_Photo: Dino Perrucci_

The String Cheese Incident got some help from a few special guests during yesterday’s energetic headlining set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The group brought out local brass ensemble The Soul Rebels for “Black and White” in the middle of the show, while The Blind Boys of Alabama joined them for a take on The Impressions’ “People Get Ready” during the encore. The well-received set, which drew a much smaller crowd than the previous weekend’s headliners (Santana, Phish, Clapton), also featured renditions of a few songs from the band’s new album, including “So Far From Home,” “Let’s Go Outside,” “Colorado Bluebird Sky,” “Can’t Wait Another Day” and “Rosie.”

In addition to the String Cheese Incident’s performance, the day also saw a number of other highlights. The Soul Rebels played a cover-heavy Congo Stage set that featured takes on The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and Pharrell’s “Happy” before local bounce superstar Big Freedia and her crew of twerkers sat in for Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”

Stanton Moore took over the Jazz Tent for a mid-afternoon show with his new trio. Moore, pianist David Torkanowsky and bassist James Singleton led the packed tent through a set that included a variety of covers from his recently released trio record Conversations. A bit later, Greensky Bluegrass made their appearance at the Fais Do Do Stage, where they were joined by Roosevelt Collier for a take on Norton Buffalo’s “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox.”

While The String Cheese Incident were busy holding things down on the Acura Stage, the festival also saw headlining sets from Lyle Lovett on the Samsung Galaxy Stage, Solange Knowles at Congo Square and Billy Iuso on the Lagniappe Stage. Iuso was joined by Bill Kreutzmann, 11-year-old guitar prodigy Brandon Niederauer and other special guests during his performance.

The festival proper finally came to a close at 7pm sharp, but the music continued at after shows across the city. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue hosted their Shorty Fest benefit concert at Generations Hall with Soul Rebels, New Breed Brass Band and others. Later in the night, Soulive and Lettuce were joined by special guests Maceo Parker, George Porter Jr., Cyril Neville and Ivan Neville for their “Masquerage” event at Mardi Gras World, while Anders Osborne and Greensky Bluegrass teamed up for a gig at Tipitina’s. Additionally, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe paid tribute to Rick James with a special set at the House of Blues and Toubab Krewe kept things going late with a 2am show at the Blue Nile that featured a variety of guest appearances.

Last night also saw The Alabama Shakes join the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for one of their famed Midnight Preserves sets at Preservation Hall. The soulful rockers helped the band with tunes like Sam & Dave’s “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” and the Shakes originals “You Ain’t Alone” and “I Still Ain’t Got What I Want.”

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will continue today with headlining sets from The Alabama Shakes and Christina Aguilera.

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Photos: Dino Perrucci