Can't trust that day, sometimes it just turns out that way...

Off to the Cape tomorrow for some golf and roast pork.....The Rick wants to go see The Generators, if they still exist (could be very dangerous, for they know what you look like!)....Congrats to The Boys for capturing 2nd place (net) in the Timberlin GC 4-man, 2-best balls shamble;  they lost a chance to win the gross title by scoring 2 bogies on the final hole to finish -10; honorable mention to the team of Anderson/Anderson/The Rick/Tom (Nothing Really) Matters for their 4th place finish after half the team pulled in at 5am from the DMB concert at The Meadows.....Do you also love Peter Cetera? (view).....Are you following the New Orleans-based series, Treme, on HBO?...

Hello? UConn Huskies are on the phone- AGAIN!...

Amanda Shaw was at the Louisiana Music Factory the night we arrived for Jazz Fest, but we were busy pub-crawling, so we missed it:

Stay Thursday, my friends...

Celtics- there's trouble in paradise....Puff, the Magic Willie, cuts his hair!....To ponder:  How many of the thousands who RAVE about Jersey Boys are going to see Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons at Mohegan Sun Area tomorrow night?  My guess- very few.....Johnny Gumbo is a VIP guest at prestigious fleet gathering in the Great Northwest....Pool Hall Studs spending the weekend in Jersey as guests of Mark/Lisa from Jazz Fest.  Barry, Maureen and Lisa are running in the big Memorial Day 10K road race, while the Marks chill....We're there:  James Hunter Band at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on June 22...

Take him to the river; better yet, the woodshed...

Talking Heads singer sues Fla. governor for $1M

MIAMI – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is being sued for $1 million for using a Talking Heads song in a campaign ad without the band's permission.  The band's ex-lead singer David Byrne sued the governor Monday in Tampa for using "Road to Nowhere" in an online attack ad against Marco Rubio. He's the likely Republican nominee in the race for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat. Crist is running as an independent.  Crist's campaign spokeswoman didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.  Byrne said in a statement his fans might not respect him as much if he lets his songs be used in ads.  Sen. John McCain was sued for using Jackson Browne's song "Running on Empty" during his presidential campaign. The lawsuit was settled and included a pledge by the GOP not to use any musicians' work without permission.

Can't trust that day...

Missed the Sarah Borges gig at the Hungry Tiger last Thursday night because our original reason for being in Manchester, the 2010 Cape Cod golf draft, was canceled for reasons unknown.  And we'll miss her again at the 2010 Blackeyed & Blues Fest at Bushnell Park on June 3rd (another sleepy, dusty delta day) because we'll be AT the Cape for the Cape Cod Golf Extravaganza!....Aretha Franklin did not cancel getting an honorary degree from Yale on Sunday like she canceled her performances at Jazz Fest the last two years....."There are only three white blues singers -- Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them." -- Richard Thompson.....PHS Barry D sneaked down to the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun to catch the always excellent Donna the Buffalo.  Gumbo and I discovered them at the annual Labor Day Rhythm & Roots Festival in Charlestown, RI several years ago.  Just checked their tour schedule- they will be in Norfolk at the Infinity Music Hall on August 26 and back at Rhythm & Roots Festival on September 4/5.....

Preliminary lineup for the 2010 Rhythm & Roots Festival:
Robert Randolph & the Family Band (Sun)
The Texas Tornados (Sat)
Marcia Ball (Sat)
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys (Sat, Sun)
Donna the Buffalo (Sat, Sun)
Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women (Sun)
CJ Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band (Sat, Sun)
Johnny Nicholas & the Texas All Stars (Fri)
Bonerama (Sat)
Little Freddie King (Sat, Sun)
Horace Trahan & the Ossun Express (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Sheiks (Sun)
Red Stick Ramblers (Fri)
Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys (Fri, Sat)
Uncle Earl (Fri, Sat)
Danny Barnes Trio (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Ed Poullard & Preston Frank (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Occidental Gypsy Jazz Quartet (Sat, Sun)
Magnolia (Sat, Sun)
Planet Zydeco (Sat, Sun)
Hot Tamale Brass Band (Sat, Sun)

A little Ruthie Foster for your Saturday morning...

