Jazz Fest to feature music books by N.O. authors

Two music books by New Orleans authors will be featured this weekend at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival’s Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage.

Keith Spera, music writer at The Times-Picayune, will be joined by musicians Aaron Neville and Jeremy Davenport and interviewer Michael Tisserand at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 5, for a discussion about his book, Groove Interrupted: Loss, Renewal and the Music of New Orleans. Spera chronicles the post-Hurricane Katrina experiences of Neville, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, rapper Mystikal, the late Alex Chilton and many more.

Ben Sandmel, author of Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans, a biography about New Orleans rhythm-and-blues singer and personality Ernie K-Doe, will be at the Music Heritage Stage at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 6, with musicians Toussaint and Walter “Wolfman” Washington and Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke as interviewer.