PAPA GROWS FUNK
(with JOSEPH "ZIGABOO" MODELISTE AND THE NEW AAHKESTRA
At B.B. King's Blues Club - NYC (5/30/03)
Legendary drummer of The (original) Meters, Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste!!
At
9:20pm, the San Francisco (by way of New Orleans) sound started with the
legendary drummer of The Meters, Zigaboo!! The first song was an instrumental
with some standout synthesizer work, while the second song (I think it was
called "K-9") featured some funky lead wah-wah guitarisms! The
third song featured more vocals but the lead vocals weren't loud
enough......the lead vocalist started off with chanting "You Can Get With
This or You Can Get With That". The band did a little bit of
"It's Your Thing" with some wicked organ riffs, not unlike The
Meters! "Funky Nasty Cigarettes" was a ditty that should be used on a
anti-smoking commercial for kids....and it sounds very good, too! "Funky
Miracle" was just too damn funky.....every musician was on the one, but
unfortunately the song was too short (IMHO)! "Hey Now Baby"
featured some good piano work and was a long (!!) jam! "Cissy Strut"
and "Just Kissed My Baby" were as funky as the original. The
following song was a slower ballad that sounded like The Neville Brothers's
"Little Piece of Heaven". The live version of "Shake What You
Got" blew away the album version......every funky fan was chanting those
words and it was too funky with the odorious bass solo!!! OOH, THE FUNK CAN
CHOKE YA!!! "People Say" was the ending with some serious guitar
funk, kick-ass bass soloing and a great drum solo by Zigaboo himself! The show
ended at 11:05pm.
Click here for pictures of Zigaboo & the
New Aahkestra
At
11:35pm, the New Orleans band PAPA GROWS FUNK started with some super-funky
material.....I think the first tune was their rendition of
"Tipitina's"....the lead guitar chords were too good to describe,
along with the sax work! "In The Weeds" (I think it's the title) had
some slappin' bass funk! "Junker Man" was some serious swamp funk
(from deep down in the bayou).....the organwork was ridiculously funky and the
swoopin' bass was all that.....all of this with a police siren playing loudly
during the breakdown! "Pass It" featured some excellent drumming and
reminded me of "Funky Miracle"......is it me or did I hear a
variation of "The Jam" (Graham Central Station) somewhere towards the
end of the jam? Deep Banana Blackout trombonist Brian Smith joined the band for
one song. "Hey Pocky-A-Way" was a serious crowd pleaser with the
guitarist and keyboardist from Zigaboo's band playing on it. The show was over
at 1:10am.
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