Funk It’s Bear Creek Music Fest 2013 Videos

Here it is. A massive slap of funk upside your head. This highlight video will give you a glimpse into this “funky festival in the fall”. Featuring clips from 39 different performances over 3 days and 4 nights, this 27 minute collage represents the work of one man armed with 3 video cameras and 1 mic. With any event bringing together this many talented musicians and acts you can never experience all of it, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t try.

Funk It’s Bear Creek Music & Art Festival 2013 Highlight Video:

Funk It’s Bear Creek Music & Art Festival 2013 Highlight Video:
01. Bernie Worrell Orchestra – Red Hot Momma [Funkadelic cover] (with Freekbass)
02. Jennifer Hartswick Band – Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place) [Talking Heads cover]
03. Lee Fields & The Expressions – Ladies
04. Profit – Yes We Can [Allen Toussaint cover] (with Rachel Murray & Nigel Hall)
05. Robert Walter’s 20th Congress – Corry’s Snail and Slug Death
06. Galactic – Sunday Araq (with Bernie Worrell)
07. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – The Hen
08. Bootsy Collins & The Funk Unity Band – Bootsy? (What’s the Name of this Town)
09. Chali 2na & The House of Vibe – Comin’ Thru
10. The Roots – Fantastic [Slum Village / J Dilla cover]
11. Bear Creek Allstars – Them Changes [Buddy Miles cover] (Dumpstaphunk with George Porter Jr, Eric Krasno & Neal Evans)
12. Bear Creek Allstars – For My Friend [Bill Withers cover] (Lettuce with Nigel Hall & Alecia Chakour)
13. Bear Creek Allstars – Shake Everything You Got [Maceo Parker cover] (Ian Neville, Andrew Block, Matt Grondin, Eric Vogel, Joey Porter, Joe Tatten, and ?? on drums)
14. The Nth Power – Jazz Fest 420
15. Toubab Krewe – Keme
16. Ron Haynes’ Game Changers – A Few Good Men [Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band cover]
17. The Revivalists – Chase’s House
18. Monophonics – Sure Is Funky
19. The New Mastersounds – On The Border
20. Space Capone – A-Rod

Galactic with Bernie Worrell

21. The Motet – Gettin’ To Know You [Parliament cover] (with Nigel Hall)
22. Jennifer Hartswick Band – You Got The Love [Rufus & Chaka Khan cover]
23. Galactic – Dollar Diva (with Maggie Koerner & David Shaw)
24. Zach Deputy – Cellular Phone (with Roosevelt Collier)
25. Robert Walter’s 20th Congress – Honky Tonk [Miles Davis cover]
26. The Pimps of Joytime – Dank Janky
27. Antibalas – Beaten Metal (with Skerik)
28. Brownout – Into The Void [Black Sabbath cover] (with Skerik)
29. Kung Fu – Scrab
30. Bonobo Live Band – Sapphire

The Roots at Bear Creek Music Festival

31. George Porter Jr’s Runnin’ Pardners – Ride Your Pony [The Meters cover]
32. Mike Dillon Band – Monk Meets Fela (with Weedie Braimah)
33. Skerik’s Orchestra At Large – Improvisation (with Mike Dillon, George Porter Jr, Brian J, Ryan Zoidis, Igmar Thomas, Natalie Cressman, Cheme Gastelum, Khris Royal, Lucas Ellman, Weedie Braimah & ?? on keys)
34. The Legendary JC’s – Lifted Me (with George Porter Jr & Mike Dillon)
35. Roosevelt Collier & Nigel Hall’s Gospel Surprise – How I Got Over (Nikki Glaspie, Nick Cassarino, Nate Edgar, Weedie Braimah, James Casey, Natalie Cressman, Alecia Chakour, Jennifer Hartswick & ???)
36. Zach Deputy – Home
37. Dumpstaphunk – I Wish You Would (with Natalie Cressman, Igmar Thoms, James Casey, Skerik & ???)
38. Lettuce – Last Suppit
39. Zach Deputy, Jesus Coomes & Simon Allen – After Party Jam Session Improv

Several other videos from the festival have already been posted at http://www.youtube.com/user/thefunkitblog and many more will follow, so stay tuned.

Also, check out Bee Getz’ masterful written review over at JamBase.

Bootsy Collins at Bear Creek Music Festival

Funk It’s New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013 Video

What can I say? Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I went harder than ever this year. I believe I saw 29 bands in 5 nights (not counting one day at the Fairgrounds at the actual festival). So many amazing musical moments happened that its hard to recount them all. Instead I put together a video of highlights with clips from nearly every band I saw, in chronological order. Consider it a teaser until all 300 gigs of videos are edited and uploaded here.

