New Orleans music's old guard still star at Jazz Fest

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste played the very first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival in 1970 with their groundbreaking funk band The Meters. More than 50 years later, The Meters are no more, but Porter and Modeliste are still among the festival's mainstays.

So are singer Irma Thomas, the renowned “Soul Queen of New Orleans," who first played the fest in 1974; and guitarist and singer Deacon John Moore, also a regular since 1970.

“Originally it was all local bands,” Porter said in a recent interview, reminiscing about days when he would close down one Jazz Fest stage with The Meters and run with Modeliste to another stage for a final set with piano legend Professor Longhair. “Local and regional bands — meaning Baton Rouge, Lafayette — those acts were always the headliners,” he said.

Plenty of nationally and internationally known acts populate the roster for the 2023 festival, which includes current megastars like Lizzo and Ed Sheeran and long-established crowd-pleasing artists like Santana and the Steve Miller Band.