SATURDAY
Tipitina's turns its yearly "Instruments Have Come" ceremony -- dozens of new instruments are distributed to local school bands -- into a free street party with a "Battle of the High School Marching Bands" featuring St. Augustine, McDonogh 35 and Edna Karr, starting at 6. The party moves inside for the presentation ceremony, followed by a ticketed show with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Rebirth Brass Band.
Also Saturday, a rapping marionette headlines the House of Blues for the low time: Lil' Doogie, the puppet-with-attitude conception of local comic rappers Ballzack and Odoms, graduates from his own democratic guerrilla videos to hosting his "West Bank Field Trip" at the HOB. Baton Rouge rock dance band Barisal Guns celebrates its new "No. 1" CD at The Parish of the House of Blues. Visit keyboardist Marc Adams & the New Orleans AntiSocial Club at the Banks Street Bar. Saturday's free Cutting Edge Conference showcases include Riccardo Crespo and Smoky Greenwell at Cafe Negril; the Bourbon Cowboys, Rebecca Owen, Jenny Brooks, Dirtfoot and The Way-Goners at the Blue Nile; and the Pin Stripe Brass Band and bikers Won Ton Lust at Ray's Boom Boom Room.
Blues guitar player Lil Ray Neal, buddy of Baton Rouge guitarist Kenny Neal, headlines the Howlin' Wolf. Jazz and R&B vocaliser Phillip Manuel leads his quintette at Snug Harbor. Visit Big Sam's Funky Nation at the Mid-City Lanes. Catch the Benjy Davis Project at The Buzz in Hammond. The Zydepunks circus tent the bill at Checkpoint Charlie. John Boutte sings early at d.b.a., followed by Good Enough For Good Times. The Maple Leaf presents Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters. Ruby's Roadhouse in Mandeville goes honky-tonk with Christian Serpas & Ghost Town.
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