The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival -- better known as "Jazz Fest" to those who attend and to those who always dream of heading down to the Big Easy as April gives way to May -- first happened in 1970, when music festivals weren't quite as common as they were in 2019, when Smithsonian Folkways released this five-disc box set commemorating the fest's success. The very existence of Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival indicates how the event has become a cultural institution, influencing countless other ...
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The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival -- better known as "Jazz Fest" to those who attend and to those who always dream of heading down to the Big Easy as April gives way to May -- first happened in 1970, when music festivals weren't quite as common as they were in 2019, when Smithsonian Folkways released this five-disc box set commemorating the fest's success. The very existence of Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival indicates how the event has become a cultural institution, influencing countless other regional festivals in the decades since while retaining a unique blend of local institution and tourist destination. Smithsonian Folkways remarkably re-creates that appeal with their box set, offering 50 live tracks recorded at the fest over its 50 years, a collection that illustrates how far beyond jazz the festival has grown. For listenability's sake, the box is roughly broken down into four segments: it opens with a disc of jazz, spends two CDs with blues and R&B along with gospel, devotes the third disc to Cajun and zydeco music, then concludes with a CD where funk sits alongside bounce and hip-hop. Since this is New Orleans, the borders separating the styles are extremely porous, perhaps even nonexistent, which is a big part of the thrill listening to the box. As it hops between the decades and sounds, the focus remains firmly focused on New Orleans; outsiders are certainly welcome -- Bonnie Raitt duets with Allen Toussaint on "What Is Success" -- as long as they meet the city on its own musical terms. That's why Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival works so well not only as a celebration of a festival that has become integral to the city's life, but as a celebration of the Crescent City itself: in New Orleans, there's no separating music from the city itself. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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