Natchitoches' premier spring outdoor festival complete with music, food and fun!

Celebrating 26 years of bringing this regional musical event to the downtown historic district and Cane River Lake, the festival offers a variety of music from jazz, and rock to soul and country.

The Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival truly promises something for everyone. The Festival will be held on Saturday, featuring three stages of music on the historic and picturesque downtown riverbank in Natchitoches with food vendors onsite.

This year’s festival will kick off on Friday with what organizers are calling "A Tribute to Music Legends" which will feature two extremely popular acts out of Atlanta, Georgia: Elton Live!, which features an artist performing the music of Sir Elton John with the look, style, and sound of the "Rocket Man," followed by the Purple Madness, a tribute to the music of Prince.

Both of these acts are widely acclaimed as being among the most authentic recreations of the music of those iconic artists in the world.

In addition to the acts performing on the main stage, there will be more than 15 local and regional acts performing on other stages, appealing to a wide variety of musical tastes, including Rock & Roll, Country, Zydeco, Alternative, Swamp Pop, and yes, lots of Jazz and Rhythm & Blues.

Schedule of Events

May 12, 2023

Main Stage

Friday Night Kickoff

7:00 - 8:30pm: Elton Live! (The Elton John Experience) From Atlanta, The Elton John Experience offers the most complete and authentic reproduction of Sir Elton John's live concert performance in the world. Their shows are the most accurate representation of Sir Elton John in his absolute prime of the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and beyond!

9:00 - 10:30pm: The Purple Madness (Prince Tribute Band) The "Purple Madness" is the ultimate celebration of the most widely beloved entertainer and profoundly influential artist of all time. Bobby Miller presents an electrifying performance that can be best described as, high energy and a "must-see" performance.

May 13, 2023

Main Stage

12:50-1:50pm: B Cam and The Zydeco Young Bucks (High-energy Zydeco) This is north Louisiana's hottest Zydeco band featuring their high-energy leader and a great group of musicians forming a fantastic mix of original and traditional Zydeco music that will have the crowd jumping and dancing for sure.

2:10-3:25pm: Klockwork Band (Rhythm & Blues) This Houston-based R&B group features Natchitoches natives Michael Kennedy, Benny Wheeler, Brent Nabers, and Tameka Hardison and has performed with the Grambling Tiger Marching Band. They will be playing all your favorite R&B hits.

3:45-5:00pm: Johnny Earthquake & The Moondogs (High-energy variety show band) This Natchitoches-based R&B/Rock/Funk Band is the only group to have performed in all of the previous twenty-five Jazz/R&B Festivals. They regularly perform all over the south including an annual legendary beach concert in Pensacola, Florida featuring the "***** Boys" horn section. They will be playing the "Stuff That Screams Are Made Of!"

5:30-6:45pm: Cupid (R&B vocalist) Writer of the legendary Cupid of "Cupid Shuffle" fame. This Louisiana native is responsible for starting an international dance craze with his double-platinum hit "The Cupid Shuffle." In fact, in 2008, Cupid set a Guinness record for the largest line dance when he had over 17,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia dancing to the song.

7:15-8:30pm: Mark Chesnutt (Classic Country) Mark Chesnutt is one of Country's true musical treasures. Critics have hailed him as a classic Country singer of the first order and some of Country music's most elite entertainers, from George Jones to George Strait, have echoed the sentiment.

9:00-10:30pm: Tracy Byrd (Classic Country) There are many ways to describe Tracy Byrd, but unique, talented, and charismatic just seem to scratch the surface. However, there is one word that ties them all together and is true to their character: Tracy Byrd is Real. Few people sing so honestly from their heart and soul. Tracy Byrd does so in just the right way, combining art, story, and song in perfect unison.

Roque House Stage

12:00-1:00pm: Jesse Cole (Alternative Rock) led by the lead singer of the popular area group Breaktime for Francis, Jesse Cole, features original alternative Rock with a distinctive 90's flavor with some favorite covers thrown in as well.

1:10-2:10pm: Jenny & Kelli (Pop, Rock, R&B Harmonies) These songbirds feature angelic harmonies and they cover Rock, Pop, R&B, Soul & Country songs.

2:20-3:20 pm: Deep Water Rehab (Classic, Southern Rock, Country) Winnfield-based Cover Band covering Classic & Southern Rock, Country, and even some R&B tunes.

3:30-4:30pm: TNT (R&B, Soul, Hip Hop) A Baton Rouge-based, 4-piece Soul, R&B, Rock, Pop & Hip Hop group fronted by powerhouse vocalist, Timenee Thomas. They have grooves and a sound that's sure to get your feet tapping and your body moving.

4:45-5:45pm: Cane River Soul (Classic Rock/R&B/Funk) led by vocalist & guitarist, Jarrett Bailey. This group of talented musicians from the Natchitoches area plays a pleasing mix of Rock, Funk, R&B, and Soul that you will not want to miss.

6:00-7:00pm: Mark Newman and Friends (Original & Cover Rock, R&B, Blues) New York-based singer, Songwriter. Newman is a well-traveled and in-demand professional which has taken him around the world several times over, performing with such luminaries as Sam the Sham, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, and John Oates of Hall & Oates, just to name a few. His album "Empirical Truth" was named the Best Album by the Long Island Blues Society in 2019.

Fleur De Lis Stage

12:00-1:00pm: The Nakatosh Rhythm Chiefs (Traditional & Modern Jazz) The Chiefs play a mix of your favorite jazz, including standards, bebop, smooth, and funk. Led by guitarist Luke Brouillette.

1:10-2:10pm: The Armadillo Jackal Band (Americana/Folk) is led by Ben Rushing. This eclectic group of veteran musicians refuses to have their music pigeonholed, so we will just call them "Americana." They play great music with a bit of humor thrown in as well.

?2:20-3:20pm: One Foot in the Groove (Funk/Classic Rock/Soul/R&B) brings a hard-driving funk, swamp pop style listeners love! The musical group is from Shreveport/Bossier City, LA. The primary members of the group bring several decades of musical experience to the stage and have been playing at venues in the South Louisiana and Northwest Louisiana areas since the 1970s. They're all about swamp pop-influenced classic rock, soul, and rhythm & blues. David Fruge, Jerry Mathews and Rufus Lemaire were the founding members of the highly successful musical group Earshot Graffiti, which they formed in 1989.

3:30-4:30pm: 50 Man Machine (Celtic/Americana) Perhaps the most eclectic, unusual, and interesting group in the entire festival, 50 Man Machine set list includes Celtic, Scottish, and Rock & Roll music all rolled into one. Two things are for certain, you will be entertained by this group, led by Collier Hyams, and it will be the only group in the festival featuring bagpipes.

4:45-5:45pm: Gin Mobsters (Original & Cover Rock & Roll) Hard-driving, high-energy originals and covers of Rock & Roll from one of the Monroe area's most popular groups.

6:00-7:00pm: Josh Hyde and The Lost Parish (Original NOLA-Style Blues) Josh is a perennial favorite at the festival, having played here several times over the years. Josh is the purveyor of a unique brand of New Orleans-tinged original Louisiana Blues music. He and his band, The Lost Parish, will be performing cuts from his critically acclaimed fourth studio album, "Parish Blues." Josh's music has been described by slide guitar legend, Sonny Landreth, as being "funky, atmospheric, and soulful."

Date: May 12-13, 2023

Location:
Natchitoches Parish Riverbank,
626 Front Street,
Natchitoches, LA 71457.

Buy Tickets

Click here for more information