Big Sam's Funky Nation

Big Sam: Elvis Costello, Kate Hudson and the Birth of the Funky Nation

By Mike Greenhaus
2007-09-23

New Orleans trombonist Big Sam Williams first made a name for himself playing with his childhood idols the Dirty Dozen Brass Band around the new millennium. Since 2001 he’s also fronted his own ensemble, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and despite only being in his 20s, has already performed at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and of course Jazz Fest and jammed with everyone from Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint to the Neville Brothers to actor Anthony Anderson. Below, Big Sam discusses his time with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, his recent solo success and how he scored Kate Hudson’s digits.

Let’s start by talking about the Funky Nation’s origins. You originally conceived the group as something of a side-project while touring with the Dirty Dozen, correct?

I started the group back in 2001. I had been playing with the Dirty Dozen since 1999 and they were kind of my main musical act. That’s who I always wanted to play with growing up and I got the opportunity to play with them for about four years. But after a few years with them I kind of wanted to start my own group with the Dirty Dozen flavor, but with maybe a little funkier side too, rather than just New Orleans music. So, what I did was, I talked to a lot of guys I went to high school with and college with at the University of New Orleans and said, “Look man, I want to start a group, do you all want to be in the band?” and they were like, “Hell yeah.”

So we rehearsed and when the Dozen had a month off in 2001 we did our first gig at the Funky Butt and it was a packed house. No one else wanted the Sunday night gig, so I took it and I did all the advertising for it myself and it was a packed night. The owner of the club was like, “You can play here every Sunday if you want,” but I was still touring with the Dozen. So I told my band, “Look do you still want to play here while I’m on the road?” and they would play every Sunday night and whenever I came to town it was sort of this special event. But they still packed it every Sunday.

Then in about 2003 I left the Dozen to peruse my thing full time. The Dozen had been touring about 300 days a year and it was impossible to do both if I wanted the Funky Nation to be where I wanted them to be. Those guys in the Dozen are my role models and I love them to death, but Funky Nation could never do a gig like ACL if I was still on the road with the Dozen.

It’s kind of cool that the Dirty Dozen has become something as a training ground for New Orleans musicians who later go on to pursue their own careers. At what point did you start working on the material featured on your latest CD, Take Me Back?

All of them are original songs, but some of them I was playing before Katrina and some of them I wrote after Katrina specifically for the CD. After Katrina a lot of my band members were scattered around the country, so got some guys from Florida to do this project. I think it came out pretty good, you don’t know they aren’t from New Orleans [laughter]. The only thing that was a little complicated was teaching them some of them the New Orleans grooves…I have two songs on the album with a New Orleans feel: “Come Down To New Orleans” and “It Is What It Is.” But they pulled it off pretty well being from Florida and we did the recording in Florida as well.

Obviously the album is informed by the events of Katrina. Were you displaced after the hurricane as the album’s title suggests?

The title is like “Take Me Back to New Orleans.” I miss home man, I was in San Antonio, TX for two years. I actually just moved back to New Orleans a few weeks ago, though I was always coming back here to play or go on the road with my band. It was always real hard for me because the San Antonio music scene is dead…all they have is mariachi bands there. They have maybe two jazz clubs there, not like New Orleans. In the beginning I was going to Austin about two times a week to hear some good music and jam. The Neville Brothers were there. But I was like “get me back to New Orleans people.”

Are you currently touring with the Florida players featured on your album or your more New Orleans-centric ensemble?

Back to New Orleans [laughter]. The guys in Florida lasted for 6-8 months and about a year ago, I was like, “I need to play with my cats and get home.” They feel the music automatically. So now I am using most of my guys from New Orleans.

Since Katrina you’ve also devoted a good amount of time to your work with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. How did you initially become involved in their River in Reverse project?

I got in touch with Elvis through Allen, most definitely. I was in upstate New York doing a gig the Mardi Gras after Katrina and I got a phone call talking about a project with Elvis and Allen. They wanted me to come and record with them. I was like, “OK, that sounds good” and tried not to sound excite - Mike Greenhaus

Big Sam: Elvis Costello, Kate Hudson and the Birth of the Funky Nation

By Mike Greenhaus
2007-09-23

New Orleans trombonist Big Sam Williams first made a name for himself playing with his childhood idols the Dirty Dozen Brass Band around the new millennium. Since 2001 he’s also fronted his own ensemble, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and despite only being in his 20s, has already performed at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and of course Jazz Fest and jammed with everyone from Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint to the Neville Brothers to actor Anthony Anderson. Below, Big Sam discusses his time with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, his recent solo success and how he scored Kate Hudson’s digits.

