Big Sam's Funky Nation is a driving force of urban funk and have established their presence on the forefront of the NOLA music scene. Ryan White, of the Oregonian, says the band is "tight enough (and hot enough) to turn coal into a diamond!" The band is led by trombone powerhouse, Big Sam Williams, formerly the trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who the San Francisco Chronicle calls "the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz." Big Sam refuses to let the audience sit still. Between the band's solos, Big Sam's signature dance moves and his distinctive trombone riffs, the energy level is high voltage when this band takes the stage!
The Funky Nation is a stellar group of world-class musicians who meet the challenges of their funky band leader. The band is comprised of Andrew Baham on Trumpet/Vocals/Keys, Takeshi Shimmura on Guitar, Chocolate MILK on Drums, and Eric Vogel on Bass in addition to Big Sam on Trombone/Vocals. BSFN's signature Noladelic Powerfunk sound masterfully combines a rock sensibility with improv-style associated with jazz and the horn-heavy front section that's the hallmark of big band funk.
Big Sam began playing with the Dirty Dozen at the tender age of 19 before striking out on his own and creating the Funky Nation. While touring with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, in the Fall of 2006 and Summer of 2007, he earned consistent reviews as a musical force and star soloist. Big Sam has played with Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Dave Matthews, and Widespread Panic. He also shared the stage with U2 and Green Day for the emotional and energetic re-opening of the Superdome which was broadcast live on Monday Night Football.
BSFN is a favorite on the festival circuit across North America and has sealed its mark on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival, Voodoo Music Experience, Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival & many more.
Mia Borders and her band have been captivating audiences locally and nationally with their sexy, energetic blend of funk and soul that highlights Mia's contemporary songwriting. The band is led by Mia, a stunning vocalist and guitarist with a charming personality that engages the crowd from the very first song.
Last year, Mia received rave reviews from her performances at the Blue Ridge Pride Festival in Asheville, San Jose Jazz Fest, Taos Mountain Music Fest, Voodoo Fest, and Bonnaroo (VIP pre-party with Big Sam's Funky Nation). When she opened for Corinne Bailey Rae at the House of Blues New Orleans in September 2010, "Borders drew the crowd in and had them cheering for more" (NewOrleans.com).
Mia continues to captivate and delight audiences at music festivals and intimate venues, ranging from the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, to the Houston International Fest, to clubs like Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz, CA, and Brooklyn Bowl in New York. With this and much more ahead, Mia Borders has secured her role as one of the fastest rising artists from New Orleans.
Paul Sanchez is a cat with eight lives used up and he's damn glad to be here. A troubadour born in New Orleans, literally across the street from the Mississippi River, Paul is a storyteller, a student and a teacher.
Arriving in Manhattan in the mid-eighties, Paul refined his art in the flourishing "ant-folk" scene in the East Village along with artists like Michelle Shocked, John S. Hall and Roger Manning. That scene of songwriters, poets, performance artists and eccentrics had a lasting impact on his song writing which is audible still.
Paul returned home to New Orleans in the early '90s to form the band Cowboy Mouth along with John Thomas Griffith, bassist Paul Clement, and drummer Fred LeBlanc. Paul chose the name of the band after a play he was reading by Sam Shepard, Cowboy Mouth, which was about the transforming power of rock n' roll.
Though Paul contributed greatly to the band's catalogue, his desire to make music that was closer to his heart and better demonstrated his talent as a songwriter led to a solo career.
When he does play with a band, Paul Sanchez and The Rolling Road Show, it is a celebration of New Orleans music, communication and letting the good times roll. The band is made up of Paul's favorite performers, which include the many different styles, (rock, brass band, funk, folk, gospel and jazz), and is a real coming together of New Orleans musical community.
A series of blogs chronicling his return to New Orleans after the flood eventually became his first book, Pieces of Me, and is a collection of essays about life, music and love in New Orleans.
Paul appeared in season one of the HBO series, TREME. He resides in the Treme section of the city now, and continues to write, sing, live and breathe New Orleans.
Even in a city that doesn't play by the rules, New Orleans' Bonerama is something different. They can evoke vintage funk, classic rock and free improvisation in the same set; maybe even the same song. Bonerama has been repeatedly recognized by Rolling Stone, hailed as "the ultimate in brass balls" (2005) and praised for their "…crushing ensemble riffing, human-feedback shrieks and wah-wah growls" (2007). Bonerama carries the brass-band concept to places unknown;
New Orleans' fertile club scene was directly responsible for Bonerama getting together. Trombonists Mullins and Craig Klein were both members of Harry Connick's band, where they'd been since 1990. The big chance came in the summer of '98, when Mullins had a weekly residency at Tipitina's in the French Quarter. Word got out one week that he and Klein were staging their trombone super-session and everybody they knew wanted to get involved. "It seemed that half the trombone players in town showed up," Klein recalls. "At the end of the night we had them all onstage, maybe fifteen trombones at once. It sounded like a freight train; a big wall of sound coming right at you."
The buzz on Bonerama grew with hometown acclaim (with the band winning numerous OffBeat Magazine Awards; and Mullins regularly topping OffBeat's trombone category), lots of roadwork, and three live albums – the first recorded close to home at the Old Point in Algiers; the second on tour in New York and the third album, Bringing It Home recorded live from New Orleans' world famous nightclub, Tipitina's. The Boston Herald called them a "bonehead's dream"; the Vail (CO) Daily noted that "the sound is fat and wet; sometimes downright lusty."
Known as a musician's musician, Alvin Youngblood Hart's praises have been sung by everyone from Bob Dylan to Eric Clapton & Mick Taylor. Since his 1996 debut recording, the all-acoustic BIG MAMA'S DOOR, Hart has carried his musical message the world over.
Hart was invited to fill in for Taj Mahal in Tokyo for five nights as a member of Kip Hanrahan's Conjure, the world's longest running jazz poetry ensemble. He has been awarded the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist and has been honored with two Living Blues Awards. In 2004 Hart received a Grammy for his contribution to Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster. He served as a guitar tutor to star Samuel L. Jackson and recorded a duet with the film's female lead Christina Ricci for the soundtrack of Black Snake Moan and played a juke joint musician in the feature film The Great Debaters.
In 2007, Hart participated on a tour of Mississippi high schools as a member of the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz. Hart continues to tour the globe as a solo artist and with his mighty Muscle Theory Band.
Known for her 1960's hits such as "Time is On My Side," "It's Raining," and "Wish Someone Would Care," Irma Thomas has won Grammy nominations for her live album, Simply the Best!, and her collaboration with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson, Sing It! Over the years, Thomas became a beloved favorite at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
With her home, her nightclub and other properties flooded and the mementos, photos and awards from her 40-year career lost, Thomas still managed to find more than a few bright spots in her post-Katrina life. She appeared on the Big Easy Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden following Hurricane Katrina; on Jools Holland's BBC New Year's Eve telecast; at Switzerland's prestigious Davos Festival; and on the NBC's Today show.
Thomas returned to the studio just before her 65th birthday to record her latest album, After the Rain, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of her collaboration with producer Scott Billington. Perhaps what is most impressive about this album is that Irma Thomas is now at the very peak of her powers, delivering every song with resonating feeling, honesty and her amazing voice. You don't need a hurricane to remind you that she is one cultural icon who is sounding better than ever.
Since forming the band in 2002, Soul Project continues to contribute to the tradition of great New Orleans music bringing their own take on the Jazz, Funk, and Soul styles that permeate the city.
Veterans of the Frenchmen St. scene, festival performances, and multiple tours of the country, the band has evolved into one of the hippest, tightest groups in the city.
Digging deep into the soulful grooves dug by Walter "Wolfman" Washington, the funky moves of James Brown, the old school cool of the Meters, and the feel good fuel of the Crescent City itself, Soul Project brings New Orleans soul with them wherever they go.
