Halloween and Funkoween – Scary Good Times in New Orleans

24th October 2016   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

There are some gigs that just sound like a ton of fun and more the better that they fall during the Halloween weekend. Yes, the holiday is supposed to be just one day and probably is in many locales that celebrate the occasion. Since Halloween, October 31, is on a Monday this year, in New Orleans that turns into a four-day – Friday, October 28, through Monday, October 31 – party.

It kicks off with what sounds to be a total musical blast – Funkoween! – with two of this city’s greatest musicians – vocalist/percussionist Cyril Neville and trombonist/vocalist Corey Henry – joining forces at Kermit’s Treme Mother-in-Law Lounge on Friday, October 28. Here, according to Neville, is how the merger is going to go down. Two horn players, the bassist and guitarist from Henry’s Treme Funktet will meet up with musicians who perform regularly with him including his son, drummer Omari Neville, keyboardist/vocalist Norman Caesar and guitarist Eric Johnson plus special guest, Daryl Johnson, a bass player and singer who was a member of the Uptown Allstars’ and the Neville Brothers’ bands. Cyril describes him as a “Benny’s Bar” alumni, referring to the many late, late nights and wild shows Johnson played in the stripped-down, now-defunct, legendary uptown neighborhood corner joint.

“Corey and I have been friends for many years and have shared lots of stages and we’re fans of each others’ music,” Neville says of how the gig came together. “We both love New Orleans and represent her everywhere we go.”

The plan is for the band is to draw from material from both Henry’s new, rather unusually named, hard-hitting album, 2016’s Lapeitah and Neville’s soul blues driven, 2014 release, Magic Honey. Of course, the show couldn’t be dubbed Funkoween! if some Meters material wasn’t in the mix or for that matter kick with a bunch of funk master George Clinton’s P-Funk grooves.

Cyril suggests to come and “shake what your momma gave ya.”

Showtime is 10 p.m. and the cover charge is $15.

Last Chance to Nickel-A-Dance

Several weekly fall series are winding down as, well, presumably the holiday season and colder weather begin. The Nickel-A-Dance traditional jazz program presents its last show at Frenchmen Street’s Maison on Sunday, October 30, with trumpeter/vocalist Kermit Ruffins & the Barbeque Swingers. In keeping with the stylistic flavor of the event, Ruffins often digs into the more classic New Orleans jazz songbook when he leads his group at Nickel-A-Dance than he might at his other dates around town. It’s kind of like back to his roots and the huge influence that the legendary trumpeter/vocalist Louis Armstrong had on Ruffins’ music and thus his career that led him to leave the Rebirth Brass Band and head his own, sit-down, more traditional jazz oriented combo. Ruffins, who is also on Frenchmen Street at the Blue Nile at 11 p.m. on Friday, October 28, following a 7 p.m. performance by the Caesar Brothers Funk Box, says he’s trying to reach a certain, longtime musical compadre to join him for the Nickel-A-Dance show. Hope it works. If you haven’t checked out the free, family-friendly, dance-heavy gig that starts at a very easy-to-make 4 p.m., it’s the last chance to dance until it kicks off again in the spring.

Two More Times to Dance

There are only two more opportunities to make it to beautiful Armstrong Park to take in the Thursday evenings at the Jazz in the Park series. These shows remain special, or as WWL-TV’s late Frank Davis would say, “ naturally New Orleans.” This week, on October 27, jazz trumpeter Marlon Davis, the son of renowned saxophonist and educator Kidd Jordan, will lead his own band to open the main stage at 5 p.m. He is followed at 6 p.m. by the Grammy-winning, rhythmic ensemble Los Hombres Calientes led by percussionist Bill Summers and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield. The last Jazz in the Park show is on Thursday, November 3, with a super and diverse double bill of drummer Shannon Powell, a Tremé resident who lives just across the street from the park, warming things up for the always fiery accordionist/vocalist Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers. Hot sounds in the cool of the fall. Yeah, you’re right.

All Hail the Royalty

Two Tremé denizens, Henry Youngblood who sang his way into infamy belting out “I Got a Big Fat Woman” with the Treme Brass Band, and 88-year-old Ms. Marion Colbert, “ The Queen of the Banana Tree,” who can tell you about which joints were jumpin’ back in the day, who married who, who’s related to who and all their names, reign as King and Queen of the 6t’9 Social Aid and Pleasure Club’s 9th Annual Pumpkin Parade. It starts at 6 p.m. on On Saturday, October 29, at 1020 Henriette Delille Street, right up the street from Ms. Marion’s tree and around the corner from where Youngblood often holds court in the early evenings.

This parade is fun for young and old and will be led by the Martin Luther King Jr. High School Marching Band. Participants include the Free Spirit Brass Band and the Noisician Coalition amidst “rolling contraptions” of all sorts. The holiday procession joyously makes its way down river to end on Franklin Avenue and Royal Street.

This article originally published in the October 24, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.