New Local Batch
by Keith Spera • New Orleans Times-Picayune • March 21, 2003
Led by keyboardist John Gros, Papa Grows
Funk arrived on the local club scene three years ago and discovered that
there is always room for
one more competent funk band in New Orleans. To fill that role, Gros
surrounded himself with a formidable cast of players: Funky Meters
drummer Russell Batiste, Wild Magnolias guitarist June Yamagishi, tenor
saxophonist Jason Mingledorff and bassists Marc Pero and Peter V. The
group's 2001 debut "Doin It," with its airtight arrangements
and a program of all original music, announced that this was a fully
formed unit.
Papa Grows Funk's new, second CD, "Shakin," offers more of the
same. Gros delivers his finest songwriting to date in "House of Love," as
well as his finest vocal performance; his unaffected, unfettered singing
recalls that of Eric Clapton. But this is no one man show. Batiste's kick
drum is massive, as usual. He's found capable partners in Pero and Peter
V, who alternately fill out the bottom end with aplomb. Yamagishi channels
the Meters' Leo Nocentelli on the title track, cuts loose with a wah-wah
pedal on the Batiste composition "Say B'uh (I Jus' Playin')," and
colors in different shades throughout. Mingledorff lays smooth tenor lines
over the midtempo opener "Mutha Funk Ya'll" and the final "Big
Wind"; he switches to alto for "Fish-Eyed Fool." An expanded
cast of friends form the street chorus on "Soul Second Line," as
Batiste takes it back to the streets and Papa John Gros and company continue
to cultivate some of the tightest funk in town.