New CD has years of funk behind it
by Keith Spera • New Orleans Times-Picayune • April 6, 2001
The intangibles that make a band more than
the sum of its parts are not developed overnight. Years of woodshedding
are usually required.
On rare occasions, this processed is bypassed, and the connection is immediate.
So it was with Los Hombres Calientes, the local Afro-Cuban jazz band that
was wowing audiences from their very first gig. Like Los Hombres Calientes,
Papa Grows Funk is stocked with veteran local players. Keyboardist John
Gros is an alumnus of MuleBone and one of George Porter Jr.’s Runnin’ Pardners.
Drummer Russell Batiste powers the funky Meters. June Yamagishi is a valued
member of the Wild Magnolias tribe. Bassists Marc Pero and Peter V have
traded licks with various bands as has saxophonist Jason Mingledorff.
Thrown together for a Monday night residency at the Old Point Bar, they
quickly found their way. And so it is that next week Papa Grows Funk celebrates
both its one year anniversary and release of its debut CD, Doin’ It,
as informed a primer on Big Easy funk as this city has produced in years.
The influence of the players’ associations are apparent. Gros’ singsong
organ on “Pass It” and “Dimples” recalls Art Neville’s
Meters riff circa ’69. “Junker Man” could have been lifted
from the Runnin’ Pardners songbook and there’s a bit of Dr.
John hoodoo sprinkled over “Who’s Knockin at Your Door.”
But Papa Gros and company have embraced these sounds as their own. Throughout
10 full-length tracks and four brief interludes- most of them instrumental,
all of them written by the band and produced by Tracey Freeman- they take
their time, lay back and let the collective groove guide them. Experience
begat their patience, and their patience pays off in spades.