NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Rough weather caused Jazz Fest officials to delay Saturday’s opening. Still, the show went on as music lovers filed into the muddy fairgrounds. Some took time to visit a different part of the city to pay tribute to one of the city’s most influential musicians.
Thousands of music lovers braved the Fair Grounds mud to listen to entertainers like Dead and Company on a festival stage with an image of Professor Longhair soaring high above.
While hundreds enjoyed the fest, others paid tribute to “Fess” — Professor Longhair — at the place he called home Uptown.
“I just had musicians and tourists nine days straight from Norway, Canada, everywhere. I’m exhausted. I haven’t stopped,” said Fess’s daughter Patricia.
Legendary New Orleans piano player Professor Longhair (Roeland Byrd) was a Jazz Fest mainstay 40 years ago and helped it grow to the world-class event it is today.
Dirty Dozen drummer Lionel Batiste says Longhair influenced his band and countless others.
“Professor Longhair was a giant of New Orleans,” he said. “The guy played with a lot of power and a lot of finesse.”
Daughter Patricia now holds court for visitors from around the world, determined to preserve her father’s legacy, which drew Bill Goss to Fess’ home from Chicago.
“I just remember the energy of the band and the power of the way he played,” said Goss.
Patricia has been fighting for years to have Terpsichore Street, where Fess’s home is now a museum, renamed for her father.
“For all that he’s given New Orleans and New Orleans music culture, he is the Bach of Rock, Professor Longhair,” Byrd said.
We featured her in a story two months ago, and now her efforts are paying off.
“It means the world to me and my father deserves it,” said Byrd.
The city planning commission will vote on a measure renaming Terpsichore between St. Charles Avenue and Magnolia Street as Professor Longhair Lane, two weeks from now.
“God is good that is something my father taught me, to keep the faith,” said Byrd.
And if all goes well, the City Council could authorize the name change this summer. Preserving a legacy that lives on at a Jazz Fest, which Fess helped start with one more day to go.
While Patricia Byrd is pleased that the city planning commission is considering renaming Terpsichore from Magnolia to St. Charles, she would like to see that name change extended an extra seven blocks, all the way to Tchoupitoulas Street.
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