NEW ORLEANS, April 30 — The first weekend of the 37th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival ended with a rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” When the familiar chorus arrived, the white handkerchiefs New Orleanians seem to keep handy on all occasions were waved high. Yet it wasn’t the jaunty, clichéd jazz version. Bruce Springsteen played “Saints” as nothing less than a hymn, and he sang a rarely noticed final verse: “Some say this world of trouble is the only world we’ll ever see/But I’m waiting for that morning when the new world is revealed.”

It was the fitting wrap-up for a weekend that found hope, and solace, in the continuity of tradition. Jazzfest, as everyone calls it, is itself a tradition after nearly four decades, and like Mardi Gras, it is not only a tourist magnet but a defining event for the city. “It’s bigger than just the music,” said George Wein, the chief executive of Festival Productions and the executive producer of Jazzfest. “This is people’s lives.”

New Orleans Jazzfest – Bruce Springsteen – Music – New York Times.