Let’s start by talking about the Funky Nation’s origins. You originally conceived the group as something of a side-project while touring with the Dirty Dozen, correct?

I started the group back in 2001. I had been playing with the Dirty Dozen since 1999 and they were kind of my main musical act. That’s who I always wanted to play with growing up and I got the opportunity to play with them for about four years. But after a few years with them I kind of wanted to start my own group with the Dirty Dozen flavor, but with maybe a little funkier side too, rather than just New Orleans music. So, what I did was, I talked to a lot of guys I went to high school with and college with at the University of New Orleans and said, “Look man, I want to start a group, do you all want to be in the band?” and they were like, “Hell yeah.”

So we rehearsed and when the Dozen had a month off in 2001 we did our first gig at the Funky Butt and it was a packed house. No one else wanted the Sunday night gig, so I took it and I did all the advertising for it myself and it was a packed night. The owner of the club was like, “You can play here every Sunday if you want,” but I was still touring with the Dozen. So I told my band, “Look do you still want to play here while I’m on the road?” and they would play every Sunday night and whenever I came to town it was sort of this special event. But they still packed it every Sunday.

Then in about 2003 I left the Dozen to peruse my thing full time. The Dozen had been touring about 300 days a year and it was impossible to do both if I wanted the Funky Nation to be where I wanted them to be. Those guys in the Dozen are my role models and I love them to death, but Funky Nation could never do a gig like ACL if I was still on the road with the Dozen.

It’s kind of cool that the Dirty Dozen has become something as a training ground for New Orleans musicians who later go on to pursue their own careers. At what point did you start working on the material featured on your latest CD, Take Me Back?

All of them are original songs, but some of them I was playing before Katrina and some of them I wrote after Katrina specifically for the CD. After Katrina a lot of my band members were scattered around the country, so got some guys from Florida to do this project. I think it came out pretty good, you don’t know they aren’t from New Orleans [laughter]. The only thing that was a little complicated was teaching them some of them the New Orleans grooves…I have two songs on the album with a New Orleans feel: “Come Down To New Orleans” and “It Is What It Is.” But they pulled it off pretty well being from Florida and we did the recording in Florida as well.

Obviously the album is informed by the events of Katrina. Were you displaced after the hurricane as the album’s title suggests?

The title is like “Take Me Back to New Orleans.” I miss home man, I was in San Antonio, TX for two years. I actually just moved back to New Orleans a few weeks ago, though I was always coming back here to play or go on the road with my band. It was always real hard for me because the San Antonio music scene is dead…all they have is mariachi bands there. They have maybe two jazz clubs there, not like New Orleans. In the beginning I was going to Austin about two times a week to hear some good music and jam. The Neville Brothers were there. But I was like “get me back to New Orleans people.”

Are you currently touring with the Florida players featured on your album or your more New Orleans-centric ensemble?

Back to New Orleans [laughter]. The guys in Florida lasted for 6-8 months and about a year ago, I was like, “I need to play with my cats and get home.” They feel the music automatically. So now I am using most of my guys from New Orleans.

Since Katrina you’ve also devoted a good amount of time to your work with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. How did you initially become involved in their River in Reverse project?

I got in touch with Elvis through Allen, most definitely. I was in upstate New York doing a gig the Mardi Gras after Katrina and I got a phone call talking about a project with Elvis and Allen. They wanted me to come and record with them. I was like, “OK, that sounds good” and tried not to sound excite - Mike Greenhaus

July 5 & 6, 2009

Day 3: Wherin we worry about genre, and then appreciate the trombone

It is not a rhetorical question when Big Sam Williams asks, "Is it funky?"

You better answer.

"Is. It. Funky?!"

Now that you mention it, Mr. Williams, Yes, it is.

I don't, and will not ever, know exactly what was going on with some of the people in the Marriott ballroom late Saturday night, but I'll assume their legs were broken. Because they were sitting there. Some bobbing their heads, sure. But they were sitting.

