27 March 2025

BISS List 3.27.25 NOLA Jazz Fest Special Edition + Cafe Istanbul Nightfest + The Best of BISS This Week (SF)

Happy Jazz Fest planning, BISS Listers!🎷✨ We’re switching gears this week and looking ahead — it’s time for the NOLA BISS List Special Edition! Jazz Fest is about a month away, but whether you’re already plotting your fest ’fits or just daydreaming of po’ boys and brass bands, we’ve got you covered with everything from Fairgrounds headliners to the top late-night throwdowns around the city. We even created a dedicated page and calendar for the night shows which we’ll be updating from now through the end of the fest! Before we trade fog for gumbo, let’s give a quick shout to a couple of local stunners from last week…

Nate’s Werthless Good Time + DangerAte @ Boom Boom Room 3/21: Tthe Boom Boom Room turned into a full-on funk summit, led by percussion powerhouse Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note). The night opened strong with a funky, high-energy set from DangerAte that set the tone perfectly — and from there, the room launched into orbit. About 40 minutes into the main set, the sit-ins started rolling in and didn’t stop. Garrett Shider aka Starchild Jr. took the mic for a soul-soaked version of California Dreamin’ (Eddie Hazel-style). Lantz Lazwell stepped up for Pusherman with serious heat. Lorenzo Loera (California Honeydrops), Daniel Caseres, and Mike Olmos brought even more magic, and before long, we had basically the whole AttaKid band on stage for a full-blown birthday jam for Joe Bagale aka Otis McDonald at midnight. The music was wild, but the vibe was even better. Gala Celia (percussionist from Argentina) and Nate built percussive worlds of their own. Max Cowan delivered cosmic textures on keys with a killer vocoder moment. And in the crowd? Reed Mathis, RonKat Spearman, Johnny Cotto — just hanging out, soaking it in. You know a show’s something special when heavy hitters show up just to vibe. Check out the full video gallery and read the full review here: A Werthless Night To Remember.

The Wood Brothers @ The Fillmore 3/22 : Still floating from this one! I caught up with BISS Contributing Editor Josh Danson after the show and asked for his thoughts — here’s what he had to say: “Everybody lucky enough to enjoy the Wood Brothers’ show this past Saturday night at The Fillmore was treated to a foot-stomping, hip-swaying, rollicking set of both old and new tunes by the Nashville (and British Columbia) based trio. The atmosphere was jovial and joyous and felt like the best backyard barbecue ever with your most musical friends.” If you missed it last week, be sure to read Josh’s interview with Chris Wood. And don’t miss the amazing visual recap! Check out my video album, plus a photo gallery from BISS ticket winner Gregg and community fave Booka. And of course, we’ve got an absolutely stunning official gallery from BISS Photographer & Contributing Editor Gabriel Barkin.

This Week’s Shows: While we’re already dreaming of NOLA Jazz Fest, the Bay is still bumpin’ this week! Here are a few shows I’ve got on my radar:

Fri 3/28: Forrest Day with Otis McDonald and Jazz Mafia Experience at The Chapel. (*WIN*) That sounds like a lineup I can really dance to. All night!
Sat 3/29: I’m thinking about crossing the bridge for Magic in the Other + Caltucky (*WIN*) at Ivy Room in the East Bay. This project from drummer Ezra Lipp is groovy, improvisational, and full of heart.
Sun 3/30: I’ll definitely be going out on Sunday to see Béla Fleck, Antonio Sánchez, Edmar Castañeda Trio (*WIN*) at Presidio Theatre for the 7 PM show with a bunch of you BISS Crew. We still have a few pairs of tickets to give away — all ya gotta do is help spread the word and enter! We’ll be selecting winners by Friday. FYI, there’s also a Saturday night show and a Sunday matinee if that fits your vibe better.

And as always, there are plenty of other shows happening in the Bay Area and beyond. Scroll past the multiple New Orleans sections below to check out the Best of BISS, or hit the Full Calendar, or hop over to the Win Tickets page for giveaways.

Jazz Fest in NOLA: Let’s Go! It’s almost that time — New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is coming in hot, running April 24–27 and May 1–4, 2025. Whether you’re hitting the Fairgrounds or diving deep into the night shows (or both — respect), we’ve got your early roadmap.

Let’s start with the Fairgrounds — the daytime center of it all. From crawfish Monica to gospel tents, from African drums to rock ‘n’ roll guitar solos and of course all tha NOLA style — the days at Jazz Fest are magic. If you’ve never experienced it, you’ve got to trust the locals: pacing is everything. Bring the sunscreen, wear something breezy, and hydrate with… whatever works for you.

Top Headliners This Year: Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Luke Combs, Lil Wayne & The Roots, Lenny Kravitz, Kacey Musgraves, Santana, John Fogerty, Burna Boy, HAIM, Cage The Elephant, Laufey, Bryson Tiller, Harry Connick, Jr., Patti LaBelle, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, My Morning Jacket, Gladys Knight, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick, Babyface, Diana Krall, Goose, The Revivalists, Banda MS, Irma Thomas, Tank and the Bangas, Branford Marsalis, Kamasi Washington, The Wailers featuring Julian Marley, Big Freedia, Ledisi Sings Nina, PJ Morton, and much, much more.

Bookmark The Cubes for the daily set times and stages: Check out the full schedule and start planning your Fairgrounds days!

