First Day of New Orleans Jazz Festival 2009!

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival opened Friday with a salute to its roots and a tribute to the late gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
Thousands of fans turned out for the tribute and dozens of other musical performances, enjoyed in the sunny weather and with plenty of food around.
To a packed tent, Grammy-winning soul singer Irma Thomas and gospel singers Mavis Staples and Pamela Landrum sang such Jackson hits as "Troubles of the World" and "Come on Children, Let's Sing."
Members of the audience stood, some clapping, others waving outstretched arms as Thomas sang: "I found the answer, I learned to pray."
Friday's other highlights included blues rocker Joe Cocker and trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, who returned to his hometown to perform with the Jazz at Lincoln Center, the New York-based orchestra for which he serves as director.
The festival runs through Sunday and picks up for its last weekend next Thursday. Headliners include Bon Jovi, Erykah Badu, Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Neil Young and Sugarland.
But more than 80 percent of the lineup is from Louisiana, including a host of New Orleans brass bands and Mardi Gras Indian groups.
"This is a treat, to see Irma in a gospel setting," said Jim Duncan of Lafayette, Calif., who said he's attended Jazz Fest for the past 17 years and considers Thomas a must-see. "She's one of my favorite singers. She connects with people and can make your hair stand on end."
This was the third year in a row Jazz Fest has held a tribute to Jackson, who performed at the first Jazz Fest in 1970, along with pianist and composer Duke Ellington and about 100 New Orleans-area musicians.
Festival producer Quint Davis said he plans to expand the tribute in the future to include workshops, film segments and panel discussions with scholars and people who knew Jackson and studied her work — "to build her legacy."
Thomas has performed at all three tributes and is set to perform again at Jazz Fest on Saturday. She has a long history with the festival. Though she didn't perform at the first Jazz Fest, she did a walk-on performance with the Tommy Ridgely Band in 1974 and made the lineup under her own name in 1975.
"And I haven't missed one since," she said.
Opening day wasn't just about the Jazz Fest veterans. It also showcased the next generation of Jazz Fest regulars, including 18-year-old Cajun fiddler Amanda Shaw and 23-year-old Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews.
"I love Amanda," said fest-goer Kathy Spadoni of Slidell, who scraped a homemade washboard as Shaw played the fiddle on stage.
As in years past, the festival offered a variety of local music, food and arts and crafts such as jewelry, quilts and hand-woven baskets.
For many, Jazz Fest is as much about the food as it is the music.
"You have to eat first," said repeat fest-goer Keith Connelly of Mission Viejo, Calif., who brought his 22-year-old daughter, Samantha, for her first Jazz Fest. "We're going to start with some crawfish bread and pheasant and andouille gumbo. That's what I always get."
Friends Peggy Gauthreaux and Dara Poche, both of New Orleans, ate before heading to their posts working one of the festival's beer booths.
"This is breakfast," Poche said with a laugh, holding a plate of alligator pie and fried green tomatoes, which she began eating before noon.
Still, for many, the day was about the music.
"I'm not going to miss Joe Cocker," said New Orleans resident Peggy Tujague, sporting a Joe Cocker T-shirt and visor. She set up her chair in front of the stage where Cocker would be performing hours before he was slated to take the stage.
On Saturday, James Taylor, Wilco and Erykah Badu are to perform. And Sunday, the Dave Matthews Band, Etta James and Earth, Wind and Fire perform. In all, there are hundreds of acts on 12 stages spanning two weekend.