NEW ORLEANS – Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young are set to return to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this year, which showcases traditional and contemporary American music. The artists who will be making their festival debut include Snoop Dog, Nick Jonas and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Quint Davis, the festival organizer, released the list of artists scheduled for the 2016 event, which will be celebrated at the Fair Grounds on the weekends of April 22-24 and April 28-May 1.
Stevie Wonder doesn’t play the Jazz Fest since 2008. Young’s previous appearance was in 2019 and Pearl Jam last played the festival in 2010. New Orleans’ eclectic, unique energy will be reflected by the mix of artists set to participate in the festival, according to Davis.
“We’ve grown to at having at least one of the greatest artists in the world in those genres on every stage, every day. It used to be, we’d have maybe one on every weekend,” Davis said in an interview. “We know over the last number of years since Katrina that we have set the bar for talent really high and that bar gets higher every year. Our challenge is to make sure next year is even better.”
Julio Iglesias, Steely Dan, Lauryn Hill, Van Morrison, My Morning Jacket, Flo Rida, The Isley Brothers and Elvis Costello are among other artists highlighting the schedule. The rest includes New Orleans-and Louisiana-based acts such as Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Terence Blanchard’s E-Collective, Galactic, Rockin’ Dopsie & the Zydeco Twisters and Jon Batiste, who’s the bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
Single-day tickets for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival are $60 through Feb. 2 and the price goes up to $65 the day after that. The gate prices will be $75 and children’s tickets are $5 for those between the ages 2 and 10.
Source: Washington Post