Pollstar Magazine cover story
A young Ruthie Foster was singing softly into her portable tape recorder when her mother walked by her bedroom door, heard the hushed voice and burst in with one hand on her hip and a dishrag in the other. “She came in, sat down on the bed and said, ‘I hear you in here trying to sing. Just open your mouth!’” Foster told Pollstar. “She was really the first person that just made me feel good about that. She said, ‘You are a beautiful creature and you have a beautiful voice.’ She was the first person who really got on me about that.” Foster grew up in a family immersed in gospel and blues. She also grew up with a nearly debilitating shyness that manifested itself as a stutter. “It was horrendous for me to stand up in front of people and even think about opening up my mouth,” she said. “I was so shy I would go into this stutter thing sometimes as a kid, so it was embarrassing for me on top of that. But through music, I found my way of being open and making people feel good.” She’s not afraid to sing for an audience anymore. Foster recently capped a set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by winning the Blues Foundation award May 6 for best contemporary female blues artist. Earlier this year, she was up for a Grammy Award nomination for best contemporary blues album for her sixth release, The Truth According to Ruthie Foster. - (complete article)

Friday morning trail mix...

Sweet Jane (Cowboy Junkies) The Trinity Session
The Black Model's Death Song (Velvet Underground) The Velvet Underground & Nico
Something's Changed (Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings) 100 Days, 100 Nights
Dank/Manuel (Drive-By Truckers) The Dirty South
Shaking Through (R.E.M.) Murmur
I Could Have Danced All Night (Frank Sinatra) Come Dance With Me
Angel On My Shoulder (Melvern Taylor) Fabuloso
What a Difference a Day Makes (Dinah Washington) Dean's Top 100- 1959
Western Stars (k.d. lang) Shadowland
Paths of Victory (Cat Power) The Covers Record
Between the Devil And the Deep Blue Sea (Milt Jackson) Early Modern
Hold Me (Holly Golightly & Billy Childish) In Blood
Tears of Rage (The Band) Music From Big Pink

The guy with the hat...

This month's episode of Live from Daryl's House  (watch/listen, it's a touching, inspiring tribute and GREAT music):

The 30th edition of Live From Daryl's House is a celebration of the life of the late T-Bone Wolk, the longtime musical director for Daryl Hall and John Oates, who passed away on Feb. 27 from a heart attack at the age of 58. The episode brings together several former members of the band, including guitarist G.E. Smith, sax player Mark Rivera and drummer Mickey Curry, with current members Paul Pesco and Charlie DeChant for a set of T-Bone's favorite songs, including The Band's "The Weight," NRBQ's "If I Don't Have You," the Isley Bros.' "Caravan of Love," Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "I Miss You," Professor Longhair's "In the Night," Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love" and H&O's own "Change of Season."

Louisiana Music Factory, post-Jazz Fest Monday...

Additional images from Jazz Fest...

Post-Fest Monday concerts at the Louisiana Music Factory on Decatur  are a big draw

Sometimes you have to make the tough call when you've got the munchies:

Lucky Dog or a Krystal burger

Pool Hall Stud Mark (The Big Me) G has obviously decided to expand his perceived influence on the masses

We get outta town to see the Sawtelles...

We had to get out of Plantsville, the murder capital of the Northeast.  I drove through Plantsville Center on my way home this afternoon and, yes, crime scene tape all over the place!  But we wanted to catch Plantsville's own, so we ventured to Middletown's restaurant-rich Main Street to Typhoon, where The Sawtelles were playing their final monthly gig of the academic year.  The we, in this instance, is just buddy Keith and I since Sharie is on a girlfriend fling at the Cape and The Reet is not giving up the Yankees.   So we battle the Friday afternoon beach traffic on Route 9, listening to The Sawtelles, grab a great parking spot just off Main and walk over to our destination.  It's a great night, Main Street, USA is bustling.   It's still early, so as we enter we find a sparsely filled room with a small area in the front for the band.  However, we are led to a table toward the rear.  Hmmmm.  HEY, the Sawtelles stop by to say hey.  I relate to them the ongoing CSI saga back in the 'hood.  We lament our vantage point; cn we say 'We're with the band" next time?  Two blind guys trying to read the menu; both forgot glasses.  Idiots.  We order- I'll have this (pointing).   Cool place.  And filling up rapidly.  A 70's afro!  College town.  The Sawtelles sound great, in an understated, we're-not-going-to-threaten-your-meal way.I'm not going to jive you, we only get a general sense of the music from our outback post, but it sounds good.  We discuss that we must return with a group for a fun evening. 

The Dead Weather in photos from Jazz Fest...

