NEW ORLEANS (AP) β The opening day of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is set to feature about as wide a variety of music as one can compile – from the alternative Chicago-based rock band Wilco to Irish singer-guitarist Hozier and the Jamaican and reggae stylings of singer Jimmy Cliff.
Headlining the day’s biggest stage is country music star Keith Urban, who festival producer Quint Davis describes as one of the world’s “monster rock-blues-country guitar players.”
Davis said when Urban was told the bluesy rock Tedeschi Trucks Band was playing before his Friday evening performance, his reply was: “They’re not opening for me, I’m closing for them.”
Opening day local acts include Wayne Toups, the Honey Island Swamp Band, the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra and a host of New Orleans brass bands.