I do not understand how you can watch Big Sam's Funky Nation sitting -- unless your legs are broke. The Funky Nation is that good.

Full article: http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2009/07/blues_fest_in_review_day_3_whe.html
___________________________

Day 4: Big Sam. Sharon Jones. Period. Exclamation point.

Here's how good Big Sam's Funky Nation was Sunday at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival:

The Jimi Hendrix impersonator wandered to the front of the stage, watched for a few minutes, turned around and mouthed the words, "#@$ day-um!"

Jimi Hendrix impersonator don't lie.

Jimi Hendrix impersonator knows his stuff.

Sunday is hard. Saturday is long (always), hot (this year), and something between a party and an endurance test.

It's not surprising that the festival felt a little hung over...

And then ... Big Sam's Funky Nation jolted the place.

Aside from the music -- and that band is tight enough (and hot enough ) to turn coal into a diamond -- here's what makes the Funky Nation so infectious: You cannot have more fun than they're having on stage. You cannot smile more than Big Sam. You cannot dance better than Big Sam.

Full article: http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2009/07/blues_in_review_day_4_big_sam.html

- Ryan White - The Oregonian

Big Sam's Funky Nation
By John Nova Lomax
Published on April 15, 2008 at 12:58pm
Details:
Friday, April 18, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main. Call 713-533-9525 for more info.
A dancing bear of a man, Big Sam Williams is a nose tackle-size New Orleans trombonist and veteran of an apprenticeship in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The Funky Nation, his eight-piece band, is far less traditional than the Double-D ¬Double-B. Based on the evidence of his CD Peace, Love & Understanding, the band's sound owes at least as much to the chunky, wondrously bombastic full-blown funk of mid-'70s Stevie Wonder as it does to any Big Easy legend. Some post-Galactic New Orleans funk these days can trend toward jam band-dom; Big Sam keeps it more on the street side à la Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, with whom he has also performed. It should be a party down on Main, and a great warm-up for the iFest, which starts the next day.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-04-17/music/big-sam-s-funky-nation/ - Houston Press

Jambase.com
By Aaron LaFont

Big Sam's Funky Nation :: 11.16.07 :: Tipitina's :: New Orleans, LA


Big Sam's Funky Nation:: 11.16
In 1978, George Clinton and his Funkadelic crew struck back against an excessively commercial music scene with their own freaky national anthem, One Nation Under a Groove, an album that defied corporately dictated boundaries to bring folks together in an atmosphere of true freedom. Well, 30 years later, in the capitol of funk, New Orleans, one group fully embodies Clinton's creed, steering the grooves that unite while they blast past the mass-produced, soul-lacking riffraff.

Big Sam's Funky Nation blends the dirty bump and mind wringing psychedelia of P-Funk with the deep soul and raw, earthy rhythms of The Meters. Add to that a trombone wailing, funky struttin' frontman named Big Sam and an equally fiery tenor sax counterpart, Calvin Johnson, and therein lies the essence of BSFN, whose sound is as uniquely funk as it is distinctively New Orleans.

For OffBeat Magazine's 20th anniversary celebration, The Nation sought to make two things clear:

1. There ain't no party like a New Orleans party.
2. There ain't no party in New Orleans like Big Sam's Party.

Around midnight, with the crowd already loose thanks in part to the jam driven, funk-reggae-hip-hop fusion of Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, BSFN brought their wall of sound to the stage, thoroughly prepared to direct the funk parade into the wee hours of the morning. From the first few bars and for the next three hours, the crowd shook, dancing nonstop to the full-on frenzy unfolding before them.


Big Sam's Funky Nation:: 11.16
Rather than pausing between songs, BSFN simply took their jams further, expanding on improvised melodies that materialized from an increasingly vast array of grooves pushed hard by the monstrous beats and slamming bass of their rhythm section. Guitarist Casey Robinson's Scofield-meets-Hazel playing heartily meshed with the almost funk-metal core, his twisted rhythms and jazz drenched solos further solidifying BSFN's foundation. Also spicing up the mix was organist Adam Matasar, who energized the heavy pitch with a danceable pulse and gave Johnson and Big Sam a rich canvas to scribble on.

