Rolling Stone Magazine best Of New Orleans Jazz Festival, 2018

Rolling Stone Magazine

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2018:

The 7 Best Things We Saw                                                     

Jon Batiste, David Byrne and others stood out at the fest’sannual edition

New Orleans Guitar Masters, Lagniappe Stage

There are more than three guitar masters in New Orleans. But this Friday afternoon session was a rare chance to catch as many – Cranston Clements, who plays with Cyril Neville; the blues and jazz stylist John Rankin; and Jimmy Robinson of the long-running New Orleans fusion band Woodenhead – in such intricately arranged, jubilantly soloing proximity. There was no rhythm section. The interplay came with its own propulsion, in an acoustic-

electric blend that recalled the three-way dynamics ofJohn McLaughlin’s early-Eighties collaboration with Paco de Lucia and Al Di Meola. A Ventures medley, in memory of their late guitarist Nokie Edwards, rolled like flamenco surf; a cover of Dave Brubeck’s 9/8 jazz classic “Blue Rondo a La Turk” was closer to the storming prog-rock of the 1968 version by the Nice – with extra spirited quoting of Led Zeppelin.