The Funky Meters

Art Neville - keyboards, vocals
George Porter, Jr. - bass, vocals
Russell Batiste - drums (joined 1989)
Brian Stoltz - guitar

The Meters - Cissy Strut: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X-6_0YqgeI
The Meters - Hey Pocky A-Way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEtXT9w9AYU
The Meters - "Fire On The Bayou": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phUTCsVAKXA

The founding members of The Meters - Art Neville and George Porter Jr bring their Funky Meters to Auckland for one night only.

New Orleans is known for its gumbo and the sound of The Meters, the Funk Originators who put New Orleans at the forefront of the 1970s funk style with innovative tracks such as ‘Cissy Strut’ and ‘Hey Pocky A-Way’. The band’s self-titled 1969 debut LP became a blueprint for the decade of funk that followed.

Prior to their success as The Meters, the band were the young in-house musicians for New Orleans record producer Allen Toussaint playing on on hits for local soul legends such as Lee Dorsey.

During the 1970s The Meters built their own career and their own brand of funk with genre-bending classics such as ‘Look-Ka Py Py’, ‘Fire On The Bayou’ and ‘Africa’. Their musical gumbo has defined the modern New Orleans style that embraces the region’s multi-cultural heritage.

The Rolling Stones chose The Meters to open for them on tours of the USA (1975) and Europe (1976) but the group never broke beyond their cult status.

The band split in 1977, frustrated by their punitive recording contract with producer Allen Toussaint and New Orleans studio owner Marshall Sehorn. Art Neville joined with his brothers to form the Neville Brothers.

The Meters reformed in 1989 to 1994 with new drummer Russell Batiste who continues to play in the Funky Meters and in side projects with bassist George Porter, Jr.

The guys must have Louisiana cabin fever as in April 2011 they are travelling downunder to play the Byron Bay Blues Festival and Auckland’s Powerstation.

The legacy of The Meters has grown year by year as the decades have added more fans with the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival focussing on the city’s sound and as The Meters were discovered by the hip-hop community.

The foundation of hip-hop:
When hip-hop pioneers went searching for the perfect beat, samples taken from the classic Meters vinyl albums became the building blocks for modern hip-hop. The music of the Meters has been known to have been sampled over 140 times and the track ‘Cissy Strut’ has been sampled at least 18 times.

The Meters played on:
* ‘Lady Marmalade’ by Labelle.
* ‘Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley’ by Robert Palmer.
* ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ by Dr. John.
* ‘Working In A Coal Mine’ by Lee Dorsey.

Art Neville a.k.a. Poppa Funk, New Orleans legend:
* As a teenager Art Neville joined the Hawkettes and recorded the New Orleans classic "Mardi Gras Mambo" in 1954.
* Art Neville and his brothers with their uncle Big Chief Jolly (George Landry) recorded the classic 1976 Mardi Gras Indians album The Wild Tchoupitoulas.
* Art has also played in the post-Katrina super-group, The New Orleans Social Club.

George Porter, Jr. on Funk and Fame:
The Meters' founding bass player has the inside juice on his style of funk."Space is a very equal part of the music," says George Porter Jr. "It's not what you play; it's what you don't play that makes it work."

Event listed by velvettiger

View their other events or contact promoter