This weekend will be a hectic one for music lovers in New Orleans as the French Quarter Festival kicks off on Thursday and continues through Sunday. Our daily picks will be coming later in the week. For one band in particular, the weekend will be especially busy.
Funk Monkey releases their first full-length album, Rollin—Live at the Leaf on Friday and celebrates the release on Saturday night at the Maple Leaf Bar. They are also set to play FQF on Saturday on the Jack Daniels stage at 5:30 PM.
Funk Monkey’s first commercially available product, an EP, appeared in 2014 and set the stage for this latest recording by showcasing the soulful playing of the band’s front men—trombonist Greg Hicks and guitarist Bert Cotton. If those names sound familiar it’s because the two musicians play together in Bonerama. The band also features four other well-known local musicians. Dave Pomerleau is on bass and vocals, Eddie Christmas is on drums, Rik Fletcher is on organ and keys, and Brad Walker plays saxophone.
I was at the show back in July 2017 when the album was recorded and I can tell you the band was on fire. The recording, which was produced by Hicks, Cotton, and storied local producer Tracey Freeman and mixed by Freeman as well, is a pristine document of a great night of music.
