This is a revised version of the Editor’s Note from the April/May 2019 issue of Relix, reflecting our 50 Years of Jazz Fest celebration in the special Collector’s Edition issue. Subscribe here using code NOLA50 and get 20% off.

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First and foremost, let me emphasize that as you read this, you still have an opportunity to join us in New Orleans. Relix will celebrate the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as well as the culture of its host city during an event that will take place at the New Orleans Jazz Museum this spring. Our “50 Years of New Orleans Music & Culture” exhibit opened on April 26 and continue through May. Beyond that, we will host three days of conversations with a number of the artists featured in this very issue.

On April 29, Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe will appear in conversation with celebrated scholar Walter Isaacson. The next day will feature Jon Cleary, who will sit behind a piano and explore the sounds of the city’s keyboard innovators and iconoclasts. Finally, on May 1, Galactic drummer Stanton Moore and legendary Meters bassist George Porter Jr. will share the stage for a lively exchange of ideas. Beyond this, curator Sam Sklover has pulled together a special exhibition on the art and photography of Jazz Fest, featuring the work of gifted NOLA enthusiasts from Michael P. Smith, whose book In the Spirit is a personal favorite, to Dino Perrucci, the longtime Relix contributor who shot our cover image.

It’s been a real thrill to assemble this issue and I am looking forward to seeing some of it manifested down in New Orleans.

For a taste of what’s to come, here’s some of my conversation with Jaffe that did not find it’s way into the piece that appears in the current issue. Ben is a graduate of Oberlin, the school that my daughter now attends. In discussing this with him, he mentioned: “It was when I went to college that I really experienced the first wake-up call about how unique, special and important New Orleans was, with all of our historical and cultural identities. I certainly see it now. Every day, I wake up surrounded by these geniuses who are part of a community of incredible musicians. My normal is the extraordinary. I’ve also come to appreciate that some people won’t get the chance to know what that’s like because it’s not true for the rest of the world.

“The rest of the world doesn’t have Jazz Fest. The rest of the world doesn’t have Irma Thomas or The Neville Brothers. The rest of the world doesn’t have George Porter Jr. The rest of the world doesn’t have Preservation Hall or second-line parades. The rest of the world doesn’t have Professor Longhair, Fats Domino or Dave Bartholomew. The rest of the world doesn’t have Jessie Hill, Oliver Morgan or Lee Dorsey. The rest of the world doesn’t have Allen Toussaint. The rest of the world doesn’t have Dr. John. I mean, where do I stop? That’s our normal. That’s our everyday normal. I don’t take that for granted, which is also why we strive to protect and preserve this lifestyle and the community that has given us an incredible art form.”

We’re honored to share some of it as well both in our current issue and at the New Orleans Jazz Museum this week (as a bonus, if you join us at the museum, you’ll be able to hear selections from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings’ forthcoming box set Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival prior to its official release on May 10).