Rare indeed is the artist with the virtuosity to draw the respect of some of the most iconic legends in jazz and the ability to deliver a high-energy funk rock show that mesmerizes international rock stars. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is one such artist. Trombone Shorty is equally adept on trombone and trumpet and is a man to be reckoned with on both.
A product of New Orleans' culturally rich Treme neighborhood, Trombone Shorty was a bandleader by the age of six. By the time he was twelve, Andrews had a Ph.D. in the ways of the streets, which you can still hear in his music. Now, at 23, Trombone Shorty has grown into a performer who commands the stage while emanating an elegance and class gleaned from his successful studies at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. As a graduate, he joined the ranks of alums like Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Nicholas Payton.
In 2006, Andrews made his acting debut on the NBC television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. He has been profiled by Good Morning America and USA Today and was featured on "Whole Lotta Loving," a collaboration with Lenny Kravitz for the 2007 album Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. When the 2008 NBA All-Star game was played in New Orleans, Trombone Shorty was tapped to play on court during player introductions, along with Harry Connick Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Branford Marsalis.
New Orleans' premier music magazine, Offbeat, has awarded Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Best R&B/Funk Band for the two years in a row, while Trombone Shorty himself picked up an award for Best Trumpet and has been named Performer of The Year twice. His success - and his promise - has been recognized by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on one of the Fest's two annual official posters.
The seeds for Orleans Avenue were sown at New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and the group has since evolved into a six-piece touring phenomenon. With Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, Dwayne Williams on percussion and Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax, their performances transcend the boundaries of generation and classification. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue have been drawing ever-growing crowds based largely on word of mouth excitement about their knockout shows, night after night. Making the most of limited time off, they are currently recording new songs that capture the band's rare combination of virtuosity and high-energy party intensity - the next accomplishment to watch for in the career of this unparalleled young artist.
Since 1996, the Stooges Brass Band has engaged audiences with their innovative blend of traditional New Orleans brass sounds and hip-hop. In October 2010, they victoriously battled for the title of Red Bull Street Kings under the iconic Claiborne Bridge in New Orleans, which earned them an all-expense paid trip for a recording and mentorship session with a producer in the Red Bull Studios in California. In April 2011, the Stooges Brass Band was awarded the title of "Best Contemporary Brass Band" at the Big Easy Music Awards. Whether they're second-lining in the back streets of the Crescent City, or performing in clubs across the country, the Stooges Brass Band immerse crowds in a high-energy, cut loose vibe that's contemporary yet deeply rooted in the culturally rich musical legacy of city of New Orleans.
Formed in 1977, the Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club became a traditional Crescent City brass band as a way of joining two traditions at the time: social and pleasure clubs that would provide proper funeral arrangements and the bands that would follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges. The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band, and over the years, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue's name: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Thirty years later, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world famous music machine, whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances. They have revitalized the brass band in New Orleans and around the world, progressing from local parties, clubs, baseball games and festivals in their early years to touring nearly constantly in the U.S. and in over 30 other countries on five continents. The Dirty Dozen have been featured guests on albums by artists including David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dr. John and the Black Crowes. The city of New Orleans even has an official Dirty Dozen Brass Band Day.
Born in England and bred in New Orleans, Jon Cleary is a triple threat combining soulful vocals, masterful piano skills, and a knack for composing infectious grooves with melodic hooks and sharp lyrics.
His long list of recording credits includes artists such as Keb Mo, India Arie, and Ryan Adams. Cleary is featured on vocals and keyboards on the recently released, Piety Street by John Scofield & The Piety Street Band, and has toured with Bonnie Raitt since 1999, appearing on the albums Silver Lining and Souls Alike.
Cleary has produced five recordings to date including his latest, a live recording from Sydney, Australia called Mo Hippa, which features a mix of the styles that inform the New Orleans' sound -- from island rhythms, to soul-drenched funk jams.
The Blind Boys of Alabama first raised their voices together in 1939, when they were kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in Talladega, Ala. Today, more than 70 years later, founding member Jimmy Carter can look back on a career far beyond what he and his colleagues could imagine.
