[Editor's Note: A crew of sonicnet.com writers and photographers has been in New Orleans to provide daily coverage of this year's Jazz & Heritage Festival, which began April 28 and concluded on Sunday. Our staff was on the Fair Grounds, in the clubs and on the streets to capture what's unique about one of the world's great musical and cultural extravaganzas.]

Sonicnet Contributing Editors RW Deutsch & Bob Margolis report:

NEW ORLEANS — It was 10 days of a musical gumbo, the likes of which can be found nowhere else in the world — a party that started with a performance by New Orleans' favorite son — Dr. John — and ended with one by its first family, The Neville Brothers.

In between there were hundreds of acts playing virtually every style of American music, — as well as a dash of international flavor that helped season the event to taste. Whether at the Fair Grounds, which had 10 stages going constantly over the two weekends, or the dozens of clubs and theaters that were packed midweek, Jazz Fest offered practically unlimited musical adventures.

And now it's over.

"There is always a sadness that comes at the end of Jazz Fest," said Alton Osborn, who sells his African-influenced clothing at a booth in Congo Square.

That blend of joy and sadness was best heard Sunday, at the Gospel Tent, as Aaron Neville had the crowd swaying to gospel classics and covers, including Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken."

"It's so weird," said Danny McMahon, from Los Angeles, who was at Jazz Fest for the first time. "The first weekend I totally burned myself out. Now I'm just hitting my stride, and it's over. But I guess I'll know better for next year."

An alternate take on that came from Clark Stinson, from Hoboken, N.J., who said, laughing, "Every year is the same thing: I come in on a plane and leave in an ambulance."

A World Of Experiences

What makes Jazz Fest different from music festivals elsewhere is that every person can have a completely different experience.

"It's all about the Gospel tent," said Dr. Tina Bastrop, of Washington, D.C. "I've been looking forward to coming here for two months, and it was wonderful and completely laid-back."

South Carolinian Ken Norton echoed her words: "There's such a good attitude here; it's peaceful."

Jim Butler, of Austin, Texas, spent almost his entire time at the Fais Do Do stage, dancing with his wife, Lynn. "We love to dance, and we love Cajun music."

Rockabilly Grandmas… Oops!

A trio of local senior women, who said they hated being called "grandmas," pointed to blues pianist Marcia Ball and rockabilly band the Hackberry Ramblers as their festival highlights. "We see our favorites, and then we always try to see new things," Ann Le Blanc said.

"Jimmy Cliff was incredible," said Los Angeles resident Trey Adams, adding that the other thing he'll remember from the festival were "those wonderful but brief moments of clarity."

"The clouds this weekend were wonderful," added local Mara Hallanan.

Highlights of Saturday and Sunday's performances at the Fair Grounds included Cliff, folkster Ani DiFranco, local R&B favorites the Radiators, jazz queen Diana Krall, swing-revival aces Ingrid Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos and Nigerian superstar King Sunny Ade.

"I Loves The People"

Cajun guitarist D.L. Menard had audiences hooting and hollering over at the Fais Do Do stage on Saturday. "I loves the people," he said after his show. "So many wonderful, wonderful people to meet. C'est tres bon." He said spent much of the rest of the afternoon just walking through the festival and meeting as many people as he could.

Also at Fais-Do-Do, the Ducet-Savoy Band, featuring Michael Ducet, proved once again that there are few rivals to his Cajun fiddling.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band played at the BET/WWOZ stage on Saturday, kicking it with an amazing version of Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite." They'd been playing gigs all over town for the last 10 days, but they were still going strong to the end. Saxophonist Roger Lewis revealed his secret for survival: "I take my vitamins and do like the bat brothers do. Hang all night and sleep all day."

"For me it was the whole Brazilian vibe," said local Les Samuels. "Iye Aye rules!"

It was hard to resist the colorful dancers and musicians of the Brazilian act as they played Friday, Saturday and Sunday on various stages.

Kravitz's Pipes Crap Out

Rocker Lenny Kravitz's performance at the Acura stage on Saturday probably best exemplified the spirit of Jazz Fest. As Kravitz began his opener "Live," the singer stopped playing and announced he had lost his voice.

"I know what you feel like," hollered back a hoarse-voiced fan.

In probably any other venue, making such a statement could well turn a crowd ugly, but Kravitz said from the stage, "We're all here for the spirit; we're here for the love. You all know what to sing. You've got the records." Obviously, the audience had all the records and gave Kravitz a helping hand, singing for him as he broke into several of his tunes, including "Let Love Rule" (RealAudio excerpt).

