Search - Papa Grows Funk :: Doin It

Meters-style funk with just a few hints of acid jazz

Nobody important | 06/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The other reviewer has a very limited conception of funk that apparently excludes one of the greatest funk bands-- The Meters. Papa Grows Funk is a Meters-style funk band led by John "Papa" Gros (pronounced, "grow"), a keyboard player and vocalist in the mold of Ivan Neville. Joining him are June Yamagishi on guitar, Jason Mingledorff on sax, Marc Pero on bass and Jeffrey Alexander on drums. This is their first album, and it is the one that most closely resembles the Meters. What distinguishes them instrumentally is the saxophone, and the presence of the saxophone helps them take their instrumentals a bit closer to the acid jazz/funk stylings of the Greyboy Allstars or Galactic. That mix gives them enough distinctiveness that they don't just sound like Meters rip-offs, but this album is less distinctive than their live album, and Mr. Patterson's Hat. Still, they play with enough energy and skill that if you like The Meters and The Greyboy Allstars, you will most certainly like Papa Grows Funk. I would start with their live album, and then Mr. Patterson's Hat, but this is a solid piece of work.



Further listening besides The Meters: Galactic (and solo albums by Stanton Moore), The Greyboy Allstars (and solo albums by Robert Walter), Porter Batiste Stoltz, Johnny Vidacovich/George Porter/June Yamagishi's We Came To Play."