Funk is a music genre that originated within the African-American communities in the mid-1960s, when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable, new form of music influenced by Jazz, Rhythm and blues, Soul music and African grooves. It de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.
The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.
Kermit Ruffins is an American jazz trumpeter, singer, composer, and actor from New Orleans. He has been influenced by Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and says that the highest note he can hit on trumpet is a high C. He often accompanies his songs with his own vocals. Most of his bands perform New Orleans jazz standards though he also composes many of his own pieces. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Ruffins is an unabashed entertainer who plays trumpet with a bright, silvery tone, sings with off-the-cuff charm and never gets too abstruse in his material."
Jason Marsalis is an American jazz drummer and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins, and classmates from Joseph S. Clark Senior High School, which closed in the spring of 2018, in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. Arhoolie released its first album in 1984.
Irma Thomas is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".
Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from New Orleans.
Cyril Garrett Neville is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans-based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band upon the dissolution of the Meters.
Troy Andrews, also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is an American musician, producer, actor and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, organ, and tuba. He has worked with some of the biggest names in rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop. Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews III and the grandson of singer and songwriter Jessie Hill. Andrews began playing trombone at age four, and since 2009 has toured with his own band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
Scott Billington is an American record producer, songwriter, record company executive and blues musician.
Irvin Mayfield Jr. is an American trumpeter, composer, bandleader and educator.
The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana, is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has sometimes been called traditional jazz, 'New Orleans', and 'New Orleans jazz'. However, the tradition of jazz in New Orleans has taken on various forms that have either branched out from original dixieland or taken entirely different paths altogether. New Orleans has also been a prominent center of funk, home to some of the earliest funk bands such as The Meters.
Jon Cleary is a British-born American funk and R&B musician based in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he has studied the "musical culture and life of New Orleans" according to his website. Cleary is an accomplished pianist as well as being a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter.
Joseph "Smokey" Johnson Jr. was an American drummer. He was one of the musicians, session players, and songwriters who served as the backbone for New Orleans' output of jazz, funk, blues, soul, and R&B music.
Steve Reynolds is an American, New Orleans-based audio engineer and record producer. Formerly a co-owner of Ultrasonic Studios, Reynolds has worked with such artists as Rebirth Brass Band, Irma Thomas, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Kermit Ruffins, and The Radiators. In 2004, under the name of Tangle Eye, Reynolds and fellow New Orleans producer Scott Billington created Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed, a funk, hip-hop, and bluegrass remix of Alan Lomax's recordings for the Library of Congress.
Kipori Jermaine Woods, also known by stage name Kipori 'Baby Wolf' Woods, is an Actor, American singer, songwriter and guitarist raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has played gospel, blues, jazz, funk and rap music and plays a blend of these music genres. Woods is the grandson of band-leader and blues bass player 'Luscious' Lloyd Lambert. Woods began singing gospel and playing guitar as a young child, he has played professionally since the 1990s.
Cha Wa is a Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The name Cha Wa is a slang phrase used by Mardi Gras Indian tribes, meaning "we're comin' for ya" or "here we come." Frontman J'wan Boudreaux is known for dressing in traditional Mardi Gras Indian clothing during performances, including intricately designed headdresses.
Dave Albert Williams Jr. was an American jazz, blues, and rhythm & blues pianist, bandleader, singer, and songwriter. He was the author of "I Ate Up The Apple Tree", a staple of contemporary New Orleans brass bands. His career as a working musician spanned five decades.
Southern Exposure is an album by the American musician Maceo Parker. It was released in 1993. Although marketed as a jazz album, Parker considered it to be "98%" funk.
