Fred Kasten

For over 20 years now Rod Hodges, Joe Cabral and the Iguanas have lured listeners onto the dance floor with their intoxicating blend of blues and Latin grooves.  Catch them playing music from their new CD Sin to Sin at Jazz Fest Thursday, May 3.

Larry Sieberth is one of New Orleans' most versatile and accomplished pianists and a top-notch arranger and composer – which may account for him landing 7 gigs at this year's fest – including Saturday, April 28th, with The Gospel According to Jazz, and Thursday, May 3rd, with the Joint's Jumpin'.

Great New Orleans bassist George Porter, Jr. plays Jazz Fest with his longtime Runnin' Pardners Thursday, May 3, and with the funky METERS Sunday, May 6.

New Orleans trombonist Mark Mullins, and his slidework colleague Craig Klein, formed Bonerama nearly 15 years ago to put the trombone front and center in a contemporary music ensemble – a notion Mullins began nurturing from his earliest days playing trombone.  Mark Mullins and Bonerama play Jazz Fest Friday, May 4th.

Pianist Peter Martin – a former New Orleanian who maintains deep ties to the Crescent City – plays Jazz Fest with his trio Saturday, April 28th. He then backs Grammy-winning singer Dianne Reeves at Jazz Fest on Sunday, April 29th.

Clarinetist Ben Schenck and the Panorama Jazz Band play an eclectic world of music – from klezmer to beguine, second-line to swing – Sunday, April 29th at Jazz Fest.

Singer Meschiya Lake is one of four New Orleans women up for this year's Big Easy "Best Female Entertainer" Award. Meschiya Lake and her Little Big Horns band play Jazz Fest Saturday, April 28th.

Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes was playing rubboard in Fernest Arceneaux's band Fernest and the Thunders back in the late 1980's - when he had a series of dreams in which he played accordion.  He bought an accordion - and next thing you know - he's leading - and playing accordion in - Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots. Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots host an International Accordion Summit at Jazz Fest Sunday, April 29th...

Big Easy Award-winning singer Sasha Masakowski is just back in New Orleans following a four month run at the swank Centro nightclub in the 5-star Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing – and ready to have big fun at Jazz Fest on Friday, April 27th.

Clarinetist and saxophonist Victor Goines is a New Orleans native of great musical accomplishment. A longtime member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, he also fronts his own quartet and quintet, and these days runs the Jazz Studies program at Northwestern University in Chicago. Victor Goines plays Jazz Fest with his outstanding quartet Sunday, April 29th.