Funk It’s New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013 Video:

Wednesday May 1st:
01. Dumpstaphunk – Take Time @ Louisiana Music Factory
02. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux – They Don’t Know @ Blue Nile Balcony Room
03. The Nth Power – Spirits @ Blue Nile
04. Dr. Klaw with Nikki Glaspie – Leave Me Alone @ One Eyed Jack’s
05. Bear Creek Allstars – Go To The Mardi Gras @ One Eyed Jack’s

Thursday May 2nd:
06. The Bayou Gypsies – Foxy Lady @ Tipitina’s – Tribute To Jimi Hendrix
07. Earphunk with Juno What?! – So Ruff So Tuff @ House of Blues Parish – Tribute To Zapp & Roger Troutman
08. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe with Zach Deputy & Jon Cleary – Unchain My Heart @ House of Blues – Tribute To Ray Charles
09. Robert Walter’s 20th Congress – ??? @ One Eyed Jack’s
10. Fiya Powa! – Standing On Shaky Ground @ One Eyed Jack’s

Friday May 3rd:
11. The Revivalists with Big Sam – Sexy Motherfucker @ Fiya Fest
12. The New Orleans Suspects with The Bonerama Horns – All The Money @ Fiya Fest
13. Funky But Better – Doug Wimbish bass solo @ Fiya Fest
14. Dragon Smoke with Nick Daniels – Padlock @ Fiya Fest
15. Dragon Smoke & The Roots of Music Marching Band – Karate @ Fiya Fest
16. G.A.B.E (George Porter Jr, Anders Osborne, Billy Iuso & Eric Bolivar) – Mr. Charlie @ Fiya Fest
17. Dr. Klaw with Skerik – Beef @ Fiya Fest
18. Karl Denson & The Dirty Dozen Horns – Who Let The Happiness Out @ Fiya Fest
19. Orgone – Crazy Queen @ Republic
20. Everyone Orchestra – Improv @ Republic
21. Fantastic Four with Nigel Hall & The Shady Horns – Ain’t It Funky Now @ House of Blues Parish
22. The Motet – Stella Blue @ Howlin’ Wolf

Saturday May 4th:
23. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – Blackbird Special @ d.b.a.
24. unknown Frenchman Street band
25. Khris Royal & Dark Matter with Doug Wimbish & Corey Glover – Superstition @ Blue Nile Balcony Room
26. Royal Potato Family Allstars with Carly Meyers – Improv @ Blue Nile
27. WIMBISH! (Living Colour) with Khris Royal – Love Rears Its Ugly Head @ Blue Nile Balcony Room
28. Johnny Vidacovich, Stanton Moore, Marco Benevento & Mike Dillon – Improv @ Maple Leaf

Sunday May 5th:
29. The Pimps of Joytime – Janxta Funk @ Tipitina’s
30. Dumpstaphunk – Nikki raps, Encore Jam @ Tipitina’s

Fiya Fest 2013

One of the absolute best parts of the trip was partying with my boys Chris Rogers and Ryan Shapiro at Fiya Fest (and the late night Fiya Powa! show). These guys really know how to put on a party (see 2011 and 2012) and this one was bigger and better than ever. The production went off without a hitch and there was nothing but good food, good music and good people as far as the eye could see.

What made it even better is that all services were donated and all proceeds went to The Roots of Music organization.

I was glad to be a part of it and host a live video stream so the rest of the world could tune in and see how it’s done in New Orleans! I think we had over 2,500 views on the live stream (although I don’t think those were all unique viewers). It really was an unforgettable day!

Dragon Smoke

Other highlights of the weekend included witnessing The Dirty Dozen Brass Band do their thing on their home turf at d.b.a., catching up with the Bear Creek family while Dr. Klaw and the Bear Creek Allstars rocked One Eyed Jack’s until the wee hours of the morning, finally seeing Vernon Reid and Living Colour, seeing Orgone with original vocalist Fanny Franklin back in the fold, dancing at the Maple Leaf until the sun rose while Marco Benevento, Johnny Vidacovich & Stanton Moore pounded out James Booker‘s “Gonzo”, and catching up with Dumpstaphunk as their new album is finally released to the world.

One more thing I have to mention is that Nikki Glaspie was far and away the MVP of the weekend. I heard she played 26 gigs during Jazz Fest! I’m not sure if that beats any records set by Stanton Moore, Ivan Neville or George Porter Jr, but it certainly is impressive. In fact, Nikki is on 8 of the 30 clips in my highlight video. She’s a monster.

