This year’s Jazz Fest night show schedule around town is already shaping up to be a heck of a ride. Winter Circle Productions announced this morning that the “Bootzilla of Funkin’ Bass,” Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bootsy Collins will play the Joy Theater on Friday, April 25 at 10 p.m. during the first weekend of Jazz Fest 2014.
Funk icon Bootsy Collins plays Jazz Fest 2014 night show at the Joy Theater on Friday, April 25.
Now, Bootsy usually performs at least once a year in New Orleans for avid fans, either a Tipitina’s or a House of Blues set, but his appearances at local festivals have been increasing in the last few years as well. And his dedicated following in the Crescent City is not really a surprise given the accolades he gives “Tha Funk Capital of the World.” Just before his headlining set at Voodoo Fest in 2012, he proclaimed in an OffBeat interview that “New Orleans is so receptive to the funk. It’s kinda like we are from there. It’s like it is Tha Funk Capital of the World (referencing his new album at the time) and they know it.” This mutual love and respect between visiting funkster and resident funkateers undoubtedly plays a key role in Bootsy’s consistently packed New Orleans concerts.
However, the resurgence of interest in the funk icon who pioneered the hybrid bass/guitar technique central to the genre’s sound may owe a great deal to the current growth of the “modern funk” movement in the international music scene. Collins has made a number of drops on young, contemporary artists’ releases of late; most recently making a cameo appearance on the Snoop Dogg (a/k/a Snoopzilla – the hip-hop don’s funk pseudonym) and Dam-Funk 7 Days of Funk album, not to mention topping bills at popular festivals filled with mostly 20-somethings. Of course, Bootsy has taken it upon himself to educate the next generation of musicians too with the founding of his “Funk University” and its bass guitar school in 2010, a project he discusses in a 2011 OffBeat interview.
There is something to be said for an artist that got his start in in 1969 with the Godfather of Soul James Brown’s band the J.B.’s, rose to fame with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic during their formative years in the 1970s, and remains in-demand today by both longtime fans as well as new-age hip-hop and electronic dance music followers. But the funk’s direct influence on cornerstones of hip-hop and the creation of electronic dance music is undeniable. In fact, author and filmmaker Nelson George explores these specific musical connections in his documentary, Finding the Funk, released just last week via VH1, in which Bootsy is featured. New Orleans’ seminal role in the invention of funk is also a part of the doc. It seems the funk is here to stay, and where better a place to celebrate than in “Tha Funk Capital of the World” with the Bootzilla of Funkin’ Bass during Jazz Fest?
Bootsy Collins will play the Joy Theater on Friday, April 25 as part of the Joy Theater‘s “Jazz at the Joy” Jazz Fest 2014 series, co-presented by Winter Circle Productions (one of the promotion companies that also co-produces the Buku Music + Art Project). Doors are at 9 p.m. with showtime at 10 p.m.
General admission tickets are $40 in advance and $50 the day of show. VIP tickets including one complimentary drink, a commemorative concert poster and premiere balcony seating with private bar are also available for $75. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, February 13 at 11 a.m. via www.thejoytheater.com. (1200 Canal Street)
