New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013

I went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans this year for the first time in many many years.  My spouse said to me of the experience, "You know how sometimes you do things that you did when you were young, and when you do them as a much older person and you do them again that they just aren't as good as you remembered them?  This is not one of those experiences".

That about sums it up.  There are dozens of bands that play over the 7 days of the festival, and they range from Preservation Hall Jazz bands that are playing old time New Orleans music to big name rock and roll bands, from gospel choirs to indie music, from traditional jazz to Cajun music, but the things that I love the very most are the ones that I knew least about.  It is always great to hear Marcia Ball or Germaine Basil or the Black Keys, depending on who you are and what you love, but the very best times for me are the ones where I sit listening to someone I never heard of who is absolutely amazing.  Those are the things that will bring me back.