The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival returned last month with a bang after a two-year pandemic hiatus. This joyful moment was followed by the release of the new documentary, Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, which honors the festival’s 50 years of celebrating New Orleans music, food and culture. The film weaves together live performances and interviews from the 50th anniversary in 2019, along with historic footage from earlier days showing how the festival was created and how it grew to an eight-day event with 500 bands.

I talked with five-time Academy Award nominee Frank Marshall, who co-directed Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story with Ryan Suffern, and with Jimmy Buffett, who is an executive producer on the film, along with Quint Davis.

Frank Marshall and Jimmy Buffett met forty-two years ago at a memorable party at Harrison Ford’s Aspen home and became fast friends. Their shared love for music, guitar playing, and New Orleans made their collaboration on Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, a natural.