ODDS OF A 2021 NOJF?

[CEfromLA]

Whenever it is, at least we know Van is one BNA who will be first in line to play it.

Not according to Chris Joseph! He saw on StubHub that the Beach Boys are booked at Jazzfest on 4/22.

[jjazznj]

My point being the BNA's are the gateway drug that gets you to the regional acts. I bet if you ask everyone on this board what got them to Fest, half would say it was a BNA and most of the local acts they currently love were discovered after they booked they're trip and walked thru the gates.

They did not have many BNAs back in '89 when I first started coming. I came wanting to see The Neville Brothers, The Dirty Dozen and Fats Domino.

[Marignygregg]

They did not have many BNAs back in '89 when I first started coming. I came wanting to see The Neville Brothers, The Dirty Dozen and Fats Domino.

Depends on what you consider BNA's. In 89 I knew little about most local acts outside of the Neville's, Fats, Dr. John, but I was quite familiar with Bonnie Raitt, Santana, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Buffet, Richard Thompson, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, George Benson, Van Morrison ( night show ), Miles Davis ( night show ), Robert Cray.........lots of BNA goodness in 89. I'm sure I would have discovered more than a few regional acts wandering the grounds.

My first Fest was 92 ( I think ). I came for the Allman Brothers, but got turned onto lots of local acts along the way.

[MormonMatthew]

Could it already be time for another round of the Olde Threadhead favorite game "Purists vs Tourists"?

Get those old stories ready (the ones you've only shared here 6,179 times already) and pass out the scorecards, but remember, every time you write "My Spiritual Home" or "Where My Soul Feels Most Free" you automatically lose a turn...

[Lit]

I have never set foot outside Economy Hall.

[mateus]

My point being the BNA's are the gateway drug that gets you to the regional acts. I bet if you ask everyone on this board what got them to Fest, half would say it was a BNA and most of the local acts they currently love were discovered after they booked they're trip and walked thru the gates.

For me the BNAs worked as an insurance policy to those travelling to the festival for the first time. As I knew local music but wasn't sure if I could really enjoy a festival solely based on that (which now I know I could), the BNAs gave me a sense of "if all else disappoints I still get to see Wilco and Stevie Wonder."

One thing I would like to know about that discussion: did the increase in BNAs in the 2000s mean less local acts? Or did the festival grow as a whole? Jazzfest today must have something like 300 local acts. My feeling from the information I see from older festivals is that it wasn't that big before. So even if there are many problems with BNAs (like how the two or three main headliners each day are probably getting more than half the money from tickets, while the other 50 acts or so share the rest), did they really reduce the space dedicated to local music? Honestly asking here, as I don't have that information.

[Marignygregg]

For me the BNAs worked as an insurance policy to those travelling to the festival for the first time. As I knew local music but wasn't sure if I could really enjoy a festival solely based on that (which now I know I could), the BNAs gave me a sense of "if all else disappoints I still get to see Wilco and Stevie Wonder."

One thing I would like to know about that discussion: did the increase in BNAs in the 2000s mean less local acts? Or did the festival grow as a whole? Jazzfest today must have something like 300 local acts. My feeling from the information I see from older festivals is that it wasn't that big before. So even if there are many problems with BNAs (like how the two or three main headliners each day are probably getting more than half the money from tickets, while the other 50 acts or so share the rest), did they really reduce the space dedicated to local music? Honestly asking here, as I don't have that information.

Paging Swag....

[Marignygregg]

Could it already be time for another round of the Olde Threadhead favorite game "Purists vs Tourists"?

Get those old stories ready (the ones you've only shared here 6,179 times already) and pass out the scorecards, but remember, every time you write "My Spiritual Home" or "Where My Soul Feels Most Free" you automatically lose a turn...

That game isn't as fun without old Luke/fake Quint. I prefer to hang with the happy tourist over the jaded purist.

