From some fun jammin' grew all-star Funk
by Ray Hogan • Stamford Advocate • Stamford, CT • February 13th, 2003
He was only looking to break the monotony
of playing cover songs for tourists when John Gros called up some musician
friends to jam in New Orleans in 2000. He ended up forming one of the
musically fertile city's fastest rising acts.
Gros, a keyboardist, was then a member of George Porter's Runnin' Pardners
and wanted to make the most of his downtime.
Given his role with Porter, a legendary bassist through his work with the
Meters, it wasn't hard for Gros to recruit to some of the city's tastiest
players.
The all-star jam session he put together, called Papa Grows Funk, was nothing
new by Crescent City standards, but the roster clicked and a series of
events transpired that allowed the members some time away from their normal
gigs; in less than a year the group released a stunning debut disc and
became a nationally touring act.
Tomorrow, Connecticut gets its first dose of Papa Grows Funk as it teams
with the Radiators, who are celebrating their silver anniversary, for a
show at the Colorado Brewery in Danbury.
In choosing his musicians, Gros looked to some heavy hitters. Funky Meters
and Vida Blue drummer Russell Batiste had a long association with Gros
as a fellow Runnin' Pardner, and some free time coming his way as Art Neville's
back surgery would soon take the Funky Meters off the road. Japanese-born
guitarist June Yamagishi saw gigs with his Wild Magnolia Mardi Gras Indian
tribe becoming fewer and farther between. Bassist Marc Pero (Smilin' Myron)
and saxophonist Jason Mingledorff (formerly of Galactic) were working steadily
in New Orleans but relatively unknown outside of the city.
"I called everyone up and said we're going to do a loose jam, no rehearsals,
no nothing," Gros says. "It was just guys I wanted to play music
with and have a good time. There were no expectations."
These Monday night gigs on the West Bank of New Orleans soon became widely
anticipated and were moved to the famed Maple Leaf Bar.
"We don't rehearse," Gros says. "In the two and a half years we've
been together, we've rehearsed five or six times. We work everything out
on the gigs and those Mondays are our rehearsals. Local fans that come
out and support us come out weekly and want something different."
The New Orleans-born and Baton Rogue-bred Gros says that if the hometown
gigs were known for showcasing the elasticity of the band, the first out-of-town
gigs (in groove-heavy strongholds like New York, San Francisco and Colorado),
were where the project became a band, and the tunes that would eventually
make up the "Doin It" disc were honed.
"The stars just lined up for us," Gros says. "Until we had that
first CD out, no one was thinking what can we do with it. Well, we've got
these songs, let's make a CD. After that came out, the band made a big
jump. Everyone took a little bit of pride in that and we took that to our
live gigs."
The independently released disc was a top 10 seller at the last two New
Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivals. "Doin It" showcases the
group's stellar musicianship and affinity for deep grooves. Although its
sound is in the lineage of the finest New Orleans funk (from the Meters
and Dr. John, whom Gros sometimes resembles as a singer, to today's reigning
kings, Galactic), it contains earthier elements than heard in most Crescent
City bands. If Gros is the frame of this project, Batiste and Yamagishi
are the mortar. Batiste often sounds like he has more than four limbs and
Yamagishi has an uncanny ability to integrate soaring riffs into the core
of the ensemble sound.
In the long-standing Big Easy tradition of releasing discs before the April/May
Jazz and Heritage Festival, where they sell by the boxful, Papa Grows Funk
is finishing its second disc for release in the spring.