The Meters are an American funk band formed in 1965 in New Orleans by Zigaboo Modeliste (drums), George Porter Jr. (bass), Leo Nocentelli (guitar) and Art Neville (keyboards). The band performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977 and played an influential role as backing musicians for other artists, including Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, Dr. John, and Allen Toussaint. Their original songs "Cissy Strut" and "Look-Ka Py Py" are considered funk classics.
Stanley Dural Jr., better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band, but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.
Kermit Ruffins is an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer 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, vibraphone player, composer, producer, band leader, 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.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is an American brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen incorporated funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans jazz style, and has since been a major influence on local music. They won the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance in 2023.
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 a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop.
Sammie "Big Sam" Williams is an American trombonist and band leader from New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and leads Big Sam's Funky Nation.
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. On November 3, 2021, Mayfield was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defrauding the New Orleans public library system for over one million dollars.
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.
Bill Summers is an American, New Orleans based Afro-Cuban jazz/Latin jazz percussionist, a multi-instrumentalist who plays primarily on conga drums.
Jon Cleary is a British-born, American funk and R&B musician, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Cleary is an accomplished pianist as well as being a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter.
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 American actor, 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.
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.
