Along with the expansive lineup for this year’s celebration of 50 years of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival that dropped earlier this week, the 2019 Jazz Fest poster was revealed to be a (nearly) all-inclusive portrait of dozens of the legendary and contemporary NOLA musicians who have made the iconic festival one of the greatest yearly music events in the country. One notable exclusion from the group, however, was Leo Nocentelli, guitarist for funk godfathers The Meters, and the musician has commented on the omission with some strong words.
In an Instagram post shared yesterday, Nocentelli that poster designer Scott Guion previously stated that the festival instructed him to remove Nocentelli from the poster (which does feature Nocentelli’s Meters bandmates Art Neville, George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste), but the guitarist calls that a lie, citing the fact that Nocentelli’s band is set to play the festival during the second weekend.
“You can not picture a group like THE METERS with out all of its members,” Nocentelli writes, adding that he’s also upset about the omission of other New Orleans artists like Dave Bartholomew, Rockin’ Dopsie, Deacon John and Walter “Wolfman” Washington, calling the “fake poster” an “insult.”
As Nola.com reports, Nocentelli also separately gave some vague reasons for his being taken off the poster, saying, “They took me off because what I stood for was self-respect and respect for all the other great artists. We weren’t going to receive that respect. It’s not about me; I was fighting for all the great artists in New Orleans.”
“I’m not telling anyone not to buy this poster,” Nocentelli writes in the Instagram post. “However, you will be buying a disgrace to the musical heritage of my great city.”
6 Comments comments associated with this post
Deano
March 22, 2019 at 10:56 pmTo Uncleebeneezer: G PorterJr is in there…just a younger version of him. Not wearing a tye-dye, that’s Charles Neville. George is wearing the tan vest, standing behind Art’s left shoulder. Good poster, but it’s definitely odd without Leo. I wish they could all just get along. There are some other omissions that are head scratchers…James Booker, Earl King, Snooks Eagle, Marcia Ball, Benny Spellman, etc. Add these, subtract Jimmy Buffet.
Watch the Incredible Jazz Fest 2019 Poster Come to Life – Gossip, Entertainment and Music News
January 25, 2019 at 3:53 pm[…] Artist Scott Guion is the man behind the incredible poster, which portrays a hefty chunk of New Orleans musical history, from legends like Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John to more modern acts like Big Freedia and Trombone Shorty (though there are some notable omissions). […]
Watch the Incredible Jazz Fest 2019 Poster Come to Life - Musicians Territory
January 25, 2019 at 3:38 pm[…] Artist Scott Guion is the man behind the incredible poster, which portrays a hefty chunk of New Orleans musical history, from legends like Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John to more modern acts like Big Freedia and Trombone Shorty (though there are some notable omissions). […]
pm
January 21, 2019 at 10:11 amF Jazzfest , no longer about N.O. music or Heritage just another money maker. Meters greatest N.O. band of all time
UncleEbeneezer
January 18, 2019 at 11:51 pmSounds like sour grapes and not a very gracious response. I mean, George Porter is barely on there from what I see – just the edge of a tie dye – and kinda hard to argue with the Neville legacy. How about just saying what an honor for your band to be represented in the legacy of that great city?
Jb
January 19, 2019 at 6:59 amThose ommissions really are a disgrace. There is no reason they couldn’t be on such a commemorative poster. None. Deacon John? Rockin Dopsie? Leo? These guys are deep in the fabric and music culture of nola and jazzfest, there every yesr. Leo is right.