Continuing from last time, let's catch you up on the last month for Big Pimp Jones... part 2!
4. The Ruck's car got totaled. Really! Ruck parked his car on the street outside his house, went in, and then some lady driving down the street was... doing something other than driving properly we guess, and whap! smashed into the Ruck's car. If you're thinking this has been a bad month to be a member of Big Pimp Jones and own a car, you'd be on some very good thinking juice right there.
5. Jay (aka DJ Tondef) is a proud papa! Congrats to Jay and Kim on the birth of their baby - and know that if you teach the kid trumpet we're saving a spot in the band.
6. K.R.O. went to New Orleans...again, for Jazzfest. That's right, the annual pilgrimmage returns! Or rather, returned. Instead of making four blogs out of it, let's just tackle it in one:
a. K.R.O. met Joss Stone! Because, you know, we have CRAZY pull and are international superstars... oh wait, it could be because I got a wristband to meet Joss Stone when I bought her DVD at Jazzfest. Anyway, if you don't know who Joss Stone is, you owe it to yourselves to check her out - she's one of only two artists I can think of that get the unanimous 'all 5 members of Big Pimp Jones dig this artist' (the other is math-metal phenomenon Meshuggah. I wish I were kidding).
b. Another year, another massive amount of eating in New Orleans. Best food in the world babies! Our fave spots are Cafe Du Monde and Mother's, the ultimate sandwich spot.
c. The Hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's are for real. In fact, surveys show they make K.R.O. break out into random kung fu poses. Remember that scene in Dripalong daffy where Nasty Canasta drinks that funky drink, then Porky and Daffy after drinking it go completely apesh*t and recite 'mary had a little lamb' while they walk around like robots? That's what it's like to drink multiple hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's.
d. The video poker at Harrah's is rigged. I think I could have walked in and gotten mugged for my cash with two punches to the stomach, and it would have lost me money more slowly than I actually lost it. I hate you, Harrah's.
e. The Meters are still funky. Aside from the great performances at Jazzfest, The Meters played a show at House of Blues New Orleans with insanely good local funk act 'Big Sam's Funky Nation' opening up for them. The Meters jammed for two hours, played almost all of my favorite cuts by them, and provided the soundtrack to a good evening.
f. Other Musical highlights of Jazzfest:
- the aforementioned 'Big Sam's Funky Nation'. They have two albums out, and you should own both. Think James Brown's backing band (The JB's) with a slightly modern flavor. The leader (Big Sam) is a smokin' trombone player and moves around really nimbly for a big guy, like ReRun on What's Happening. We had the privlege of seeing them twice within 17 hours, and they were great both times .
- Papa Grows Funk, a mostly instrumental funk act with some really dope jam-outs during their set. I've dug them ever since they covered one of the songs from Petey Wheatstraw, and they were dope again!
- Gov't Majik, who I didn't see live but did released a CD called 'The Dirty South Afrobeat Arkestra', and I am super-glad I got it. Why? Because - and you'll definitely think I'm on crack agan for saying this - but cuts 1 and 4 on the CD sound like the kind of music The Max Rebo Band (Jabba's band from Return of the Jedi) would play. It's jazz, but the music in it is slightly out there, and damn if it doesn't sound Star Wars-ish! I've tested the theory on two people so far and both agree. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself - or come up to us at a show and we'll play it for you in-between sets.
Okay party people, that's all on the catching up tip for now! Don't forget, we're playing the outdoor gig at LOVE park in downtown Philly in a few days, make sure you stop by for at least a few minutes to check out the funk!