It's not unusual: Funky Sam, Tom Jones, Widespread Panic help kick off second Jazz Fest Weekend

Tom Jones performs on the Gentilly Stage at the Fair Grounds during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival or Jazz Fest in New Orleans, La. Thursday, May 2, 2019. Photo by Matthew Hinton

It’s not unusual: Funky Sam, Tom Jones, Widespread Panic help kick off second Jazz Fest Weekend

The weather was picture perfect to kick off the second weekend of the 50th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

by Matthew Hinton | May 3, 2019

The weather was picture perfect to kick off the second weekend of the 50th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Highlights included Tom Jones, Big Sam’s Funky Nation and Widespread Panic, who replaced two huge cancelled acts, the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac.

Here are pictures from Thursday:

Matthew Hinton

Matthew Hinton is a New Orleans area freelance photographer whose work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Best of Photojournalism Awards in 2014 and 2016, and by numerous awards from the Press Club of New Orleans, including the Hal Ledet President's Print Photography Award, the highest honor the Press Club can bestow upon a photographer.
Matthew Hinton has previously been a staff photographer at both of the daily newspapers in New Orleans. His work has appeared nationally and internationally through freelance work with the Associated Press and AFP, Agence France-Presse.