Guitarist and bandleader Marc Stone has become a cottage industry in New Orleans by shining the spotlight back onto old school musicians of all stripes. Every Wednesday in June he is presenting a new version of the seminal New Orleans funk band, the Soul Finders featuring two of the original players at a new music venue on Elysian Fields Avenue.
The Soul Finders were one of many bands led by the late, great piano player/ singer/ songwriter Eddie Bo. Vocalist Marilyn Barbarin and bassist/ vocalist Paul Boudreaux were members of the group, along with another late, great New Orleans master, the drummer James Black.They cut masterpieces like “Hook and Sling,” “Can I Be Your Squeeze,” and “Reborn” on tiny labels like Seven B, Bo Sound, Scram, and Fire Ball in the 1960s. Both Barbarin and Boudreaux are part of the New Soul Finders.
The rest of the band features players who are acolytes of the sound and the musicians. Stone will be playing guitar. He served a very significant musical apprenticeship with Eddie Bo when he first relocated to New Orleans. Tom Worrell, a musical heir to the funky New Orleans piano sounds of the era, who also played with Bo, is on keys. The group is rounded out by drummer Eric Bolivar—a player with deep respect of for the traditions and culture of New Orleans.
Here’s what Stone had to say, “Barbarin and Boudreaux drip soul with their pitch perfect, New Orleans church-raised vocals, and Boudreaux plays the same punchy, bubbling bass that powered the great Soul Finders recordings. They are going to dig deep into darkest corners of the N.O. funk catalog and bring the fire that made their efforts with the original Soul Finders all time classics.”
Mag’s 940 is located at 940 Elysian Fields Avenue at N. Rampart Street. Show time is 8-11 PM and the cover is $5.
