NEW ORLEANS — Ledisi turned it loose at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Saturday.

Singing the title song from her twice-Grammy nominated album, "Turn Me Loose," Ledisi strutted across the stage at Congo Square to the delight of fans packed in and around a field left muddy from Friday's storm that caught many opening day festival-goers by surprise.

As the sound of her husky, jazzy voice rang through the air, fans danced and swayed to the lyrics of "Higher Than This" and "Alright," which she said was written at one of her lowest points in her life.

"I was ready to give up on my dream, y'all," she said. "They told me I would never be a star and I told my mama I was going to quit. She told me, 'You're just going through something, but you're gonna be alright.' I told her, 'Mama, that sounds like a song.' Now she wants 15 percent every time I sing it!"

Ledisi encouraged the crowd to love themselves. She also urged people to give their parents a break.

"Love your parents and then forgive them. Say what you have to say and then move on. Leave those old folks alone," she said.

Michele Brown, from Atlanta, has been a fan of Ledisi for years.

"I first saw her in 2000 in Chicago at the Hothouse. She was so passionate on stage before she was a star. I'm so proud of her that she's maintained that passion and energy and that she's gotten the notoriety that she so richly deserves," he said.

In the middle of one of her songs, she began to scat, reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald.

Brown said: "Listen to that. You don't get that from most singers today. You don't get real music like this. There's no changing of her levels here. Wow."

On the other side of the field, in the Blues Tent, Davell Crawford held the attention of hundreds packed inside and hundreds more standing and sitting outside. The blues-jazz pianist was joined at the end of his set by Dr. John and Jon Cleary.

"There's no place in the world that you can hear the diversity of music and the embodiment of our culture like you can here," said actor Wendell Pierce, a New Orleans native who's starring in the HBO-produced series, "Treme."

"Davell reminds me of the legends — James Brown, Ray Charles. You wonder sometimes if that soulfulness is gone forever with them, but then someone like him comes along and he's a continuum of that spirit."

Marian Anderson, of Deerfield Beach, Fla., was one of the hundreds who couldn't get in the tent so she and friends sat outside in their camp chairs they had with them. She said Dr. John and Cleary are what drew her to the festival. "It's so geared toward music and if you love music, this is the place to get it," Anderson said.

Dr. John said collaborations with younger artists is something he's called to do.

"I've been blessed. Guys that passed the music down to us, Dave Bartholomew, Sugar Boy (Crawford's grandfather, James Crawford) and taught us about stuff, we have to pass it down to the next group, the next generation," he said.

He said he doesn't often get the chance to do just that, but when he does, "It's always a blessing."

Krystal Chambers and her husband, Kenneth, walked toward the Jazz Tent to hear another hometown favorite, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard. "Of all the festivals we attend, this remains our favorite," he said.

"The weather didn't keep us away," she said. "Jazz Fest is one of the few places where we can get a taste of everything, the food, the music, friends, everything in one place."

Earlier Saturday, the festival gates opened as the sun peeped through another gray sky — a welcome sight to festival-goers. As the festival neared its close, the sun was shining and a brisk wind kept the ensuing heat at bay.

Some of Saturday's crowd wore rain boots to trudge through deep mud to get to the 12 stages where more than 60 musicians were scheduled to perform.

Sam Panice of Las Vegas, Nev., watched Grandpa Elliott's debut performance in the Blues Tent.

Panice said he's seen Elliott perform on the streets of New Orleans many times and was glad that he's finally getting his big break. "He's just amazing," Panice said. "I'd go see him anywhere."

Panice, at his 16th Jazz Fest, said he's definitely coming back for more.

"It's kind of where my soul's at," he said.

Beth Comer of Raleigh, N.C., a first-timer to the festival, said the atmosphere is electric.

"We have festivals at home, but nothing to this degree," she said.

Comer and her family caught the tail end of Elliott's performance of "Stand By Me," which has moved his career into the stratosphere. The 65-year-old blind singer then stood and sang a verse of "Amazing Grace," and got a second standing ovation as he left the stage he shared with acoustic guitarist Dorise Blackmon and violinist Tanya Huang.

"I thought it was great," Comer said. "He was on the top of my list of people to see."