Jazz it up in the French Quarter!

French Quarter Festival just wound up with only one glitch as a massive rain storm hit early Saturday afternoon, but performances had resumed by 3:30 p.m. Fest goers who dodged into bars when the skies opened up wiped down their folding chairs and headed back to the stages in time for Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots to play Zydeco in Jax Brewery parking lot; Don Vappie & Banjo to perform Creole jazz on the Jackson Square stage; Nightcrawler to take over the Hand Grenade stage; New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra to keep syncopated time on the Dutch Alley stage and a dozen other bands. Otherwise, the four-day free festival was pretty perfect.

My preference is to dip my toe in for a couple of hours daily, parking nearby and walking from one end of the French Quarter to the other, sampling the musical fare while strolling, perhaps pina colada in hand, having only a general plan for what I want to hear. Although I do have my favorites, I’d hate to miss a group I heard for the first time such as Kings of Brass, who were killing it on the Louisiana Fish Fry Stage on the sunny side of the Old Mint. The Kings’ Facebook page says the guys fuse jazz, Funk, Hip Hop and R&B, but basically make a enormous sound with multiple trombones, trumpets, tuba and drums in some sort of synchronistic melodic stream.

There is no point in trying to hear it all as more than 1,700 musicians play on 20 stages from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. or later, Thursday through Sunday.

Attendance can only be wildly estimated based on food and drink sales as folks walk stage to stage all over the Quarter and up onto the riverfront levee for the free community festival, but organizers guesstimate 875,000 came.

This year was French Quarter Festival’s 40th anniversary, conceived in 1984 after the downtown disruption by the World’s Fair in an effort to get locals back downtown. It’s grown every year and now attracts music lovers from all over the country who can’t afford the steep ticket price for Jazz Fest two weeks later and others who come for the free local fest and stay through the entire two- week Jazz Fest schedule. Each has its pluses. I am awed by those who purchase an unlimited Brass Pass and do the Fest every day, as that takes true devotion.

I enjoy people watching almost as much as the music. Casually dressed music lovers, soaking up the sounds and sunshine. It is surely a love fest - without violence, impatience or harsh words.