New Orleans

Wow, it sounds like New Orleans is going to be rockin' this spring!

Some really cool things are happening down there...

The Tipitina's Foundation is helping musicians come back home to find work. It's one of several organizations helping artists in the aftermath of huricane Katrina. They've helped about 300 musicians with financial aid, replacement instruments and referrals for housing and gigs.

Tipitina's bar has been showcasing local bands since the seventies. Nowdays, it has become a musicians' community center, where they can use computers and take seminars. Artists can
learn how to navigate the legal system, not just pick up another gig and learning hot riffs.

Other organizations helping out include the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund, MusiCares Hurricane Relief and Preservation Hall's New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund.
As many as 3,000 musicians were working in New Orleans before the storm, which swamped eighty percent of the city on August 29th. To date, only 50 to 75 percent of them have returned.

New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund provides donated musical gear and financial help. Jeff Beninato and his wife, Karen do most of the organizing from their new home in Bloomington, Illinois, where they moved after Katrina drove them northward. They've also organized benefit concerts and even renovated a New Orleans apartment where displaced musicians can hang while they're in town.

Some big acts have been added to this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival...

Bruce Springsteen is slated to close out the first weekend, April 28th through 30th. He will perform with the Seeger Sessions Band, the musicians who backed him on an upcoming album inspired by folk singer Pete Seeger. The album "We Shall Overcome" is scheduled for release April 25th. Etta James, Herbie Hancock, Dave Bartholomew and Warren Haynes were announced this week. Dr. John, Bob Dylan and Cowboy Mouth will be performing on opening day, April 28.

Galactic, the Dave Matthews Band and Clarence “Frogman” Henry will perform April 29, and joining Springsteen on April 30 will be the Meters, Yolanda Adams and Allen Toussaint. The second weekend kicks off on May 5th with Doug Kershaw, Keith Urban, Little Feat, Marcia Ball and Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine. Jimmy Buffet, the Radiators, Buckwheat Zydeco and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band perform on May 6, and Fats Domino, Paul Simon, Lionel Richie, Irma Thomas and Pete Fountain close out the festival on May 7. Visit nojazzfest.com for details on each weekend's lineup.


Related Tags: New Orleans, Tipitina's Foundation, New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund, MusiCares Hurricane Relief, New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund, Katrina, Bruce Springsteen, Seeger Sessions Band, Pete Seeger, Etta James, Herbie Hancock, Dave Bartholomew, Warren Haynes, Doug Kershaw, Keith Urban, Little Feat, Marcia Ball, Koko Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, the Radiators, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Fats Domino, Paul Simon, Lionel Richie, Irma Thomas, Pete Fountain