New Orleans Jazz Fest 2025 poster stars Tank and the Bangas | Food and entertainment

IN Jazzfest 2025 poster by renowned New Orleans artist James Michalopoulos, Tarriona “Tank” Ball performs one of her unique ballads, surrounded by Tank and the Bangas band, a trio of dancers and a boisterous crowd.

Ball, a spoken word poet, formed Tank and the Bangas in 2011. The band’s eclectic style defies easy description, blending elements of rap, funk, jazz and gospel with Ball’s emotionally complex lyrics. In a 2015 interview, one of the band members, vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, stated that the band’s sound was a new genre she called “Soulful Disney.”

At the center of it all is Ball’s voice, which ranges from childlike fragility to a fearless roar.

Ball and the band have come a long way since their humble beginnings, performing at a beauty parlor on St. Claude Avenue. Tank and the Bangas won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Concert Competition and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. They have performed at Jazz Fest seven times.

“This is such a momentous occasion and beautiful day for Tank and The Bangas!” Ball wrote in an email Tuesday. Referring to the band’s appearance on the 2025 poster, Ball said that “we are honored to be the face that heralds millions of music lovers around the world.”

It is not unusual for artists to repeatedly experiment with the Jazz Fest poster image before it is finally printed. Ball thanked Michalopoulos “for creating countless visions and versions of this one painting,” for “capturing the exuberant and natural joy of a Tank and The Bangas performance!”

It is fitting that the decidedly artistic ensemble is depicted in a painting by one of the city’s signature artists. Michalopoulos began his career as a street artist in the French Quarter. In the 1980s he was known for his lush nocturnal streetscapes with undulating, melting architecture, enticing lighting and sumptuous brushwork. At the same time that Tank and the Bangas were impressing the folks at NPR, Michalopoulos was being praised as well a retrospective exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

The 2025 Jazz Fest design, titled “Hear and Now: Tank and Bangas @ Jazz Fest,” is Michalopoulos’ eighth Jazz Fest poster. Previously, he produced a lively street scene in the French Quarter in 2023, a portrait of Aaron Neville in 2013, Allan Toussaint in 2009, Fats Domino in 2006, Mahalia Jackson in 2003, Louis Armstrong in 2001 and Dr. John in 1998.