Courtesy of turner33 at YouTube:

We'll see you later....

New Orleans Jazz Fest announces attendance for 2010, dates for 2011
by Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune

The 2011 New Orleans Jazz Fest will fall a week later on the calendar than usual.  The dates for 2011 are April 29 to May 8. Thus, the first weekend concludes on Sunday, May 1 -- the first time in the modern era of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell that its first weekend will not fall entirely in the month of April.  Producers scheduled the festival later so it would not conflict with Easter, which is Sunday, April 24.  Additionally, producers announced that total attendance during the seven days at the Fair Grounds in 2010 was approximately 375,000.  That represents a slight decrease from 2009, when total attendance was an estimated 400,000.  Heavy rains on opening day of Jazz Fest 2010, coupled with dire but ultimately inaccurate forecasts on several other days, likely factored into the drop in attendance. Tickets at the gate this year were $60, up $10 from 2009.

Lena Horne ......

Singer and actress Lena Horne dies at 92 (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Over her dazzling five-decade career, Lena Horne soared from Cotton Club showgirl to the screen's "bronze bombshell" to one of Broadway's grandest dames. She made her remarkable flight while toting the expectations of two races on a thrush's fragile wings.  The 92-year-old actress, activist, and vocalist, honored with Grammys, a Tony, and the NAACP's highest award, died Sunday night at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The cause of death was not disclosed.  In 1943, when she made her name in the Hollywood musicals Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather, Miss Horne became the first African American movie star. Studio moguls worried that the 26-year-old singer might be too exotic for the white public. By 1963, black-pride leaders thought her too assimilationist.  It is a measure of the glacially self-contained performer that she prevailed despite stormy weather from both sides. She used her experience in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, a 1981 one-woman Broadway show, to sing the history of the civil rights movement, over two hours thawing from iceberg to roaring river. She won a Tony Award for a triumph that was both social statement and coup de théâtre.

Lena Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, N.Y. One of nature's flawless creations, she embodied the contradictions and confluences of race in the United States. Among her forebears were both slaves and a vocal proponent of slavery, Vice President John C. Calhoun. The black descendants of Calhoun traced their ancestry to Senegal; the Hornes were descended from British adventurers, American Indians, and freed slaves.  Miss Horne's paternal grandparents, Edwin and Cora, bought a brownstone in Brooklyn in the 1890s. Edwin was a teacher and political lobbyist, Cora a suffragist and founding member of the NAACP. - (complete obituary)

To all you mothers- oh, happy day!...

Friday morning post-Jazz Fest trail mix...

Caledonia Mission (The Band)  Music From Big Pink
Love's A Mystery (The Pretenders) Break Up the Concrete
Can't Believe You Want To Leave (Lou Ann Barton) Read My Lips
Honky Tonk Angels' Medley (k.d. lang) Shadowland
I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love (Tom Waits) Closing Time
Never Alone (Dropkick Murphys) The Singles Collection
She's Got A Way (James Hunter) The Hard Way
I Understand (Nat King Cole) The Billy May Sessions
Do What You Want (Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts) Empty Wallett
I Ain't No Johnny Mercer) Mercernary
Groovin' Slowly (John Butler Trio) Grand National
You And Me And My Ukulele (Melvern Taylor) Fabuloso

Happy Cinco de Mayo...

Have one for me....I'm not drinking today.

Will be updating Jazz Fest posts over the next few days.  Hoping some of the video will work.

Post-Fest Monday...

Laid back.  Gumbo and I were going to do a romantic Cafe Du Monde this morning, but decided to postpone until tomorrow.  Chance to catch up with some work.  Around noon, we head out to the Quarter for some lunch and to check out what's going on at the Louisiana Music Company.  In contrast to yesterday's rains, today is bright sunshine.  Concerts scheduled are:
12PM- Classic Jazz Trio
1PM- Ingrid Lucia
2PM- Matt Perrine
3PM- Tom Aswll book signing Louisiana Rocks
4PM- Mark Stone Band with special guest Margie Perez
5PM- Ensemble Fatien
6PM- Susan Cowsill with special guest Mary Lasseigne
7PM- Preservation Hall Jazz Band

We find the fresh-faced Studs outside LMF.  After several attempts (No Monday lunches served at NOLA; pass on Johnny Po' Boy's), we park at the Royal Oyster House for Bloody Mary's, oysters, burgers and po' boys.  Drinks at Patty O'Brien's?  Great idea, but which Patty O'Brien's is the better- the one on Bourbon or the one on St. Peter's?  Inside joke there.  Abitas, no Hurricanes today.  Very relaxing in the courtyard watching a young couple continuously shooting soft porn videos of themselves at their table, then emailing them to someone.  Over to LMF to mill around, perhaps pick up some CDs.  Kenny and Kippy (formerly Maureen) are there.  Talked with a guy across Decatur  in front of the House of Blues who went to Choate, then played football at U. of Colorado.  Down here working for Shell.

Out to the River Bend to Dante's Kitchen for dinner with a quick pre-dinner stop at the Budda Belly's for a beer and some Celtics/Cavs.  Celts are getting screwed on some calls, but have a slim lead approaching halftime.  At Dante's, we toast to another successful Fest.  We are informed by our Brazilian waiter that there is only one order of the ribs, so you're getting the lamb.  He makes it up to us by serving huge portions.  Delicious, but way too much to finish.  Even The Big Me couldn't eat it all.

It's a wrap!...

Marshall's Crewe closes Jazz Fest with the Nevilles

Deja Vu and Jager Haus across from the Pool Hall Studs' hotel on Conti

Ruthie Foster rocks Gentilly early Sunday afternoon

Warren Storm, Willie Tee & Cypress singin' in the rain at Fas Do Do on Sunday

The Dead Weather were a loud and awesome alternative to Van Morrison on Sunday

The always smooth Johnny Gumbo with dancing partner at Fas Do Do

The Nevilles closing Jazz Fest 2010 at Acura Stage on Sunday

Fuck the gnu Sunday...

Gumbo has fashioned a counter slogan to the PHS'  If it's new, let's do.  He's just getting a bit feisty.  Sunday is Port Of Call on the way to the last day of Jazz Fest 2010, so we dress and exit our hotel for the walk over to Deja Vu on Conti to meet the studs.  Damn, rain!  Gumbo immediately breaks our the plastic poncho, which makes you look like a big penis with a condom on.  Or not so big, whatever the case.  It's raining lightly, so I don't want to go through the hassle.  Anyway, we arrive to find the Studs not ready, per usual, so we settle for a couple Deja Vu Bloody Marys (notice that the barkeep finishes off the concoction with a couple shots of Guinness).  Decent.  Very spicy, but no Lucy's.  The Studs finally show up, but are in no hurry, even if it means missing Ruthie Foster.  But we eventually get a cab. 

Port of Call requires that you, if planning to eat at the bar as we do, hover over those currently occupying your target stools to make them hurry with their meals.  It never works.  Of course, the Studs think they are masters at it.  We finally get seated and order up the icon- big-ass cheeseburger and baked potato with everything in the kitchen on them.  I usually accompany this heartstopper with a Neptune's Monsoon ("an old recipe used frequently as a last request by pirates condemned to walk the plank... $9.50"). but I opt for another Bloody Mary. Completely stuffed, we're out.  We grab a cab out to Port of Call with RJ, an older black gentleman who gives us a New Orleans history lesson as we wind our way through the neighborhoods.  Gumbo carries on a banter with the guy, prompting me to note that, like Barbara Billingsley in Airplane!, Gumbo can speak jive.  Mark (aka The Big Me) and Barry are immediately offended that I felt the need to reference the movie for them. 

We're dropped off right at the entrance.  Gumbo gives RJ a jive handshake and we're into the Fest.  As you may know by now, Gumbo has saved thousands buying his Jazz Fest tickets online.  We arrive in time to catch the last couple numbers from Ruthie.  She's great, backed by her all-woman band, finishing with a rousing Up Above My Head (I Hear Music In The Air).  To the Blues Tent for Margie Perez (who, I think, got caught taking the subway during the Boston Marathon a few years back- but I could be mistaken).  And we actually get to sit for a change!  I'm not blown away with Rosie, I mean Margie.  Next, over to Gentilly for Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, where we meet up with Kenny/Kippy (formerly Maureen) and Mark/Lisa.  Excellent set from the young, not-your-ordinary trombonist.   Coming up is the big decision between Van Morrison (complete with egg timer at the side of the stage so as to prevent him from giving us a minute too much music for our money) or The Dead Weather, Jack White's new supergroup.  For me, no contest.  It's The Dead Weather.  But first, we slide over to Fas Do Do for Warren Storm, Willie Tee & Cypress.  Mostly 50's-style oldies that got Gumbo dancing.  It's raining off and on by now and I'm killing myself trying to get the poncho on and off (and on).  This is also the point at which Billy V's short, pink-skirted friend reappears on the scene.  It's very windy and he has nothing on underneath, so it's not a pretty sight.  In addition, he is now wearing a shirt with the tasteful heading: Things that make my dick hard.  Yes, I know you can't stand the suspense, so here goes- "You, beer, your mother, my hand, lesbians" - I must stop, even I have limits. 



Gumbo is willing to try The Dead Weather (composed of Alison Mosshart , Jack White , Dean Fertita  and Jack Lawrence), while the PHS go for Van.  Good crowd, mostly younger, but overall the threat of rain seems to have kept the numbers down today.  They come out dressed completely in sinister black, do a little instrument noodling, then slam the shit out of us for the next hour.  I love it, Gumbo not so much, so he departs for places unknown (actually Luther Kent, I think).  Mosshart is a poser (and a spitter), but it works.  White is still the star of the show and the crowd goes nuts every time he takes vocals.  He finishes the show by getting off the drums for a searing guitar solo as the rains poured down.  Cool theater.  Great show.

The end of Jazz Fest 2010 is near.  The Studs and I start The Close with the Radiators at Gentilly, then over to Acura with Marshall's Crewe for the Nevilles.  JG goes for Richie Havens at Fas Do Do and comes away disappointed on two fronts- first, that this old folkie was on the cajun/zydeco stage and, secondly, that he wasn't very exciting.

Dinner at the bar at  Bacco on Chartres Street in the Quarter (yet another Brennan restaurant!) where Johnny Gumbo grabs the check!  Barry hears that Eric Lindell is playing nearby at One-Eyed Jack's, so we venture out into a light rain, meeting Mark/Lisa and Kenny/Kippy (Maureen) along the way and convince them to come along.  The first show is just finishing.  It's approaching AM and I'm beat, can't do the intermission (guessing forty-five minutes) and the show.  M/L & K/K(M) feel the same and we leave the Studs and Gumbo to enjoy Lindell.  As luck would have it, the skies open as I'm three blocks away from the hotel.  I'm absolutely soaked when I get to the room.  Next morning, Gumbo utters the dreaded, "you should've hung out, man, Eric Lindell was fabulous.  And we were up close by the stage.  Really cool."   (quick Dave Attell reference for the Studs: The one night you don't go out, there's always the guy who's like, "You should have hung out." That's when all the great stuff happens. The three-way with the Dixie Chicks. Midgets dressed as Lincoln. All that stuff.)

Saturday...

We start the day $85 ahead- free breakfast at the hotel.  No Eggs Benedict, no Bloody Marys, no Andy.  I check my email anf find a note from the Denvers forgiving me for forgetting that they were (and still are) Frank and Kim.  Thanks, guys.  The Denvers are passing on Saturday's Fest, but plan to hit the Maple Leaf for Jon Cleary.  Gumbo can't stay on the If  it's gnu, let's do theme and suggests we meet Billy V over at Lucy's (Retired Surfer's Bar) for some Bloody Marys before we head out to the Fairgrounds.  Weather is again threatening as we hike the seemingly 50 blocks.  We order up the usual.  Billy V arrives, completely unprepared for his first Fest visit- no hat, no sunscreen, no cheap plastic poncho, no music schedule.  Okay, let's start with the hat.  He makes our Jessica Alba-looking barkeep climb a ladder several times before settling for a spiffy red one.  Good choice.  Meanwhile, a call to the PHS finds Mark ready to head over alone because "the bear is not stirring." Music planning:  Pearl Jam for the checkmark; Jumpin' Johnny Sansone is a must. Mark arrives in his usual understated manner, declines his usual Dewars and soda in favor of a Bloody Mary.  Gumbo informs us he doesn't know who Jessica Alba is.  Time to head out while Mark heads back to wake up the hibernating bear.

Billy V is now fully equipped after ripping out a Fest schedule and buying a cheap poncho.  But he has a hefty wait to get tickets.  He's had to endure the Gumbo tale of buying his tickets early in a financial coup, saving thousands of dollars (the legend grows).  Anyway, while BV gets his ticket, we enter and head over to get ourselves some gospel from Betty Winn & One A-Chord singing Oh Happy Day as we enter the tent.  Gumbo motions to a nearby lady doing some Elaine Benes-style dancing.  BV catches up with us over at the Blues Tent, where we grab some beers and position ourselves along the right side of the open tent to hear Jumpin' Johnny Sansone & the XL Band.  The harmonica/accordian-playing Johnny was great last year and knocks our socks off this year.  During the show, a woman somehow misses her chair while attempting to sit and almost smashes her head against the concrete floor.  The always nimble Gumbo rescues the maiden, props her back up and we're all good.

Choosing the right outhouse line is an inexact science, but the general rule is: guys go quicker.  I find a pure guy line about eight deep, passing on a shorter mixed one.  A girl gets in back of me telling me she's counting on me.  I won't disappoint, I assure her.  She recommends Band of Horses, who are currently touring in support of Pearl Jam.  I'll try them.  Time to.....go.

Band of Horses is decent, but not unbelievable.  Was hoping Eddie Vedder might show, but didn't while I was there.  Sonny Landreth was great and Billy V met a new friend (see pics),  Pearl Jam's crowd was the biggest I've seen.  Checkmark.  Finished with Kenny Wayne Shepard.

Dinner at Cochon.  Very good.   more later.

Billy V befriends...

Billy V spots a person of interest in the crowd

 

 Billy V decides this is an excellent photo op as Sonny Landreth looks on from the big screen

Kenny Wayne Shepard closes Saturday at the Blues Tent while Pearl Jam packs the Acura Stage

Blurry shot of the sound board that seemed like a cool idea at the time

Street party band outside the fairgrounds at dusk while waiting for Garland

Jazz Fest Friday...

With bellies full and wallets lightened, we take a cab out to the Fairgrounds. Skies are threatening as we get our tickets for the three days at $60 per day.  Credit rejected.  Great.  Luckily my backup debit card works until I can convince BOA that I'm the real JK spending my own money in Nola.  The problem with buying all tickets at once is that you then must NOT LOSE the tickets, in my case not an easy task.  Johnny Gumbo, on the other hand, purchased his tickets in advance and saved $5 per ticket!  That is UNBELIEVABLE!

We are inside, catching the final couple songs from Nairah Shakoor at Gentilly, over to Fas Do Do for the Hadley J.Castille Family (where Best In Show parades by- inside joke), then sliding over to Congo Square for some Jon Batiste, before making our way over to the Blues Tent for Eric Lindell.  Old Fest acquaintances Mark/Lisa from Jersey and Kenny/Kippy from Cali are there along with new friends (please forgive me, guys, I'm a bad name rememberer;  promise to insert if we meet up- or email me at johnnykmusic@yahoo.com) (update: Frank/Kim, thanks, guys} from Denver, with whom we rode in from the airport on the Garland Express.  We grab a couple Piano Shirt people walking by and force a photo with Gumbo.  "Hey, you know there are hundreds of these shirts around here?"  Yes, buddy, that's the POINT!  Gumbo is also taking some heat because it's really an accordian shirt, but we don't care!  I'm screwing up the camera again and losing lots of the pics.  I need a tech person, this is too stressful.

Celebrity sighting of the day:  John Goodman at Congo Square.

Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers sound great from our vantage point on the sandy racetrack, where an energetic 6-year old entertains us by throwing himself repeatedly into the sand.  More Piano Shirt photos.  Allen Toussaint is up next at Acura, but Gumbo and the PHS want food first.  No way for me so I go for beers.  WTF, they've disappeared!  So I carry the 4 ice-cold beers back and forth between the food booths and the Acura Stage trying to locate 3 big guys stuffing their faces with meat pies.  No luck.  Phone calls go unanswered.  Finally, a message that they are back at the food booths. Nice job, here are your lukewarm beers.  Toussaint is in top form as usual with a great band and backup singers.  Freelancing time.  I'm off to see what the Pfister Sisters are up to at the Economy Hall Tent, but I'm a bit disappointed after a couple numbers and cross over to scout out the Grandstand where Kora Konnection is playing some very cool African music.  Great place to kind of relax for a bit, too.  Called The Reet to update.  The Plan is to meet up with Gumbo at #19 along the track at Gentilly to finish the day off with the Gypsy Kings, with whom I'm not familiar, but heard that the Fest has been trying to get them here for years.  They live up to the hype.  Fantastic!  The big crowd loves them and they seem to appreciate it.  And Best In Show suddenly appears as well.  Doesn't get any better!  Hot, sweaty Latin rhythms.  They close with a tremendous version of Volare!  Perfect.