Crank Up The Band...

Here we go... another year and another fest. Last year at this time, I was desperately trying to pull together the resources to make it to Jazz Fest in time to shoot new material for Big Chief. My lack of success in that effort left me forlornly sitting in front of my computer inn Petaluma listening to every single minute of WWOZ's coverage of Jazz Fest (something that I would highly recommend) and vowing never to be in that situation again.

There are few things in the world that arouse that kind of passion in my heart... Some who know me might say that isn't true, but they are speaking of my penchant to get "worked up" about things. My sense of it, is that I get worked up in that way in an attempt to MAKE ordinary things feel like they matter that much. I know it's strange to say about what is basically a concert on steroids, but the thing is, Jazz Fest really is so much more than that.

Over the next ten days, I am going to post as much and as often as possible, letting you in on everything I can to communicate the reality of this event. I will also be filing major stories for Blues Routes and FoodFetish podcasts, so go to the sites or check them out on iTunes for regular updates.

ALSO... for the first time ever (and boy did I wish they had this a year ago!) they will be running a live video feed on both Sundays. You can find that at http://music.msn.com/music/neworleansjazz
and while I hate to promote anything for MSN... THIS is worth it.

It's Jazz Fest Time y'all!