For some of us, though, the night shows are where the real magic happens. If you have ever read the NOLA BISS List in previous years, then you know that the line-up at Café Istanbul Night Fest is always stacked! Presented by Poolside Productions w/ 11 shows across the two weeks, there is a little of everything from NOLA to Dead and everything groovy in between! For more info and details, plus how you can win tix, check out the spotlight below.

Personally? I’m heading to NOLA for the second weekend, and I’ll be working Bayou Rendezvous (*WIN*) (again-yay!) on Friday, May 2nd — which, if you don’t know, is a full-blown, all-night, two-stage extravaganza packed with New Orleans legends and a mix of national artists that will bring the funk all night long. I’ll be there the whole night working the event, but let’s be real, I’d be there either way.

I got so excited about heading back down there this year, I somehow convinced Jenni and Booka to help me build a dedicated page of NOLA Jazz Fest Night Shows. We added as many as we could into the system over the last couple of weeks, covering shows from April 24th through May 4th, and we imported them into a Google calendar just for you.

Of course, we couldn’t possibly have them all, but we’re still updating, and we will be through the end of Jazz Fest! So if you’ve got a show to add, an ad to run, or a ticket giveaway to share — reach out. To warm you (or myself) up for the night shows, I pulled together a list of highlights below— at least one show per night for the full two weeks. Some nights have two. Because obviously. Scroll on. You’re welcome!

After you soak up all the NOLA goodness, don’t forget to scroll down to see what’s happening this week in the Bay Area! It’s already been a doozy of a week — I can’t wait to see you all on the dance floor this weekend!

~ Pamela aka Miss BISS
#seeyouattheshows

SPOTLIGHT ON NOLA NIGHTFEST

Poolside Presents: Cafe Istanbul Nightfest 2025

April 24th – May 4th @ Cafe Istanbul NOLA

The annual Café Istanbul Nightfest calendar is locked and ready with an incredible lineup and variety of World Class musical artists! From All-Star celebrations of the Grateful Dead’s 60th Anniversary to intimate jazz trios to Keyboard Wizards to A-List horn players to multi-Grammy-winning mashups unlike you’ve ever seen or heard, the great-sounding and amazingly intimate 400-seat Café Istanbul hosts some of the best nighttime live music anywhere in New Orleans during (but unaffiliated with) the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Make the most of your New Orleans nights by treating yourself to a truly unique and ultra-intimate “you should have been there” experience with one or more shows at the one and only, great sightlines from anywhere in the house, AWESOME-sounding Café Istanbul!

Check out the nightly line-ups below. And did we mention we’ve got giveaways for every single show!!!

4/24 Current Futures ft Robert Walter, Stanton Moore, Will Bernard, Chris Stillwell and Cochemea Gastelum (*WIN*)
4/25 AXIAL TILT: A Grateful Dead 60th Anniversary Celebration ft Joan Osborne, Stu Allen, Rob Eaton, Mitch Stein, Skip Vangelas, Pete Lavezzoli, Wally Ingram, and more (*WIN*)
4/26 AXIAL TILT: A Grateful Dead 60th Anniversary Celebration ft Joan Osborne, Stu Allen, Rob Eaton, Mitch Stein, Skip Vangelas, Pete Lavezzoli, Wally Ingram, and more (*WIN*)
4/27 Garaj Mahal ft Kai Eckhardt, Oz Ezzeldin, Fareed Haque, and Hassan Hurd (*WIN*)
4/30 Nolatet ft Mike Dillon, Brian Haas, James Singleton, and Johnny Vidacovich (*WIN*)
5/01 Pimps of Joytime (*WIN*)
5/01 (LATE NIGHT) Wil Blades & Friends ft members Of Headhunters & Dave Matthews Band (*WIN*)
5/02 Melvin Seals and JGB | 2 Big Nights! (*WIN*)
5/03 Melvin Seals and JGB | 2 Big Nights! (*WIN*)
5/03 (LATE NIGHT) The Abbey Roads ft Reed Mathis, Aron Magner, Nikki Glaspie & Jason Fraticelli (*WIN*)
5/04 The Nicholas Payton Trio ft Esperanza Spalding & Karriem Riggins (*WIN*)

SPOTLIGHT ON MORE NOLA NIGHTS

NOLA Jazz Fest Nights

April 24th – May 4th in New Orleans

I’m calling this the pièce de résistance of this week’s BISS List because… let’s be honest, this is where the magic happens. When the sun goes down in New Orleans, the real Jazz Fest begins — and some of us never stop. Now, listen. There are folks who live for the Fairgrounds and make it out there every single day — respect. Others split their time between day shows and night shows, grabbing a little bit of everything. And then there’s the rest of us — the true late-night warriors — hopping from venue to venue, show to show, sometimes straight through until the sun comes up. That’s my crew.

And if I were in town the whole time? You bet I’d be chasing every one of these 17 night show picks below — and probably more. Because yes, there are a TON more listed on the full night shows page, and that calendar is LOADED. So here’s your taste. This list covers a range of styles — from late-night funk to jam sessions, jazz supergroups, soulful sit-ins, and dance-all-night throwdowns. These are the shows I’d try to hit every night if I could. Some nights even have two, because I couldn’t help myself. Though there are nights I wish I could hit five!

Check out the highlights below, then head to our full Night Shows Page for 60+ shows (and counting), sorted by weekend.