Nikki Glaspie

I’d also encourage you to check out photographer Marc Millman’s youtube page for more Jazz Fest 2013 videos. Check out this great shot he got of “Funky But Better” at Fiya Fest and consider buying some prints from his website.

Funky But Better - Doug Wimbash - Photo by Marc Millman — Funky But Better – Doug Wimbash – Photo by Marc Millman

Another youtube page to keep your eyes on is that of Funky Nunu.

UPDATE: FIYA FEST 2013 VIDEO:

Live Hip Hop at Bear Creek Music Fest 2011: Chali 2na & The House of Vibe All Stars + Boots Riley & The Coup with Silk-E

Bear Creek Music Festival was undoubtedly a funk fest, but there was a sprinkling of hip hop; and it was all live band hip hip, my favorite type.

Early Friday evening as dusk rolled in, Chali 2na and his band, The House of Vibe, locked shit down to a steadily growing crowd. Smiles were everywhere as the crowd anticipated a mind-blowing weekend. I shot a good 17 minutes of footage with my monopod held high.

This video is mainly tunes from Chali’s one and only solo album, 2009’s excellent and long awaited Fish Outta Water. Later in the set, Corey Glover, vocalist for Living Colour and more recently Galactic, joined for an old Jurassic 5 tune, Freedom. Unfortunately I only captured the 2nd half of this one. I guess I was too busy getting my party on and getting amped for the rest of the lineup that night at the Purple Hat stage, which included Garage A Trois, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Galactic.

Chali 2na & The House of Vibe Band 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
Get Focused > International, Comin’ Thru > Don’t Stop, Guns Up, Freedom (w/ Corey Glover):

(Download the full audio of Chali 2na’s set here.)

Later that night, as the temperatures began to drop into the 30’s, we headed to the heated indoor SOS Music Hall. The Coup was set up and ready to play, albeit to a very sparse crowd. After a heavy rock instrumental intro, Boots Riley busted out, spinning around in a leather tasseled overcoat. Pimp hand strong. Next, they busted out some classics before bringing out their secret weapon, Silk-E. If you don’t know, just press play.

The Coup 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
5 Millions Ways To Kill A CEO:

The Coup 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
Bullets & Love > Everythang > We Are The Ones:

I totally wanted to enjoy The Coup’s set longer, but I had to run back to the Purple Hat Stage so as not to miss the beginning of Medeski, Martin & Wood (videos coming soon).

After MMW’s set, I caught some of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe covering The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers album (quite a let down and not very funky, IMO). I also caught a bit of KRAZ’s DJ set (that’s Eric Krasno of Soulive, Lettuce, and Chapter 2) in the silent disco. He was spinning Funkify Your Life by The Meters and tastefully tweaking some effects on top before getting into a mix of current hip hop.

At the same time, now well on the other side of midnight, Galactic was rocking the Purple Hat stage. As the temperature continued to drop into the low 30’s and everyone could see their own breath, dancing was the only way to stay warm. At this point, Galactic brought out Chali 2na and Boots Riley to perform From The Corner To The Block. Unfortunately, Boots stumbled a few times with his verse as his voice got raspy and started to go out, likely due to having just finished a 75 minute set with his own band. Chali, however, kept things on point with a live version of his collab with Galactic, Think Back. There are many more things I could say about the Galactic set as it was truly one of the most enjoyable sets of the weekend, but I digress. (Peep the full audio download of Galactic’s set here.)

Also, keep in mind that when Galactic finished at 1:30am, the night wasn’t over, we still had Dr. Klaw from 2 to 3:30am and I shot that entire set (videos coming soon of course). And Dr. Klaw was followed by Mike Dillon’s Hairy Apes BMX from 3:30 to 5am. (I only caught one song before calling it a night and crashing in my rugged and freezing tent.)

The following videos where not shot by me. (I didn’t get any videos of Galactic for some stupid reason. I think maybe my hands were too cold!). But these videos do showcase Chali’s appearance with Galactic, as well as the end portion of Chali 2na and his band’s set, featuring solos from each band member.

Galactic with Chali 2na 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
Think Back:

Galactic with Chali 2na & Boots Riley 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
From The Corner To The Block:

Chali 2na 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
Freedom (w/ Corey Glover), Quality Control, One More Chance:

Chali 2na 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
What’s Golden:

Chali 2na 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Festival
Lock Shit Down, Rock Lobster, & band solos:

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