Jazz Fest: Emerging acts take the spotlight in New Orleans

Jazz Fest: Emerging acts take the spotlight in New Orleans

The typically eclectic musical lineup was relatively light on national talent â€"Jimmy Buffett, Florence + The Machine, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Esperanza Spalding, Glen Hansard and blues vet James Cotton led the parad e â€" but that meant greater exposure for emerging acts such as blues guitarist/vocalist Mia Borders and festival faves the Honey Island Swamp Band, as well as regional stalwarts pianist Henry Butler, funk bassist George Porter and the Latin-tinged Iguanas.

Among the day's highlights:

• PHOTOS: Scenes from Jazz Fest

•New Orleans-based guitarist-vocalist Borders fronted a five-piece band that forcefully delivered her blues/soul/funk repertoire. After showing her regional roots with the tough blues Mississippi Rising, Borders bantered with the crowd: "Join me on this next song. I'm sure you sound like angels - angels that have been drinking in the hot sun! Let's do this!"

The assemblage at the Gentilly Stage responded by backing Borders and band on a deeply funky version of Stevie Wonder's Living for the City. She took back control with the title track from her new album, Mama Told Me, which showcased her songwriting ability.

•Devotees of the city's exotic culture have been given a glimpse of the mysterious, hidden world of the Mardi Gras Indians thanks to the (soon to return) HBO series Treme. A much deeper and richer look is on display in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion at Jazz Fest. The new tent features displays of the magnificent beaded and feathered costumes, videos, costume design demonstrations along with performances by tribes such as the Red Hawk Hunters, Cheyenne and the Wild Creole Hunters, and Fi Yi Yi the Mandingo Warriors. At previous festivals, the tribes were mostly visible during parades and on the Jazz Heritage Stage.

•New Orleans' rootsy quintet Honey Island Swamp Band laid down thick layers of their signature "bayou Americana" sound during their Acura Stage set. Their mostly original repertoire blends country rock, roadhouse blues, RB and funk, and the band has become a fixture on the festival's largest stage. Opener Prodigal Son showcased their country roots, while Cast the First Stone interwove a horn section with barrelhouse piano, harmonica and slide guitar. By the time they rolled out the pot anthem 300 Pounds, 10 musicians were chugging along onstage.

•Fest fans who can't make it to the Fairgrounds can still hear some of the sets by accessing the stream from radio station WWOZ.org on the Web. Their broadcasts include live feeds and sets that were taped last week. Also, Friday-Sunday, a live and taped webcast will be available on youtube.com/jazzfest.

•Dirty Dozen Brass Band, celebrating 35 years with the release of their new Twenty Dozen album, slathered their brass band/funk/jazz stylings all over the Acura Stage. The nine-piece group sounded up-to-the-minute as it blared long sax-led jams punctuated with fierce trumpet jabs and filthy bottom-end passages from tuba and trombone. Festival, from the new album, incorporated Caribbean rhythms that spawned rampant rhumba-ing in the crowd. The new percussive instrumental Tomorrow toughened the islands approach, and an exuberant second-line medley extracted pure New Orleans joy from the masses.

During the When the Saints Go Marching In portion of the medley, singer Gregory Davis referenced a current local scandal by saying "the (football) Saints ain't that bad, why the NFL gotta be so mean?"

•A smattering of British flags and a vast crowd greeted edgy chanteuse Florence Welch and band The Machine at the Gentilly Stage. Summoning some fierce Celtic muse, the red-haired singer twirled, swayed, dipped dramatically and clapped rhythmically while employing her sterling, dynamic voice to mesmerize the faithful. A long, ethereal Cosmic Love and anthemic Rabbit Heart showcased her rich laser beam choice and romantic, new-agey female-targeted lyrics.

She urged the crowd to "hug one another" as a harp was plucked during the lead-in to Spectrum, and Heartland ignited a singalong. During that song, as if Flo's muse was listening, a hole opened in a gray cloud behind the stage and sunbeams poured through.

•Sound and equipment problems plagued the opening of Esperanza Spalding's set. But the jazz bassist/vocalist regained her mojo and led her orchestra in a selection of progressive jazz and pop songs from the ensemble's recent Radio Music Society album. A prop meant to represent an oversized boom-box graced the stage, signaling that the music to follow would represent an eclectic array of sounds heard on the radio. Spalding's is emphasizing her pretty soprano voice this time out, and it soothed the crowd and meshed nicely with the band's feisty, edgy arrangements.

•Jimmy Buffett's acoustic set with Mac McAnally (and guests that included slide-guitar ace Sonny Landreth) was even more loose and laid-back than his trademark Parrothead concerts. The hits-heavy show featured slightly reworked versions of Changes in Lattitudes, Changes in Attitudes, Come Monday, Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw and of course Margaritaville. Even the softer new versions were enough to keep the rain at bay for a fourth straight Jazz Fest day.