Keith Urban, Jimmy Cliff headline New Orleans Jazz Fest

This year’s annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (which opened on Friday) will be offering a worldwide spectrum of musical influences, from the alternative Chicago-based rock band Wilco to Irish singer-guitarist Hozier and the Jamaican/reggae stylings of singer Jimmy Cliff. Country music superstar Keith Urban headlined Friday’s biggest stage. Urban is a returning headliner, having last played Jazz Fest the year after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Urban played right after Florida-based bluesy rock group The Tedeschi Trucks Band. The group was founded by husband and wife musicians Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. This will be the group’s inaugural Jazz Fest debut. More than fifty live acts performed throughout opening day such as: Honey Island Swamp Band, Brass-A-Holics, Wayne Toups, Lil Nathan & the Zydeco Big Timers, the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra and a host of New Orleans brass bands. The festival will continue through Sunday, and April 30, May 1, 2 and 3.