I hope everybody is having an unforgettable Jazz Fest. As you may have seen, WWL held its second live broadcast from the Miller Lite Tent, and it was an all-out blast. Just incredible interview after incredible interview with the folks who bear 100% of the blame for making Jazz Fest nothing less than a world-class event.
We had reps from Vaucresson’s Sausage Company, the only food vendor at Jazz Fest who has been here since its first year in 1970. We had on Whirling Dirvish of the Cello & Jazz Fest performer, Hellen Gillet. We had on CEO Blake-Anthony Johnson, the young and dynamic CEO of the Jazz Fest & Heritage Festival & Foundation.
But as amazing as all of that was, if there’s one moment I'd care to leave you with from Jazz Fest 2025, it’s one that occurred at the top of my show, at 10:10 am.
The opening bands were still running sound checks. Attendees had yet to set up their lawn chairs. No one was going to town on a slice of fresh crawfish bread. It was quiet on the Jazz Fest grounds when Quint Davis stopped by for a short interview.
Quint Davis, for those who may not know, is the head honcho of Jazz Fest. He’s the producer and director of this event and has been heavily involved in its production since the beginning.
Can't hear the Quint Davis interview with the above player? Click here to access the full episode.
And let me tell you, if there’s one person who embodies and exemplifies the reasons Jazz Fest has grown into such an astounding success over the years, it’s Quint.
It’s so easy to get lost in the beauty of being there that we forget an event like Jazz Fest is a production. A complicated, sweat-stained, pressure-filled, teeth-gritting production. An entire year goes into planning and executing the event, and Quint oversees its success year in, year out. (Along with the countless other workers and volunteers whom I wish I could name all right here… But we thank you for your work and dedication.)
And Quint explains to me that it hasn’t been easy. And the fact that it comes together is actually quite miraculous. As he told me, “One of the greatest miracles of this festival is that 500 New Orleans bands start on time. No New Orleans bands start on time outside of this fence, trust me.”
But Quint has stuck by Jazz Fest, as I said, and believed in its power, since the beginning, for, as he says, “56 years, 54 Fests.” (Two Jazz Fests were cancelled during the Covid years). He also opens up about how Jazz Fest was almost impossible to kick off the year after Katrina in New Orleans, and how Mitch Landrieu helped inspire him to keep it going.
I’ll leave you to listen to the interview, because you ought to hear Quint’s words from the man himself, but I urge you to listen, because his words display all the love we have for Jazz Fest as a community. And to hear them from a true steward who has cared for this vital cultural pillar of our city for over 50 years is a special thing.
So forget Disney Land. Jazz Fest is where true magic happens. And it’s because of people like Quint Davis, Hellen Gillet, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, John Ed Laborde (the mind behind crawfish bread), Vaucresson Sausage Company, Loose Cattle, Bud Brimberg (Creative Director, Art4now, publisher of the Jazz Fest poster), and reps like Nick Hazzard from Miller Lite, who man their stations and contribute to the collective magic.
It’s not a large venue. It’s not Coachella. (It better not be Coachella.) It takes four minutes to walk from one side of the venue to the other. There's no other way to put it, Jazz Fest is one of a kind, and we should tip our caps to those who make this thing happen.