Live Review: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is unlike any festival in Australia. Held over two weekends with a much-needed break in between to recover, it boasts headliners that Byron Bay Blues & Roots would love to have and a family-friendly atmosphere dense with craft stalls and discoveries to rival WOMADelaide. But most of all it celebrates New Orleans' rich musical and cultural heritage, especially on the final Sunday.

For almost 50 years Jazz Fest has been celebrating local heroes and the final morning this year started with a classic R&B revue that brought out a few members of the old school. Al Johnson had everyone dancing to Carnival Time in a white suit and crown before Clarence 'Frogman' Henry made his way slowly to centre stage. Walking with the aid of a frame and looking every one of his 80 years, he soon proved that he's still got a rich voice and busted out an airy falsetto and gravelly croak that sounded as good as when he first recorded Ain't Got No Home more than six decades ago.

After a stormy first weekend, it was hot on the second and everyone was looking to claim a patch of shade, but that wasn't an option for the second line parades. The revered local tradition sees buckjumpers in beautiful handmade uniforms following marching brass bands around and dancing acrobatically while spectators join in behind.

A common sight for locals, these second lines are one of the things that make New Orleans such a vibrant city, and the same is true of the Mardi Gras Indians. Tribes parade around the grounds at Jazz Fest and the Louisiana Folklife Village provides a chance to learn more about the culture. There, a Big Chief displayed his costumes and explained some of the finer aspects of the Indian traditions while other stalls highlighted folk crafts and traditions from around Louisiana, from making accordions and crawfish traps to the extravagant Mardi Gras floats. The first weekend even featured the Krewe Of Muses making their famous shoe throws and lessons on local dice and card games.

Back outside, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band have moved far beyond their revivalist roots and showed it with a seriously funky performance that highlighted what incredible musicians they are. Their latest record carries a strong Cuban influence, the latest in a long line of New Orleans musicians to draw influence from their neighbours, and this year's festival had a pavilion dedicated to the island nation.

Claves and tight harmonies filled the air around the pavilion while the Fais Do-Do stage provided a taste of Cajun country and constantly had a crowd dancing out front, though the heat meant that it was time to retire to the shade. Perhaps the best way to cool down at Jazz Fest is with a Mango Freeze, a delicious sorbet sold to raise funds for the greatest community radio station in the world, WWOZ. There are entire sites and articles devoted to Jazz Fest food and each food stall specialises heavily, serving just three or so offerings. Dishes like Crawfish Monica or Prejean's Gumbo with pheasant, quail and andouille are only available at the Festival and almost every attendee has their own favourite stall.

Food in hand, it was time to find a seat at one of the tents that offer an alternative to the larger open-air stages. The Blues and Jazz Tents were tempting, but on a Sunday the place to be was the Gospel Tent. Misters overhead kept it cool inside, but The Zion Harmonizers had other ideas and mustered every bit of energy to throw out some hot solos and stunning harmonies in a thrilling performance. They've played every Jazz Fest since its inception in 1970 and they showed no signs of slowing down any time soon - by the time the lead singer came down among the seated crowd for I'll Fly Away, hand clapping had turned into dancing in the aisles as the crowd got out of their seats in appreciation.

It's a cliche of Jazz Fest that you can measure the strength of the line-up not by who you see, but by who you have to miss out on to see them. By mid-afternoon, there was a choice between local legends Irma Thomas and Kermit Ruffins, or touring acts like Patti LaBelle, Buddy Guy and Kings Of Leon. Moving at an entirely different pace, Nicholas Payton & Afro-Caribbean Mixtape slowed things down with a cool set that spanned multiple genres, but remained rooted in jazz, as two ballet dancers performed on stage. Payton switched effortlessly from keyboard to trumpet and his set included Jazz Is A Four-Letter Word, but whatever you call his music, there's no denying that he's another uniquely New Orleanian virtuoso.

Then it was over to The Meters to close it out with one of their sporadic reunion gigs. George Porter Jr's loping bass lines rumbled through the expectant crowd as enormous spliffs were passed from hand to hand. So many of their tunes have become local anthems that most of the set was a giant singalong, but it was hard to surpass singing Hey Pocky A-Way with thousands of others. The set stretched out with some extended jams and plenty of solos, Porter even passing off his bass at one point to join Art Neville on keys. By the time they closed out the festival, they had ditched the backing horns and downsized to the original members, going back to where it all started with the incomparably sleek Cissy Strut.

At 7pm it was all over and everyone was well-behaved. Nobody was so drunk they missed the headliners, families were all still up and about and the grounds were pretty clean. Of course, the party continued right outside the gates, with brass bands battling it out and street parties putting on their own bands, while plenty of the festival musicians were already getting ready for club gigs around town. Because while Jazz Fest might be over for another year, the music never stops in New Orleans.