Surprise sit-ins are practically guaranteed at virtually any of the late-night shows in New Orleans around Jazz Fest, but the Midnight Preserves at Preservation Hall take special guests to historic levels. Each year, the antiquated French Quarter jazz club active since 1961 pulls in headliners from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to perform for an intimate crowd of around 100 people. The Midnight Preserves lineup isn’t announced in advance, but it never disappoints.
This year, Preservation Hall had plenty of talent to choose from for the Midnight Preserves. To close out the festival’s first weekend, Dave Matthews dropped by with his saxophonist Jeff Coffin to deliver an upbeat take on Led Zeppelin‘s “Fool in the Rain”. Matthews headlined Jazz Fest on Sunday, and hung around New Orleans a few days more to sit in with the Daze Between Band at the legendary Tipitina’s on Wednesday.
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Weekend one also saw members of rising indie-jam band Goose swing by Pres Hall on Friday following the band’s Jazz Fest debut on Thursday. Saxophonist Karl Denson got in on the jam, ahead of an appearance by The Revivalist frontman and NOLA adoptee David Shaw later that same night. During the second weekend, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready came to the Hall where he backed up The Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas on her classic “Time is on My Side”, with McCready trading his heavily distorted chopping for smooth soul licks. As all this was happening, Margo Price stood beside the stage, knowing that she had to follow Irma Thomas in New Orleans.
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Weekend two also saw country superstar Luke Combs come to Preservation Hall on the same night as blues torchbearer Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and reggae heir Julian Marley. After Combs finished strumming his cover of Tracy Chapman‘s “Fast Car”, he said he regretted even picking up a guitar in the presence of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Though the big names are certainly what make headlines for the Midnight Preserves, those who have made it into that hallowed space can attest that the real show is watching some of the finest musicians in New Orleans back up whatever revolving cast of A-listers step through the brick doorways—musicians like saxophonist Charlie Gabriel, who at 92 years old could still keep up with musicians a fraction of his age at any hour of the evening.
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The diverse stream of collaborators reflected Jazz Fest’s famously expansive palette, with djembe master Weedie Braimah and his band Hands of Time helping kick off the series after the festival opened on Thursday, April 24th. World-class musicians came to pay their respects and jam with the Pres Hall Band, including Nigerian singer Sean Kuti (son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti), Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Mexican fusion band Son Rompe Pera, Icelandic singer Laufey, and many other global artists.
Check out a full rundown of Preservation Hall Midnight Preserves guests below, and check out the Hall’s Instagram page for more videos. Proceeds from the Midnight Preserves benefit the Preservation Hall Foundation and its mission to protect, preserve, and perpetuate traditional New Orleans jazz and the communities that support it. Find out more here.
Preservation Hall Midnight Preserves Guests:
Night 8: Laufey, The Soul Rebels, Mexican Institute of Sound, Tif Lamson, Judith Owen
Night 7: Irma Thomas, Mike McCready, Amos Lee, Erica Falls, Margo Price
Night 6 – Luke Combs, Julian Marley, Kingfish
Night 5: Son Rompe Pera, Neal Francis, Sunny Ortiz, Cage The Elephant
Night 4: Mireya Ramos, Jake Shimabukuro, Marcia Ball, Dave Matthews
Night 3: Erica Falls, Luke Winslow-King, Shannon McNally
Night 2: Goose, Karl Denson, David Shaw
Night 1: Weedie Braimah and the Hands of Time, Seun Kuti, Papa Tito’s Sompa, DJ Logic, and Mixateña de Santa Cecilia