all original New Orleans funk, it rocks, its jazzy and you'll shake your butt

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Funk Rock, URBAN/R&B: Funk



Details:
MR. PATTERSON'S HAT
"Mr. Pattersonâs Hat, " the new CD from New Orleansâ award winning Papa Grows Funk is a proclamation of post-Katrina New Orleans. The title celebrates those who have returned since Katrina sent the city into a mass exodus and commemorates those who have not yet come home.

The real Mr. Patterson is a semi-retired auto mechanic who frequents the Maple Leaf Bar in an uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. He is the elder statesman of Oak Street and has a reputation for being dressed to the nines: pinstriped suit, stylish tie and a derby hat with a feather in the sideband. When the ladies ask him to dance, he only obliges if the band has its groove on. âYou might think youâre throwing down, but if Mr. Patterson ainât dancinâ, you ainât groovinâ,â declares keyboardist/singer John âPapaâ Gros. âWhen you see that hat bobbing up and down and moving side to side, you know youâre doing New Orleans music right.â

Papa Grows Funk returned to their Monday night residency at the Maple Leaf Bar forty-five days after the storm. The Leaf became the place for us to vent, escape and celebrate our return though we wondered what happened to all of the regulars.â

Mr. Patterson was one of the first to come back. Other followed. The song âJohn Brownâ is loosely based on a street character always found on the sidewalk outside of the club, banging on a cowbell and hustling for beer. Says John, âI gave him a big hug the first time I saw him back. I had missed him and there he was up to his old shenanigans!â

Some have not returned. Theryl âHousemanâ deClouet, former Galactic front man, remains in Chicago because his Hollygrove neighborhood was one of the hardest hit. âMy Manâ recounts a first-rate Houseman story June Yamagishi (guitarist) and Jeffrey âJellybeanâ Alexander (drums) love to recount. Yamagishi's "Slapjack" is a tribute to Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's legacy as he passed twelve days after evacuating from Katrina.

Papa Grows Funk has come together for their fourth and most collaborative album.
It reflects how they have been personally affected by what is going on in their beloved hometown. There are songs inspired by a Mardi Gras Indian Big Chiefâs dying plea to take a stand against police violence: âThis has got to stop"("Tootie Montana"). It echoes the need for this city to work against crime ("Walkinâ in Our Own Shoes"), offers a chance for redemption with (âRite Riteâ) and the need to move on (âRide On"), penned by saxophonist, Jason Mingledorff.

This band has a reputation for keeping it funky. Here they do not disappoint as they dish up some funky servings of âGo!,â âMafungoâ and bassist Marc Peroâs âStankyâ and âGorillafaceugmopotamus." Papa Grows Funk can't wait to deliver these new grooves to the fans that have helped them more than anything else through this difficult time. Yeah You Right!