Danny Barker Festival 2020 Lineup
Sporting a plastic cigar in his mouth, Danny Barker leads the Onward Brass Band in a parade at the 1974 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Michael P. Smith/The Historic New Orleans Collection
Join us at the New Orleans Jazz Museum from Wednesday, January 15, 2020 through Sunday, January 19, 2020 for the Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival, five days of great talk, music, and more in celebration of the life and legacy of NEA Jazz Master Danny Barker.
Taking place throughout the Jazz Museum grounds and third floor auditorium, admission is only $10 daily – $40 for all five days – and includes access to all Museum exhibits. Learn more at dannybarkerfestival.com
Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival Schedule
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 – Jazz Museum 3rd floor auditorium (Griot Stage)
1 pm – Danny Barker Tells You All About It – Award-winning radio producer Fred Kasten presents an audio autobiography drawn from over 3 hours of interviews with Danny Barker.
2 pm - Banjoist & guitarist Seva Venet & his band
3 pm – Carnival Time: Danny Barker and the Music of Mardi Gras – trumpeter Wendell Brunious and an all-star band play Carnival music associated with Danny Barker.
4 pm – Video Barkers: the best of Danny and Blu Lu Barker on video and film – with award-winning filmmaker Matt Martinez.
Thursday, January 16, 2020 – Jazz Museum 3rd floor auditorium (Griot Stage)
1 pm - Author! Author! – Susan Larson, host of WWNO’s “The Reading Life,” leads a select panel examining Danny Barker’s significant contributions as a writer.
2 pm – Danny and Me – Producer Scott Billington, publisher Jan Ramsey, pharmacist Chris Sylvain and writer Jon Pult share favorite personal anecdotes about Danny Barker.
3 pm – Arrowhead Jazz Band plays a set.
Friday, January 17, 2020 – Jazz Museum 3rd floor auditorium (Griot Stage)
3 pm - The Long View – Gwen Thompkins interviews Ellis Marsalis, Roger Dickerson & Don Marquis about the cultural & artistic legacy of Danny Barker.
4 pm – Mikio Shoji and the Tokyo Jazz Hounds – the honorary New Orleanian and his band
5 pm – pianist Tom McDermott
Saturday, January 18, 2020 – Jazz Museum 3rd floor auditorium (Griot Stage)
12 pm - Danny Barker and the Second Line – Matt Sakakeeny interviews Gregg Stafford and Fred Johnson about Danny Barker’s lifelong love of and commitment to second line and Social Aid & Pleasure Club culture – the controversy surrounding his funeral – and birth of the Black Men of Labor organization.
1 pm – Pianist Mari Watanabe and her band
2 pm – Trumpeter & vocalist Gregg Stafford & his band
3 pm - Fairview Baptist and Beyond – Melissa Weber interviews Leroy Jones, Herlin Riley and Dr.Michael White about Danny Barker’s role in the brass band revival of the 70s onward.
4 pm – Pianist Steve Pistorius and his band
5 pm – Guitarist Steve Masakowski and friends
Jazz Museum outside courtyard (Danny & Blue Lu Barker Stage)
1 pm – Trumpeter Leroy Jones and his band
2 pm – Natsuka Furukama trio
3 pm – Bassist Mark Brooks and his band
4 pm – Trumpeter and vocalist Kermit Ruffins
Sunday, January 19, 2020 – Jazz Museum 3rd floor auditorium (Griot Stage)
10 am – In the Beginning: Revisiting the Fairview Baptist church - with pastor Chris Sylvain.
12 pm - Greer Goff Mendy – interpretative dance inspired by Danny and Blu Lu Barker
1 pm – Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony
2 pm – The George and Gerald French Band
Jazz Museum outside courtyard (Danny & Blue Lu Barker Stage)
1 pm – Griot Trio
2 pm – John Boutte
3 pm – Charmaine Neville and Amasa Miller
4 pm – Treme Brass Band and The Black Men of Labor
Danny Barker Day Parade - 11:00am-12:00pm (Free)
Celebrate the Crescent City’s official designation of today as “Danny Barker Day” with a second-line around the French Quarter led by the Hot 8 Brass Band. Exact route tba. Departs from and returns to the Jazz Museum.