Despite inclement weather, attendance at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was announced as 425,000, the same as 2016, but under the record 650,000 in 2001.
A British jazz writer gave her impressions of the event, writing: “Energy was racing through the town, and we were out of control, swept along by the fast stream of funk. One day when we were watching the Caesar Brothers, sitting satisfyingly exhausted and glowing on the trodden grass, the band started familiarly chanting ‘Feet don’t fail me now, feet don’t fail me now.’ That was the kick I needed to get my second, third and fourth wind. I don’t take this experience for granted, and I certainly wasn’t going to take it lying down.
“New Orleans somehow manages to keep a tight hold on heritage, yet it also improvises and evolves into newer depths. I hope this city always stays true to the sound of its streets and continues to celebrate through its festivals, because from the small parts of the world I’ve seen, this combination is something truly unique.”
Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is being called “the new king of the Jazz Fest” for bringing the tradition of New Orleans music and musicians to a new
