In the hours before country superstar Chris Stapleton, R&B belter Fantasia and indie rock band Vampire Weekend closed the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s main stages on Saturday, the festival occasionally paused to remember.
A jazz funeral procession on the Fair Grounds infield honored Russell Batiste Jr., the renowned New Orleans drummer and character who died of a heart attack last year at 57. Later, his extended family in the Batiste Brothers sang his praises at the Congo Square Stage.
The late Bob Jones, an instrumental figure in the early years of Jazz Fest who worked closely with founder George Wein, was installed among the Ancestors at the Congo Square field.
News broke Saturday morning that Nick Daniels III, the much-loved and much-respected New Orleans funk bassist and singer, had died the previous evening of complications from blood cancer.
The Batiste Brothers Tribute to Russell Batiste on the Congo Square Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Just 68, Daniels was one of two bassists in Dumpstaphunk, the band led by his lifelong friend Ivan Neville. He was a sideman for the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Etta James, Boz Scaggs and many others.
At the Economy Hall Tent, jazz clarinetist and retired Xavier University professor Dr. Michael White mentioned Daniels’ passing, along with Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Kerry “Fatman” Hunter and other musicians lost over the previous months.
He also acknowledged Dr. Bart Nassberg, a retired physician from New Jersey who made annual pilgrimages to Jazz Fest for more than 25 years with his wife, Barbara.
“Many of you are like a family to us, because we see you every year,” White said to the audience. Dr. Nassberg sometimes led second-lines at Economy Hall: “You would all know him if you saw him.”
It was up to others to lead Saturday's second line in Dr. Nassberg’s honor. A couple dozen friends moved slowly and solemnly – as solemnly as folks in full festival attire can – between the seats and the stage as White’s blue-tinged clarinet led a dirge-like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
“In the true spirit of a jazz funeral, we end on a happy note,” White continued. “This is for Bart Nassberg.”
With that, the Original Liberty Jazz Band kicked off a spirited “Over in the Gloryland,” with trumpeter Gregg Stafford on lead vocals. The second-line marchers, their ranks greatly increased, danced their way in a circle around the rows of seats.
Fantasia works hard, Vampire Weekend missing a bassist
The Fair Grounds was far fuller than it was Thursday or Friday. The day was cloudy, with a stiff, steady breeze that kicked up dirt from the track, giving fest-goers a light exfoliation.
The throngs roaming the grounds included actor Matthew Gray Gubler, star of the CBS drama “Criminal Minds,” who paused to patiently take selfies with a quartet of teenage girls near the Ochsner Medical Tent.
At the main Festival Stage, acclaimed bluegrass guitarist, banjoist and bandleader Molly Tuttle rocked a sparkling pink dress. Some fans may have been surprised when, late in her set with her Golden Highway, Tuttle, either by virtue of the wind or by design, ditched her long red wig.
Diagnosed as a child with alopecia areata, hair loss caused by the immune system attacking hair follicles, Tuttle has written about her journey and her lifelong debates about presenting herself publicly with or without a wig. At Jazz Fest, she did both, finishing with her head bald and earning a big ovation.
Fantasia closes out the day on the Congo Square Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
At the Gentilly Stage, Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig opened with a disclaimer: bassist Chris Baio was “sick as a dog” and would miss his first gig since 2006. Conveniently, Vampire Weekend uses two drummers onstage, so one of them, Chris “CT” Tomson, switched to bass – something he’d never done at a Vampire Weekend gig.
“We’re going to have some fun with bass to start out,” Koenig said. “Why not play without bass? That would sound crazy. It’s like Jenga. Take out a piece and it gets all wobbly.”
Tomson made his bass debut on “Classical,” from the Vampire Weekend’s new “Only God Was Above Us” album. He and the rest of the band didn’t sound all that wobbly.
At a full Congo Square field, Fantasia Barrino turned up in a fringed white vest and matching, chaps-like pants. “I don’t come to be cute for you,” she declared. “I come to give you your money’s worth!”
She asked for a favor: “Go ahead and get your pictures now. Now put your phone down and get your money’s worth.”
With that, her bass-and-beat-heavy band dug into “Change Your Mind,” with Fantasia working hard to, yes, give fans their money’s worth.
Chris Stapleton and his wife, Morgane, perform on the Festival Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Stapleton served straight, no chaser
Chris Stapleton plus good weather added up to the year's largest crowd so far at the Festival Stage. Armed with a Fender guitar and one of the most soulful voices in country music, Stapleton dug into back-to-back songs about screwing up, or trying not to: “You Should Probably Leave” and “Nobody to Blame.”
He teed up the stark “Cold,” spiking it with a stinging guitar solo and a wail, his eyes cast sideways at his wife and bandmate, Morgane.
He teased out the opening verse and refrain of “Freebird,” his guitar his only accompaniment; his is one of the few voices that can sing “Freebird” without irony. It segued into “The Devil Named Music,” as country of a country song as is possible.
As flags whipped in the wind, Stapleton and company breezed through “Traveller.” After singing the introductions of his bandmembers, he poured a final shot of “Tennessee Whiskey,” a nightcap on a big day at Jazz Fest.