Saturday at Jazz Fest 2026: Making choices with Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, Nas and Kr3wcial
Part way through Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s mid-day show on the Gentilly Stage, Isbell pitched a tough question to his band’s guitarist Sadler Vaden: Which headliner are you going to see after this? Stevie Nicks on the Festival Stage, or stick around for Tyler Childers on Gentilly?
Which Jazz Fest headliner to see can be a hard choice any day, but Saturday’s lineup was especially full of incredible musicians. Isbell and the 400 Unit themselves were Gentilly Stage headliners last time they played the festival in 2022.
Vaden gave the diplomatic (but still great) answer: Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, which closed the Fais Do-Do Stage.
Like writer Brad Rhines noted in last week’s Gambit, having Isbell and Tyler Childers playing back-to-back on the Gentilly Stage was a special one-two punch. They’re two of the biggest musicians in independent country music right now, and they both showed a full field why on Saturday.
Isbell’s set leaned alt-country and pulled from across the singer-songwriter’s catalogue, including a couple of songs, “Outfit” and “Decoration Day,” from his time with Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers. Surprisingly, Isbell and his band — all exceptional musicians who appear in other projects — only played one song, “Bury Me,” from Isbell’s latest album, “Foxes in the Snow.” It could be those tracks, bare and introspective, wouldn’t translate well to an outdoor festival stage.
Isbell joked that there weren’t many expectations when putting together the set list because “we don’t have any hits, so we can’t play any hits.” Still, there were plenty of people singing along to the grand “King of Oklahoma” and “Super 8,” while the set moved from emotional, acoustic-driven tunes to solo-filled rockers.
Isbell also included a couple of songs he said weren’t played often. It seems like maybe the current state of the world inspired him to bring back “Maybe It’s Time” and “Dress Blues,” a song questioning the costs of senseless war. Isbell dedicated “Dress Blues” to Marine Matt Connolly, who went to Isbell’s Alabama high school and was killed in Iraq.
Tyler Childers performs on the Shell Gentilly Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Saturday, April 25, 2026.
With some slow, intermittent rain falling, Tyler Childers followed Isbell for his Jazz Fest debut. The Kentucky-born country musician relayed a story that when he was starting out a number of years ago, he tried to hire musicians for a few gigs and found that they’d all gone to New Orleans for Jazz Fest. He knew he wanted to someday play the festival.
Childers has been riding a major wave the last few years, and with his outspoken views, he’s been making country music for a better South, one that cares about poverty, equality and social justice. Last year, he embarked on an arena tour, including a sold out stop at the Smoothie King Center.
Backed by nine musicians, Childers played a spirited show with a sound that was built on the foundations of traditional country, bluegrass and folk but made for 2026 and full of textures.
At one point, Childers put on his best Sunday preacher voice and talked about the need for fellowship. Even if the people in the crowd don’t know one another, he said, we’re all standing in a field in the rain and listening to music, and at least we have that in common. He then urged people to shake hands.
“And that right there is what they call an ice breaker,” he said. “There used to be more ice breakers so we could all swim together in the cold, cold waters.”
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While Nicks and Childers drew big crowds at the Festival Stage and Gentilly Stage, a hip-hop icon, Nas, was rocking the Congo Square Stage with his own big, enthusiastic crowd.
The East Coast legend last played Jazz Fest in 2017 with The Soul Rebels as his backing band. This time, he rolled with a DJ, backing vocalist, drummer, bassist and keys player for a wide-ranging set. And the crowd was with him from the start.
A deft lyricist, Nas touched on a number of his bigger songs, including “The World is Yours,” “Represent” and “NY State of Mind,” all off his ’94 classic “Illmatic.”
And Nas kept things playful. He prompted his band into a few bars of “So What” in recognition of Miles Davis’ and John Coltrane’s centennials. And led the crowd into a few verses of The Temptations’ “My Girl” on this cloudy day. His backing vocalist especially crushed a part of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” before Nas launched into his own “Street Dreams.”
Little Freddie King made a triumphant return to the Blues Tent following a tumultuous year for the living legend.
Shortly before Nas took over the Congo Square Stage, New Orleans’ Kr3wcial played his own dynamic hip-hop set in the Rhythmporium. Kr3wcial, part of the glbl wrmng collective, has performed at Jazz Fest before, but this was his debut solo appearance and he rocked it.
Kr3wcial has been putting his own versatile stamp on New Orleans hip-hop, with a flow that can easily go from smooth to gruff to soulful singing. And backed by his live band, More Love, this set felt relaxed as Kr3wcial focused in on songs about growth, progress and higher purpose. He also easily kept the crowd engaged with calls for “Kr3wcial!” and a call-and-response on his recent single “Magnolia Bouquet.”
And Kr3wcial made time for great solos by each of the More Love musicians: pianist Yahel Israel, bassist Jemila Dunham, dummer Jerron Jessie, saxophonist Khiry Bey and guitarist TJ Nathan.
It was an stellar, groove-filled set, and hopefully the first of many Jazz Fest shows for Kr3wcial.
New Orleans-based indie country-blues darlings The Deslondes kicked off the Saturday festivities at the Gentilly Stage, performing their signa…