The Blind Boys have earned praise for their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material, and now country, by acclaimed songwriters such as Curtis Mayfield, Prince and Tom Waits. Their performances have been experienced by millions on "The Tonight Show," "Late Night with David Letterman," the Grammy® Awards telecast, "60 Minutes II," and on their own holiday PBS Special.
Honored by both the Grammys and The National Endowment for the Arts with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of five Grammy® Awards, The Blind Boys have attained the highest levels of recognition in a career that shows no signs of diminishing.
In 2007, they released the Grammy-winning album Down in New Orleans, their first for Saguaro Road Records, which was followed in 2008 by a companion DVD, Live in New Orleans. In 2009, they released Duets, a collection of songs recorded with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper and Randy Travis. The Blind Boys of Alabama will embark on an unprecedented four-month tour this fall, including prestigious performances at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.
The Blind Boys' live shows are roof- raising musical events that appeal to audiences of all cultures. Carter puts it this way: "We want to sing good music, no matter what kind it is. Most of all, we want to touch people's lives. We want to leave them a message they can feed upon throughout their lives."
Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Russell Batiste started playing together in March 2007, and continues to perform every Sunday at the Maple Leaf Bar, a local New Orleans nightclub.
Joe Krown held the keyboard chair with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown from 1992 until Gatemouth's passing in the fall of 2005. He has had several bands playing all around New Orleans clubs, Tipitina's, House of Blues, Maple Leaf, Rock & Bowl, etc. Krown is currently the featured piano player at Irvin Mayfield's Playhouse's Piano Professor Series.
As a member of one of N'awlins legendary musical families, Russell Batiste Jr. knows his way around a sound stage. An industrious artist and creator, the busy Batiste has recorded with AllanToussaint and Harry Connick Jr., and also manages to put time into his own projects, too, like Orkestra from da Hood, who released their debut The Clinic a few years back.
Walter "Wolfman" Washington has been an icon on the New Orleans music scene for decades. His searing guitar work and soulful vocals have defined the Crescent City's unique musical hybrid of R&B, funk and the blues since he formed his first band in the 1970s. He certainly can howl the blues, hence his nickname, but his musical talents have always defined pure Crescent City soul.
The trio recorded and released a live CD, Live at the Maple Leaf in the fall of 2008 which captures the magic of these great musicians and won a 2009 Offbeat Award for Best R&B/Funk CD.
American musical legend Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr.—along with his band, Buckwheat Zydeco—is the preeminent ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music. 2009 marked Buckwheat Zydeco's 30th anniversary, and Buckwheat celebrated the release of his new CD, Lay Your Burden Down.
Over the course of 30 years, Buckwheat Zydeco has gigged with everyone from Eric Clapton and U2 to The Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. The band has also appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman, CNN, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News and many others. The New York Times says, "Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural leads one of the best bands in America."
Buckwheat Zydeco has played just about every major music festival in the world, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Newport Folk Festival, San Diego Street Scene, Montreaux Jazz Festival and countless others. During the 1990s and 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label and maintained an extensive touring schedule. Along with his remarkably talented band, he brings his music to fans all over the world. Now, with Lay Your Burden Down, his massive instrumental and vocal talents and boundless energy, Buckwheat, already the most popular zydeco artist in the world, will find the largest and most enthusiastic audience of his long and storied career.
On stage, standing front and center, Tommy Malone exudes a laid-back, down-to-earth style that epitomizes the Subdudes. But his self-assured exterior masks a songwriter who mines heartache and elation, and who crafts the experiences into instantly memorable tunes.
Born in Edgard, La., Malone was playing on Bourbon Street before he'd even turned 18. He's been writing and playing music for more than three decades – 15 years off and on with the Subdudes, and another decade and half before that with many of the same guys. Malone emerged in the spring of 2001 with "Soul Heavy" – his first solo CD. It fused elements of R&B, soul, jazz and other forms of American music. Now Malone shares his incredible talent in an acoustic setting, backed by an amazing multi-instrumentalist and singer, Ray Ganucheau. This intimate setting is a treat for Subdudes' fans, and new fans as well, to hear their favorites as they have never heard them before.
