NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Decade after decade, a few key men put the “jazz” in the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Thank goodness they’re still going strong.

The Jazz Fest, as it’s usually known, always spans musical genres, with nationally known headliners such as Stevie Nicks, The Who, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ziggy Marley, Lionel Richie, Ludacris, and Jimmy Buffett. Still, it wouldn’t be the extravaganza it is, in the city where it is, with the unique feel that it has, if it weren’t for New Orleans having birthed traditional jazz.