Unearthed live AUDIO of The Meters & The Metrics from 1980 and 1983

Zigaboo Modeliste by Henry Heikkinen

Happy 50th Jazz Fest everyone! Here are some very rare audio recordings of The Meters that I have cleaned up and corrected the speed on. Years ago I traded for 2 CDRs marked as “The Meters 11/28/80”, and it turned out to be 2 different recordings that seem to be incomplete. Also, both recordings were running fast, probably from a bad cassette transfer. I’ve slowed them down and cleaned them up as best I can. Enjoy this rare funk as you get your mind right for the 50th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this year!

Download the recordings here and here.

The Metrics
1983 or 1984
New Orleans, LA @ ???

SBD > ??? > cassette > ??? > CDR > EAC > FLAC > WAV > Cool Edit Pro (pitch slowed down 0.9 semitones) > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > FLAC

01. People Say 7:27
02. Cissy Strut > 3:57
03. Love The One You’re With > 2:57
04. Hey Pocky A-Way 7:18
05. They All Ask’d For You 7:00
06. Big Chief 5:48
07. Standing In Your Stuff // 6:00

George Porter, Jr. – bass, vocals
Zigaboo Modeliste – drums, vocals
David Torkanowsky – keyboards, ?vocals?
Scott Goudeau – guitar, ?vocals?
Tony Dagradi and/or Fred Kemp – saxophone

We know that this group played at Jazz Fest in 1983 and 1984. There is an audience recording that exists of their 1984 Jazz Fest performance. I have not heard it, but I have seen the info file and it’s a totally different setlist with no Meters tunes really except Gossip. So this recording could be from Jazz Fest 1983 or at some other time from 1982 to 1984. I presume and assume this was recorded in New Orleans.

I found this as filler on the 11/28/80 Meters CDRs I traded for years ago. Upon closer inspection of my CDR’s, it was actually about 45 minutes of 11/28/80 and then this Metrics recording on the other side of the cassette.
The tape was also running too fast. This is my first attempt at shifting/fixing the pitch, so it may not be correct, but it sounds closer to reality than it did. It’s also an incomplete recording. I don’t know how much is missing from the end. 2019-01-19 – Funk It Blog

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The Meters (with Sam Henry subbing for Art Neville)
November 28th, 1980
New Orleans, LA @ Tipitinas

FM/SBD (WTUL) > 3rd Gen (presumably a cassette) > DAT > ??? > FLAC > WAV > Cool Edit Pro (amplified) > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > WAV > FLAC

01. WTUL radio intro
02. Rigor Mortis
03. Fire on the Bayou >
04. Jungle Man
05. talk & tuning
06. Africa
07. Cissy Strut
08. Just Kissed My Baby
09. People Say >
10. “Try To Get Over” >
11. They All Ask’d For You

Sam Henry – organ & vocals (subbing for Art Neville)
George Porter, Jr. – bass & vocals
Leo Nocentelli – guitar
Zigaboo Modeliste – drums & vocals

They are announced as “The Funky Disgusting Meters”! It sounds like George Porter’s group, Joyride, was the opening act because Zig calls them out during the jam into Jungle Man.

Here’s a little more info on the history between Sam Henry and The Meters (courtesy of the Home Of The Groove blog):
https://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/2006/08/gospel-bird-vs-soul-machine-updated.html

Fiyawerx Jazz Fest Party 2011: Leo Nocentelli’s Meters Experience with Stanton Moore

Bill Dickens & Leo Nocentelli

Leo Nocentelli’s Meters Experience (with Stanton Moore)
May 7, 2011 New Orleans, LA @ Race & Religious House – Fiyawerx Party
You’ve Got To Change (You’ve Got To Reform):

Leo Nocentelli’s Meters Experience
May 7, 2011 New Orleans, LA @ Race & Religious House – Fiyawerx Party
The Hype and The Hoopla, Fire On The Bayou, Cissy Strut:

Stanton Moore

Also, check out videos from Fiyawerx 2012 Jazz Fest Party here and here.

Russell Batiste Band & Snarky Puppy at Bear Creek Music Festival 2011

I’m gonna start my Bear Creek Music Festival flood with some of the videos that I can upload raw without audio upgrades (since I’m pretty sure no one was taping these shows and my audio already sounds fine). First up is the Russell Batiste Band‘s set from early Friday afternoon at the Campground Stage (this stage was nestled back in the woods near the lake where you can bring you own drinks from your camp, since you’re not officially in the festival grounds).

Russell Batiste Jr. is the drummer from The Funky Meters and PBS (Porter Batiste Stoltz) and Vida Blue. His band has been gigging for a few years and I’ve been interested to see how they sound (although I could already imagine that it was a heavy dose of NOLA funk with some warped Russell Batiste vocal shouts and maybe a request for the audience to do the hokey pokey or skip around [Russell’s weird like that]).

I left the Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio set early and jumped a ridge on a golf cart with Harry Zegers and the Fan Club HQ crew down to the Campground Stage to find George Porter Jr. and his wife standing by as the Russell Batiste Band was soundchecking. I was less than 2 hours into the festival and already primed to witness some sit-ins!

I watched the first few songs and still no George Porter sit-in, so I decided to make my way back to the music park to catch some of Anders Osborne and then the Chali 2na Band. As I was about to leave ear-shot of the Campground Stage, I heard Russell invite George up, so I headed back. George joined for a version of The Meters tune, Ease Back and then they did the classic Cissy Strut (actually Russell’s rearrangement “Cissy Got The Blues”), which you can watch below. This is one of the very few times you will see George actually plucking the bass. Yeah you’re right.

Russell Batiste Band with George Porter Jr – Cissy Got The Blues 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Fest:

Russell Batiste Band – first song 11/11/11 Bear Creek Music Fest:

This next video is from Sunday afternoon. I was only able to catch Snarky Puppy‘s last song and I was sold immediately. These guys have a huge jazz fusion sound that is also very organic. I’m definitely going to be keeping my eyes on these guys….

Snarky Puppy – Phoebus 11/13/11 Bear Creek Music Festival (with Louis Cato on percussion):

Stay tuned, cause the flood of videos is about to continue…with the secret tree house after party jam session with WRD (Robert Walter, Eddie Roberts & Adam Deitch).

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