It looked as though the 43rd annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival would be over before it had even began, with an unusually large amount of scheduled acts being forced to pull out of the showcase before it had even kicked off. Eddie Vedder, Diane Reeves, John Mayer, Jill Scott and the recently deceased Levon Helm were all unable to appear for a variety of reasons.
Fortunately for all those involved however, the festival went on pretty much without a hitch, with substitutes including Jimmy Buffett, the Warren Haynes Band and even Bruce Springsteen, stepping in to fill in the cracks left by the absentees.
According to newspaper USA Today, those lucky enough to be in attendance were not disappointed, as performers such as Anders Osborne, Steve Earle and the Dukes, The Eagles (in their first NOJHF appearance) and My Morning Jacket all put on memorable performances. My Morning Jacket were even aided by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as they provided an impressive close to the Gentilly Stage on Saturday night. They were not the only group joined on stage by an impressive jazz section of course, with just about every non-jazz performer being accompanied by jazz musicians in their performances.