Paul Simon was having such a good time onstage at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre on Tuesday (Dec. 8) that he let a secret slip: He is apparently among the headliners of the 2016 New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Simon and his band were featured Tuesday at a benefit for New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness at Le Petit.
PAUL SIMON IS BACK
Originally, he was to share the bill with Allen Toussaint, who co-founded New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness 30 years ago.
In the wake of Toussaint’s death on Nov. 10 from a heart attack at age 77, Simon turned what was to have been an acoustic set with just his guitarist into a fully amped, hour-and-15-minute show with his seven-piece band.
Between “The Boxer,” the 11th song of the set, and the subsequent “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” Simon paused to strip off the long-sleeve shirt he’d worn over a T-shirt.
I love New Orleans!
he exclaimed, before adding,
I’m coming back down for Jazz Fest!
And it didn’t sound like he was “coming back down” just to hang out and eat Crawfish Monica.
Simon is no stranger to the Fair Grounds in the spring.
In 2010, he and his buddy Art Garfunkel performed their first concert in six years to an enormous crowd at the Acura Stage.
Simon largely carried the weight of the show, as Garfunkel’s high tenor was not at full strength.
In 2006, the first Jazz Fest after Hurricane Katrina, Simon was scheduled to precede closer Fats Domino on the Acura Stage on the final Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ FEST
When Domino canceled that morning, citing illness, Lionel Richie was moved from the Gentilly Stage to the closing spot on Acura.
Likely the first and last time Simon has ever “opened” for Richie.
Producers of the Jazz Fest -– formally, it’s the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell — prefer to roll out the entire schedule at once, usually in mid-January.
But Simon, caught up in a New Orleans moment, got carried away and couldn’t help himself.
If his joyous show at Le Petit is any indication, his 2016 Jazz Fest appearance will be one not to miss.
Enjoy over 300 hours of entertainment featuring more than 400 musical performances on twenty-three stages throughout the French Quarter over four days.
