2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Flanked by an honor guard of local musicians Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel, amid Mardi Gras festivities, Jazzfest producer Quint Davis announced the annual music celebration will return this year, and invited all the displaced citizens of New Orleans to return.

The 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will feature an all-star lineup including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, the Dave Matthews Band, Lionel Richie, Keith Urban, Yolanda Adams, Elvis Costello, The Ohio Players, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Little Feat.

They will join hundreds of local favorites at the 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which spans two weekends, April 28th through 30, and May 5th through the 7th, at the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

Visit nojazzfest.com for details on each weekend's lineup.

Fats Domino and the reunited Meters will lead a virtual who's who of Louisiana musicians that includes Art, Ivan and Charmaine Neville, Irma Thomas, the Radiators, Cowboy Mouth, Galactic, Allen Toussaint, Doug Kershaw, Deacon John, Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Paul S. Morton & the Greater St. Stephen Choir, Snooks Eaglin, Buckwheat Zydeco, Pete Fountain, Dr. John and hundreds more.

The musical community of New Orleans has suffered beyond comprehension. In addition to losing family, friends, band mates, homes and belongings to the destructive forces of hurricane Katrina, thousands of local musicians have also lost their livelihood. Instruments, equipment, and studios have been ruined, as have music stores, bars, clubs, and concert venues where musicians earned their living.

To help in the effort to return the creative musical soul to New Orleans, profits from the sale of the 2005 Jazz Fest Live Compilation Album will be donated to the MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund; an "organization set up so music people impacted by hurricane Katrina can get help".

Many of the artists on the Compilation Album are New Orleans based and could sorely use the royalties they earn from the album. Album artists not based in New Orleans have also offered to donate their royalties to MusiCares.

The "Crescent City" will rise again, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival will continue it's heritage of enriching millions of people's lives through music.

Related Tags: 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews Band, Lionel Richie, Keith Urban, Yolanda Adams, Elvis Costello, The Ohio Players, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Little Feat, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Music, New Orleans, Fats Domino, Art, Ivan and Charmaine Neville, Irma Thomas, the Radiators, Cowboy Mouth, Galactic, Allen Toussaint, Doug Kershaw, Deacon John, Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Paul S. Morton & the Greater St.Stephen Choir, Snooks Eaglin, Buckwheat Zydeco, Pete Fountain, Dr. John