Jazz isn’t dead. But for the most part, these days it isn’t commercially viable enough to be the sole drawing card at major music festivals. Which is why countless events like The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have stretched far beyond the boundaries of their titles to incorporate everything from soul, blues, funk and gospel to rock, Cajun and bounce. All of which you’ll find in the box set Jazz Fest, a 50-track anthology of live recordings celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Crescent City event. The lineup includes dozens of NOLA legends — Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Earl King, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, the Dirty Dozens, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, the Neville Brothers / Funky Meters, Dixie Cups and many more — delivering more than five hours of swampy grooves, punchy horns and Big Easy classics from Iko Iko to Fire on the Bayou and (of course) When the Saints Go Marching In. You want to be in that number.
