Producers of the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have announced the lineup for the 2009 festival. The festival will be held over two weekends; April 24th through the 26th and April 30th through May 3rd.

This time of year it is especially encouraging to see the triumph in stories like that of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. A festival which was nearly knocked out by Hurricane Katrina set goals to reclaim itself with its 2008 re-birth, it would appear now to be just as strong, if not stronger than the heights the festival had seen prior to Katrina’s destruction.

The revival of the festival was owed in part to an investment in a broad range of national talent as well as the steady return of the region’s own highly talented and supremely gifted musicians and performers.

The coming 2009 version of the festival showcases two weekends jam-packed with huge names, most notably Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, The Neville Brothers, Hugh Masekela, Earth Wind & Fire, Etta James with the Roots Band, Esperanza Spalding, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, The O’Jays and many more.

The event also includes a large number of huge mainstream acts including the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Erykah Badu, Wilco, Sugarland and Bonnie Raitt.

However, the flashiness of the mainstream roster barely resonates in the minds and must-see-lists of those who frequent the Jazz Fest’s renowned trinity of jazz, blues and gospel.

These three entities are without a doubt the definitive backbone of the Jazz Fest and they are the core attraction for people who will travel hundreds of thousands of miles to attend. The big stars with household names will not outshine the home-grown, grass-roots talent that is signature to this one-of-a-kind festival.

In 1970, George Wein, jazz impresario behind the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival (begun respectively in 1954 and 1959) was hired to design and produce a unique festival for New Orleans. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was established to oversee the Festival.

From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festival was the culmination of years of discussions and efforts by city leaders who wanted to create an event worthy of the city’s legacy as the birthplace of jazz.

For more information, history, and complete daily schedules of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival visit nojazzfest.com.

Comments are closed.