[jjazznj]

Depends on what you consider BNA's. In 89 I knew little about most local acts outside of the Neville's, Fats, Dr. John, but I was quite familiar with Bonnie Raitt, Santana, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Buffet, Richard Thompson, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, George Benson, Van Morrison ( night show ), Miles Davis ( night show ), Robert Cray.........lots of BNA goodness in 89. I'm sure I would have discovered more than a few regional acts wandering the grounds.

My first Fest was 92 ( I think ). I came for the Allman Brothers, but got turned onto lots of local acts along the way.

The funny thing is I had no idea who was playing The Fest that first year until I was there. I actually knew nothing about it as friends got me to go. It was just a coincidence that I had started listening to The Nevilles, Radiators and Dirty Dozen that year. I don't recall seeing any of those bigger acts except Fats Domino. The first day that we were supposed to go was cancelled due to storms the night before so I think we only went 2 days. That year was the last one you could bring in your own tents and coolers. I do remember walking in and seeing Daniel Lanois playing , who I was already a big fan of as a producer and then seeing The Bluerunners who were great. The one guy in the band had on a Husker Du t-shirt which I thought was cool. The next year, 1990 I had it all down. It was harder back then with no internet etc... I used to call all the music clubs for their schedules and subscribe to Offbeat.

[swag]

For me the BNAs worked as an insurance policy to those travelling to the festival for the first time. As I knew local music but wasn't sure if I could really enjoy a festival solely based on that (which now I know I could), the BNAs gave me a sense of "if all else disappoints I still get to see Wilco and Stevie Wonder."

One thing I would like to know about that discussion: did the increase in BNAs in the 2000s mean less local acts? Or did the festival grow as a whole? Jazzfest today must have something like 300 local acts. My feeling from the information I see from older festivals is that it wasn't that big before. So even if there are many problems with BNAs (like how the two or three main headliners each day are probably getting more than half the money from tickets, while the other 50 acts or so share the rest), did they really reduce the space dedicated to local music? Honestly asking here, as I don't have that information.

Both, sort of.

Jazzfest claims something like 80-85% of all acts are from Louisiana-ish. So the BNAs get the press, but it really still is a local dominated festival, if you count the acts.

There are more (and bigger) national headliners than there were in the 90s and before. But there are also more stages than there used to be (Jazz & Heritage, the Cultural Pavilion) , and more days than there used to be (First Thursday!).

[duende]

We were teasing the member of our krewe who's got 10+ years of fest and still gets the Acura "rail tan" which is a full burn on the right side of your body and mild sun on the left side. He's been front & center for many, many, bna's through the years and his pix help us settle bets on guitar types, etc. - but even he's wandering the grounds a lot more these days than he did to begin with. I applaud his willingness at our age to wade in at the packed stages.

[Catch]

The memory that is locked in my brain is Chuck Berry singing My Ding-a-ling at the 1981 Jazz Fest. I was standing on top of my ice chest of beer just a singing along and having fun.

[Headless Hornman]

Depends on what you consider BNA's. In 89 I knew little about most local acts outside of the Neville's, Fats, Dr. John, but I was quite familiar with Bonnie Raitt, Santana, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Buffet, Richard Thompson, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, George Benson, Van Morrison ( night show ), Miles Davis ( night show ), Robert Cray.........lots of BNA goodness in 89. I'm sure I would have discovered more than a few regional acts wandering the grounds.

My first Fest was 92 ( I think ). I came for the Allman Brothers, but got turned onto lots of local acts along the way.

I never realized I went to JF the first time because of a BNA. If John Lee Hooker was a BNA.

[Gards]

I have never set foot outside Economy Hall.

Do you run in to Tommy Sancton often?

[Jim]

It was the amount of "roots" music the Festival had when I first started coming in 1990 that made me love it. As has been stated, the "BNA's" then were pretty solidly blues-based artists. Coupling that orientation with what you would encounter on smaller stages and around town when it was, again, blues and "roots" artists not Dead-music and funk ad hoc groupings, and I was in heaven.

Same here. My first year was 1988 and I loved it for the reasons you've expressed.