Tagged: music

The second day of Jazz Fest is in full gear. And full sun.

The folding chairs are stacked deep at the Acura stage. Dozens of ticket holders ran to snag their spot this morning. The big deal? Bill Joel.

The Piano Man is closing the biggest stage at Jazz Fest after New Orleans ivories legend Allen Toussaint.

Don Vappie grew up in New Orleans with a yen for music he just couldn’t explain.

“My earliest memory, it must have been second grade, I always wanted to be a musician,” Vappie says. “I have no idea why, but that’s what I wanted to do.”

Unless it was those records.

National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Eddie Palmieri is a great pianist, composer and bandleader. However, in his early teens Palmieri developed a yen to play timbales in his piano-playing older brother’s band.

It’s the last weekend in April, which for many means one thing (especially to Fred Kasten), and while we’re counting down for the gates of the Fair Grounds to open wide, let us not forget all that continues to live and breathe outside the racetrack gates. Here are some great things to do before, after, or (gasp) during this weekend’s main attraction: