It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  No Andy Williams, not Christmas, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the unchallenged greatest music and culture event on the planet.  I hope you all have dried out from yesterday’s late afternoon precipitation, and let’s do it again.

Today –

If you need some help waking up, the TBC Brass Band opens Acura. Tank & the Bangas offer a completely different and very cool vibe on Gentilly. On the next round there is Raw Oyster Cult, featuring John Gros & some former Radiators. If you need a 16 oz. draft and a chair, John Rankin is at Lagniappe. Next, The Joe Krown Trio and Ellis Marsalis. Now it starts getting busy with The Lost Bayou Ramblers, today’s World Music Appreciation pick, Vieux Farka Toure, the self-described “Jimi Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk with legend Art Neville. Also Sonny “The King of Slydeco” Landreth and the Klezmer All-Stars. Closing out today with 3 totally different options: The Treme Brass Band, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, and – perhaps your last cance to ever see – The Who.

Remember to practice the “Walk By”, stroll by the many different stages to see bands that you have never heard of for a song or two.  I promise that you will discover something fabulous you never even know existed.