This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(May 2024) |
Big Sam (musician) | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Sammie Williams |
Born | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument | Trombone |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels | Hypersoul |
Formerly of | Dirty Dozen Brass Band |
Website | bigsamsfunkynation |
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.
In his youth, he studied with saxophonist Kidd Jordan and at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In his teens, Williams was a founding member of the Stooges Brass Band and joined the Dirty Dozen, allowing him to play with Karl Denson, Dave Matthews, Widespread Panic, and James Brown. After one year with the Dirty Dozen, he began a side project broadening his musical ambitions. In 2006, he played with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint on their album The River in Reverse and tour.
Big Sam's Funky Nation became his main band, which performed at Bonnaroo, Gathering of the Vibes, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Voodoo Music Experience, South By Southwest, and on the television show Austin City Limits . Big Sam's Funky Nation is primarily a funk and rock band that has elements of traditional jazz, contemporary jazz, acid jazz, dance, hard rock, and punk.
Williams is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky! , which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz. [1] In the film, Big Sam's Funky Nation performs "Bah Duey Duey" with guest Troy Andrews. [2]
Williams had a recurring role in the HBO series Treme . [3] The series followed residents of New Orleans as they tried to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina.
Williams proposed to his wife on stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4, 2014. [4] In 2014 he played on the Durango Blues Train with other blues artists.
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."
Kirk Joseph is a jazz sousaphone player from New Orleans, Louisiana. The son of trombonist Waldren "Frog" Joseph, Kirk Joseph began playing the sousaphone while a student at Andrew Bell Middle School, and took part in his first professional gig at the age of fifteen when his brother Charles invited him to play a funeral with the Majestic Band.
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.
Edward "Kidd" Jordan was an American jazz saxophonist and music educator from New Orleans, Louisiana. He taught at Southern University at New Orleans from 1974 to 2006.
Gathering of the Vibes was an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrated the Grateful Dead and showcased a diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles would often include funk, bluegrass, rock, jam band, jazz, reggae, R&B and folk music. Beginning in 1996, GOTV brought many bands to the New England area during the summer season. There existed two main stages which would alternate bands so that festival-goers could experience music all day and into the night. A short stroll down the beach was the "Green Vibes Stage", which showcased some of the Northeast's finest talent.
The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, commonly referred to as Voodoo or Voodoo Fest, was a multi-day music and arts festival held in City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. First started in 1999, it was last held in October 2019, after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and canceled in 2022 without explanation.
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.
OffBeat is a New Orleans, Louisiana monthly local music magazine founded by Jan V. Ramsey in 1987. The magazine, published by OffBeat, Inc., focuses on the popular music of New Orleans and Louisiana, which is generally R&B, blues, jazz, rock, hip-hop, funk, and many other traditional styles of music popular in Louisiana. OffBeat was the first magazine in New Orleans to resume publishing after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, despite losing all its staff and its printer.
Dumpstaphunk is a funk and jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
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.
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.
Groovesect is a New Orleans funk band featuring conga/percussion player Alfred 'Uganda' Roberts and tours regularly with ex-James Brown band leader and original Parliament/Funkadelic member Fred Wesley.
Joe Krown is an American keyboardist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Apart from being a solo artist, he is the full time member of Kenny Wayne Shepherd band. He plays New Orleans styled piano and also Hammond B3 organ.
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds is a Brooklyn, New York-based seven-piece soul/rock band. The band is led by singer Arleigh Kincheloe, with Jackson Kincheloe on harmonica, Josh Myers on bass, Dan Boyden on drums, Phil Rodriguez on trumpet, and Brian Graham on baritone and tenor saxophones.
The Soul Rebels are an eight-piece New Orleans based brass ensemble that incorporate elements of soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop music within a contemporary brass band framework.
Calvin A. Johnson Jr. is an American saxophonist, bandleader, composer, producer, and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as a tenor and soprano saxophone player but also performs and records on alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and flute. He has worked with many of the biggest names in New Orleans music, including Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mystikal, Irvin Mayfield, Mannie Fresh, and others. Johnson is the nephew of New Orleans clarinetist Ralph Johnson, a longtime member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He began playing saxophone at the age of seven, and since 2008 has been playing with his own band, Calvin Johnson & Native Son.
Charles Neville was an American R&B and jazz musician best known as part of The Neville Brothers. Known onstage as "Charlie the horn man", his saxophone playing helped earn the group a Grammy Award for best pop instrumental performance.
Egg Yolk Jubilee is a band based in New Orleans and noted for their eclectic musical style, combining jazz, blues, funk,roc, Funeral music elements. In addition to traditional stage venues, they also perform as a street-walking brass band, and have released several studio albums.
Make It Funky! is a 2005 American documentary film directed, written and co-produced by Michael Murphy. Subtitled in the original version as "It all began in New Orleans", the film presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz. The film was scheduled for theatrical release in September 2005, but was pulled by distributor Sony Pictures Releasing so that they did not appear to take commercial advantage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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