“We were there all the time; it was pretty much our hangout spot” says Shanekah Peterson who, on March 15, became owner of the Funky Butt jazz and funk club. In saying “we” she refers to her fiancé, trombonist Sam Williams, the leader of Big Sam’s Funky Nation,who will do the booking for the North Rampart Street nightspot and generally help out with other functions.
As students of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), the couple used to spend many evenings at the venue checking out the likes of drummers James Alsanders and Jason Marsalis and others. This was before the creation of Big Sam’s Funky Nation, which played its first gig at the club and began its two-year, Sunday night stand there. Last fall, Peterson also became professionally involved with the venue in her position as bookkeeper.
While a change in proprietorship at music spots tends to make folks edgy, fearing perhaps that a new format is due, the buzz in the New Orleans jazz community has greeted the switch with enthusiasm. Peterson and Williams validate the optimism saying they intend to keep the musical line-ups stylistically much the same—with some additions—as they’ve been since the club opened in seven years ago. During the week and for the free early sets, bands will continue to play downstairs in the intimacy of the bar area and on weekends and during events like Jazz Fest, groups head to the big room upstairs. The restaurant continues serving New Orleans cuisine and pasta dishes.
When asked if the Funky Butt will remain a club noted for jazz, Williams replies, “Oh, yes, most definitely. Absolutely. The club has a good vibe. We want to keep that. We also want to reach out to the local crowd. We don’t want it to be your second home, we want it to be your first home,” encourages Williams, who wants to stress the function of the club as a place for young bands and musicians to develop as well as presenting established acts.
“Jazz is really important to New Orleans as well as myself,” assures Peterson, who studied opera at NOCCA and who boasts the noted drummer Idris Muhammad as her great uncle. “As long as we’re here, we’re going to support it.”
“It’s a return of the good vibes,” declares Williams.
A few acts that won’t be heard at the Fest that are performing at the Funky Butt include Corey Henry & the Youngfellas (April 27), a rhythm and blues and soul band led by trombonist Corey Henry who is usually heard leading the Lil Rascals Brass Band and in trumpeter Kermit Ruffins’ Barbecue Swingers. While Fred Sanders’ Soul Trinity plays the Fair Grounds, the pianist expands the group to the Magnificent 7 (April 28 and 29) to include the horns of Wess Anderson, Andre Howard and Elias Haslinger, plus vocalists and even a comedian. Also check out the double header on April 24 with two groups celebrating record releases, Astral Project (the curiously titled The Legend of Cowboy Bill) at 9 p.m. and saxophonist Donald Harrison (The New Sounds of Mardi Gras Vol. II) workin’ his hip-hop, Indian grooves at midnight.
UPTOWN JAZZ
It’s been a very long time since there’s been a venue for modern jazz in Uptown New Orleans. Though jazzers might get occasional gigs at clubs on the other side of Canal Street, there really hasn’t been a spot focused on bebop, straight-ahead and hard-bop jazz since the demise of Tyler’s.
Julius Kimbrough, owner of North Broad Street’s the New Showcase Lounge, which formerly presented jazz, has opened the Showcase Uptown Supper Club on the corner of Louisiana Avenue and Carondelet Street. The public got its first look at the club when it hosted a jazz brunch for the kickoff of WWOZ’s spring fundraiser. It went into full swing with its Thursday (“Ladies in Jazz” night) through Sunday nights of jazz this month with the intention of adding Wednesdays as Latin music night in the near future. Sunday brunches feature classic jazz with the irrepressible drummer and WWOZ programmer Bob French leading the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band.
“We want to capture the same atmosphere,” says Kimbrough in comparing his new venue with his previous, very well regarded jazz spot. “There’s a lot more space and nobody’s more than 25 feet from the stage plus we serve dinner.”
There’s good news on the club’s schedule for folks unable to skip out of work early to catch bassist Christian McBride’s set in the Jazz Tent on the Thursday. He and his impressive band with reedman Ron Blake, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Marcus Baylor perform one hour-and-a-half set at the nightclub beginning at 11 p.m. on Friday April 30. Some of the headliners on the club’s line-up will be heard in different configurations than out at the Fair Grounds. For instance Donald Harrison, who plays straight-ahead at the festival, goes smooth on this gig (April 23). Saxophonist Tim Warfield, drummer Adonis Rose, and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield make up a rare team on April 24. Saxophonist Wess “Warm Daddy” Anderson, best known for his work with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, leads his own band on May 1.
WHERE TO FIND ’EM
It remains mind-boggling that some of New Orleans’ very finest jazz musicians are not—for one reason or another—performing at Jazz Fest. One of the festival’s biggest oversights was drummer Ricky Sebastian. The Louisiana native, New Orleans resident, internationally acclaimed drummer and educator who has recorded with Herbie Mann and performed with Dianne Reeves and Tanya Maria among many others, heads one of the most exhilarating and tightest bands in the city. Several years ago Sebastian also released his debut CD as leader, The Spirit Within, that showed off his excellence as a composer. Fortunately, the group with the hot shot horns of Maurice Brown and Clarence Johnson, on trumpet and saxophone, respectively plus keyboardist Victor Atkins and bassist Edwin Livingston,both of Los Hombres Calientes, plays the free MO Fest event by the river at Woldenberg Park on Monday, April 26 at 3 p.m.
Sebastian and most of the members of his band pop up at numerous gigs and venues around the city. As he’s done for the last two years, 23-year-old Maurice Brown leads his own strong band every Tuesday night at Snug Harbor. The feisty trumpeter (keep your eyes on this guy) will also host after hour jams at the Frenchmen Street jazz club on Jazz Fest weekends. Here’s the deal: After the regular 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows, the partition that separates the club’s bar area and music room will be swung open and a $5 cover—that’s also good for one drink—will be charged at Snug Harbor’s main door. One could really make a night of it on Saturday, April 24. The early shows kill with an all-star group of musicians, who are all noted bandleaders, that include pianist Henry Butler (jazz here, blues at the fest), Jason Marsalis (drums here, vibes at the fest) and bassist Roland Guerin, saxophonist Ed Peterson, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, trumpeter Maurice Brown and vocalist Phillip Manuel (none of which are, unbelievably, headlining at Jazz Fest).
Sweet Lorraine’s also picks up the slack with Clarence Johnson, a recording artist, bandleader and composer, putting together a saxophone summit on Friday, April 30. The group with reedmen Johnson, Roderick Paulin, Brian “Breeze” Cayolle plus bassist Kerry Lewis and drummer Jamal Batiste will cover a wide musical range. Batiste, incidentally, is a next-generation member of the musical Batiste family who is presently with pianist/vocalist Jon Cleary’s Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
Mo’ Fest again steps in by presenting saxophone explorer Rob Wagner leading a strong trio with bassist James Singleton and drummer Ocie Davis at 4 p.m. on April 26. Wagner can also be caught at a special creative jazz night presented by Valid Records at the Piety Street Recording studio in the Bywater neighborhood (728 Piety St.) on April 29. He’s double-billed with guitarist/composer Jonathan Freilich’s excitingly eclectic Naked on the Floor. Showtime is 8 p.m.
