The 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, aka Jazz Fest, gets under way today as the first of two consecutive weekends of music unfolds. Included among this weekend's performers are three artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: New Orleans' own Dr. John, with his new band The Nite Trippers, today at 3:50 PM on the Acura Stage; Joshua Redman, with his Quartet featuring pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Joe Sanders, and drummer Kendrick Scott, starting just ten minutes later, in Zatarain's / WWOZ Jazz Tent; and another New Orleans native son, Allen Toussaint, on the Acura Stage Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM.

Next weekend at JazzFest, The Black Keys help close out the entire festival with a performance on the last day of Jazz Fest 2013, Sunday, May 5. That follows the band's four-day run of dates with special guests Flaming Lips, which begins in Kansas City tonight.

Among the many other performers at this year's Jazz Fest are Phoenix, Frank Ocean, Patti Smith, Andrew Bird, Gipsy Kings, and several contributors to the 2005 Nonesuch Records benefit album Our New Orleans, including Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Irma Thomas. (Toussaint and Dr. John perform on the album as well).

To mark the occasion, iTunes has launched a special Jazz Fest room with great prices on albums by a number of festival artists, including The Black Keys' El Camino, Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi, and The Best of Gipsy Kings.

(Also in New Orleans this weekend is Fatoumata Diawara, who performs at the House of Blues tonight. She stays in Louisiana through Saturday to close out her current US tour at the Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette.)

For more information and the complete line-up for the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, go to nojazzfest.com. For details on additional upcoming performances from The Black Keys, Joshua Redman, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and Fatoumata Diawara, head to nonesuch.com/on-tour.