Fiyawerx Productions is an up and coming live music event promotion powerhouse and Fiya Fest is their flagship event to raise funds and awareness for The Roots of Music. On May 3, 2013, Fiyawerx went big with the first annual Fiya Fest and you can catch a glimpse below.
Funk It Blog’s Fiya Fest 2013 Highlight Video:
Dragon Smoke (Ivan Neville, Eric Lindell, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio)
Country Livin’, Landslide [Fleetwood Mac cover], Sunday Morning, Padlock (with Nick Daniels), Karate (with The Roots of Music)
Karl Denson & The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Horns with Nikki Glaspie, Eddie Roberts, Robert Walter, Jennifer Hartswick & Natalie Cressman
It Ain’t My Fault [Smokey Johnson cover], Who Took The Happiness Out? [Dirty Dozen Brass Band cover]
The New Orleans Suspects & The Bonerama Horns
Mardi Gras Moms Ball (with Big Sam), Pocketful Of Grits, All The Money
Funky But Better (Big Sam, Terence Higgins, Doug Wimbish, Eric McFadden, Roosevelt Collier & Khris Royal)
Funky But Better Jam, ??? (with Mike Dillon) (inc. Treme & Shake That Thing Girl), ??? (with Mike Dillon)
G.A.B.E. (George Porter Jr, Anders Osborne, Billy Iuso, Eric Bolivar)
Will It Go Around in Circles (with Skerik, Corey Glover & Peter Levin), He Bite Me (The Dragon) (with Corey Glover & Skerik), Mr. Charlie
Also check out the youtube page of Cement Level Studios for more Fiya Fest 2013 videos.
You can also find my videos from the 2012 and 2011 Fiyawerx Family Funktion Crawfish Boils here and here.
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
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!
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.
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
Another youtube page to keep your eyes on is that of Funky Nunu.
One of the great things about New Orleans during Jazz Festival is that different musicians that rarely play together form special super groups. Today I’d like to feature 3 such super groups, all of which feature members of New Orleans’ own Galactic.
First up is Good Enough For Good Times, which features Jeff Raines on guitar and Robert Mercurio on bass, both members of Galactic. In addition, an up and coming drummer that you want to know about, Simon Lott. And rounding out this Meters-esque quartet is Chris Spies on organ. On this night they were joined by guest saxophonist Lucas Ellman (the younger brother of Galactic’s own Ben Ellman). Check ’em out:
Good Enough For Good Times
May 3, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ Maison
Hey! Last Minute (Meters cover):
Good Enough For Good Times
May 3, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ Maison
unknown tune #1:
Good Enough For Good Times with Lucas Ellman
May 3, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ Maison
Jack Rabbit (Greyboy Allstars cover):
Good Enough For Good Times with Lucas Ellman
May 3, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ Maison
Play It Back (Dr. Lonnnie Smith cover):
Good Enough For Good Times with Lucas Ellman
May 3, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ Maison
Play It Back (Dr. Lonnnie Smith cover) (continued):
Next up is Garage A Trois, which, as many of you already know, consider New Orleans their homebase. Their early show at One Eyed Jack’s on Friday of the second weekend has become a tradition for many. This year it was hosted by our friends at Live Music Blog NOLA.
Below you will find a few videos I was able to capture. Although I will admit that the songs I happened to shoot are rather tame compared to some of the other stuff they got into this night (including a punk-rock version of Ween‘s “It’s Gonna Be A Long Night” and an extended “iPhone/Android rap”, both led by Mike Dillon, and both of which I captured with my eyes but not my camera.)
Garage A Trois
May 4, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
Electric Door Bell Machine:
Garage A Trois
May 4, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
Dugout:
Garage A Trois
May 4, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
Assault On Precinct 13:
The last super group I want to feature is Dragon Smoke. It consists of Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio and Eric Lindell. This group, put together by Boom Boom Room Presents, began as a Tuesday night tradition in 2003 at the Dragon’s Den, moving to the Blue Nile in 2006 and to One Eyed Jack’s in 2009. Every Tuesday between 1st and 2nd weekend of Jazz Fest you can find these four musicians catering to the locals and any other hardcore fester’s that make it down for the full 10 days of debauchery.
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Jet Airliner (Steve Miller Band cover):
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Valerie (The Zutons / Amy Winehouse cover) – Be Thankful For What You Got (William DeVaughn cover):
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Padlock:
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
If Love Can’t Find A Way:
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Grandma’s Hands (Bill Withers cover):
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Hercules (Aaron Neville cover):
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Country Livin’:
Dragon Smoke
May 1, 2012 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Lullaby for Mercy Ann:
