FEBRUARY 11 / 7:00PM
21 & Over / $14 Advance

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Nectar Presents:

Porter Batiste Stoltz
(of The Funky Meters)

• The Staxx Brothers

Porter Batiste Stoltz

Their time has come at last. After spending years, even decades, providing some of the greatest backline support New Orleans music has heard, the brilliant sidemen George Porter Jr., Russell Batiste Jr., and Brian Stoltz, (Porter Batiste Stoltz) are ready for their close-up. “It’s now time to focus all of our efforts on this, right here, right now,” says Porter Jr. “This is where we want to be. We might be walking away from some decent projects but we believe in this and in each other.”

Everyone else who hears Porter Batiste Stoltz believes, too, which is why the prospect of a new album from the group is reason to get excited. There’s no denying the trio’s pedigree, and their chops are miles wide and oceans deep. Porter is the original bass player for the Meters, a group that virtually defined New Orleans rockin’ funk, while Batiste and Stoltz joined Porter in the latter day incarnation of that band, the Funky Meters.

“We all come from old school New Orleans,” says Stoltz. “I grew up listening to the Beatles and Hendrix, but we still have that deep New Orleans background.”

A few years ago, when Funky Meter Art Neville opted to go back to the band bearing his family’s name, Porter Batiste Stoltz saw opportunity, not disappointment. Rather than continue on with the measured but explosive Meter-like grooves, Porter Batiste Stoltz decided to explore a little, to tinker with the foundation of their funky sound.

The result of that tinkering was a debut album, the aptly titled Expanding the Funkin’ Universe (2005). “The stuff we do together can only happen with the three of us,” says Batiste. “We have a deep respect for the groove. We sound like Porter Batiste Stoltz and only Porter Batiste Stoltz, that’s what’s so special about this band.”

LINKS

• Porter Batiste Stoltz on MySpace
• The Meters in Wikipedia
• The Staxx Brothers on Myspace

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