On Sunday, reunited '70s New Orleans funk band Chocolate Milk played the Acura Stage and brought back fond memories of disco days past. Members of the crowd cheered for their classic, "Action Speaks Louder Than Words," which was recently covered by Galactic on their album, Late for the Future.

America's Great Contribution

Over at the Kid's Tent on Saturday, singer Charmaine Neville (daughter of Neville Brother Charles) and her World of Rhythm band were giving grade-schoolers a lesson in the history of jazz.

"Jazz is America's great contribution to music," said 7-year old Matthew Sanchez, having memorized the lesson.

Later on Saturday, however, as Henri Smith, of WWOZ, the official radio station of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, was about to announce Krall to a seriously overflowing crowd at the BET/WWOZ tent, he sounded a little bitter about the proliferation of rock bands on the biggest stage.

"Maybe there should be some jazz at the Acura stage at the Jazz Festival," he said. The audience went wild with applause.

Then again, Marva Smith, another local, said this year was special because of all the out-of-town acts that played the big stage.

Enthralled With Krall

Krall took the stage with a quartet and had the audience enraptured with renditions of "All or Nothing At All" as well as the title track of her Grammy Award-winning record, When I Look in Your Eyes.

Actor Laurence Fishburne was spotted backstage, swaying to Krall's rendition of "Let's Fall in Love."

Trumpet master and N'Orleaner Terence Blanchard had played earlier at that stage to an equally SRO audience.

"There's such a sense here of what New Orleans is all about," he said. "It's just a great atmosphere to play and hear music. The food, the people, the hospitality of the people who work the festival. You put all that together, and everybody's having a good time."

"I had a great time," said Lavern Boudreaux, who was selling T-shirts at a booth. "I got to hear some music and got me a man, too!"

A Weekend To Remember

Saturday night's lineup around town included pianist Ellis Marsalis, at Snug Harbor, local R&B boys the Iguanas, at the Rock n' Bowl, local rockers Better Than Ezra, at Tipitina's Uptown, and a creative double bill of Latin jazz at the Howlin' Wolf, with Los Hombres Calientes and jam band Deep Banana Blackout.

An equally creative double billing at the Memorial Auditorium had DiFranco opening up for country troubadour Lyle Lovett. At several points in his set the Texas crooner, who was appearing at Jazz Fest for the first time, thanked the city of New Orleans and the Jazz Fest audience for being so generous in welcoming him and his band.

Austin, Texas-based swing band 81/2 Souvenirs were also headlining Saturday night, at the Contemporary Arts Center, for an event dubbed "The Krewe of the Funky Butt Bash." Souvenirs lead singer Crysta Bell, who was spotted at the Fair Grounds on Sunday, said, "It's been too long since we played New Orleans; we didn't know what to expect. But it was packed; it was amazing."

Medeski, Martin & Wood continued the jam-band onslaught Saturday night at the Saenger, with blues acts Corey Harris and Henry Butler opening. While they've been touring in an acoustic setup lately, MM&W re-electrified themselves for their visit to Crescent City. The group also took over the Cajun Queen Riverboat, along with Galactic, on Sunday.

Sunday night also saw Ade reigning at the House of Blues, after his amazing performance closing down the Congo Square stage.

Eeny, Meeny, Miney…

One of the toughest decisions attendees had to make during the last day of Jazz Fest was whom to see close out this year's experience. Along with King Sunny, the Staple Singers were at the Gospel Tent, remembering Pops Staples and belting out numbers such as "I'll Take You There." The Neville Brothers took over the Acura Stage with their own classic medley, including a stirring version of "Drift Away."

The actual last two "unofficial" concerts of this year's festival were Zigaboo's Funk Revue, at the Howlin' Wolf, and DJ Logic's Project Logic, at Tipitina's Uptown, both starting at 2 a.m. About 45,000 attended the Fair Grounds the first Friday of the festival, and the official estimate for the closing Sunday was 85,000 for the day.

Sunburned, weary, happy, bleary, fried, wasted and delirious were the faces of visiting attendees as they made their way back to their hotels, into cabs and to the airport. They'd have one more T-shirt to add to their respective collections, and, by Monday morning, they'd be back at their desks, perhaps humming to themselves one of the many anthems of the town they left behind only hours ago — "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans."

The locals, of course, will be out at the clubs and bars this week — and the next and the next after that — enjoying Rebirth and Dirty Dozen Brass Bands, legends Alan Toussant, Irma Thomas, someone named Neville, or maybe Marsalis, and thinking how lucky they are to live on the Bayou.

And they'd be right.