The Meters, Yolanda Adams and Allen Toussaint.
Kicking off the second festival weekend on May 5 are Doug Kershaw, Keith Urban, Little Feat, Marcia Ball and Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine. Jimmy Buffet, The Radiators, Buckwheat Zydeco and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band perform on May 6, and Fats Domino, Paul Simon, Lionel Richie, Irma Thomas and Pete Fountain close out the festival on May 7.
As usual, Jazz Fest will be held at the New Orleans Fair Grounds. The horse racing track was flooded and had wind damage, but work crews have been making repairs and upgrades to damaged areas, Davis said.
As with Mardi Gras, it's hard to say what kind of attendance this year's festival will draw. It usually brings in roughly 500,000 music lovers over the course of the two weekends.
___
By STACEY PLAISANCE, Associated Press Writer
On the Net:
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: www.nojazzfest.com
Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music
No comments:
Post a Comment