Many know Big Sam from his days with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, his numerous sit-ins with Widespread Panic, and his featured role on Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint's recent tour. Undeniably the evening's primary catalyst, his massive trombone squalls fueled the Nation's funk while his steadfast boogieing brought its spirit to life. As the night progressed, he reeled in the crowd until a hand clapping, foot stomping semicircle huddled around the stage.

After spitting a few bullets with the Rebirth Brass Band's Shamar Allen, Sam set in motion the evening's liveliest moment, an impromptu take on the "Cupid Shuffle" where he enlisted the assistance of 30 audience members to "walk it out" with him onstage. That opened the door to a loose, jam free-for-all finale built around the hooks from Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," The Fugees' "Ready or Not," Kanye West's "Good Morning," OutKast's "Mrs. Jackson," Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love, and Understanding," The Meters' "Cissy Strut," Sly and the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away."

Since Hurricane Katrina, perhaps the most overlooked - and arguably the most significant and profound - aspect of New Orleans' rebuilding process can be found not in the lights of the French Quarter but within a revitalized local music scene. As long as groups like Big Sam's Funky Nation helm communal happenings like this one the funky fever is bound to spread.

JamBase | Louisiana
Go See Live Music!


http://www.bigsamsfunkynation.com/

[Published on: 12/7/07]

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?StoryID=12157 - Jambase, Aaron LaFont

Relix Magazine
Written by Mike Greenhaus Wednesday, 03 September 2008

BIG BAND FUNK
Big Sam Williams has backed Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, appeared on VH1’s Soul Cities and jammed with everyone from Chris Robinson to actor Anthony Anderson. But hanging with celebrities hasn’t softened the trombonist’s big band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation. “I think Peace Love and Understanding is a little harder-edged,” Williams says of his most recent release. “Our first album was more jazz-oriented and the second album has more of a funk vibe. But with this album, we get down to some funky rock in line with the sound we have been playing live.” Williams, who cut his teeth in The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, originally envisioned the Funky Nation as a side project, but eventually made the difficult decision to pursue his band full-time. “Those guys in the Dozen are my role models, but Funky Nation could never do a gig like ACL if I was still on the road 300 days a year.” His gamble paid off: Not only has Big Sam’s Funky Nation scored spots at festivals like Bonnaroo and Voodoo, but they’ve made a splash on the Hollywood circuit. “Anthony Anderson didn’t want to get off the stage [laughter]. We finished at like two in the morning and he was still up there on the piano.” www.bigsamsfunkynation.com

http://www.relix.com/Features/Bands_On_the_Verge/BIG_SAM%E2%80%99S_FUNKY_NATION,_New_Orleans,_LA_200809033121.html - Relix - The Magazine for Music

NOLA's Big Sam's Funky Nation: 'Peace, Love & Understanding'
Music News
By M&C Music Mar 18, 2008, 17:44 GMT
You haven't experienced New Orleans if you missed Big Sam's Funky Nation. NOLA's rising stars latest upcoming release is "Peace, Love & Understanding."
This latest effort from Big Sam's Funky Nation features the distinct sound of Big Sam Williams on trombone with his Funky Nation and special guests Ivan Neville and Nick Daniels. The CD is available through the website HERE and some record stores.
"Peace, Love & Understanding" provides an ear-full of some of the funkiest sounds coming out of the Cresent City.
BSFN adeptly maneuvers through this musical terrain with the soulful skill that has been the trademark of this emerging ensemble. The twelve song effort reflects BSFN at its best with songs that evoke the steamy good time feeling of New Orleans.
The leader of the band, Big Sam Williams, believes this work embodies the evolution of the band and its style. "This album reflects our optimism and sheer love for New Orleans as well as our positive outlook on the future of full-blown funk," according to the Big man himself.
One thing that is immediately noticeable after just one listen is this CD is all about a party. Big Sam's live performances have become legendary funk fests with a deep NOLA groove, and BSFN delivers a studio rendition just as inspirational.
BSFN will be performing songs from "Peace, Love & Understanding" at their upcoming record release party at Sullivan Hall in New York City on April 4th.
www.bigsamsfunkynation.com

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/music/news/article_1395969.php/NOLAs_Big_Sams_Funky_Nation_Peace_Love_&_Understanding_ - Monsters & Critics

Relix Magazine
Written by Mike Greenhaus Wednesday, 03 September 2008

BIG BAND FUNK
Big Sam Williams has backed Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, appeared on VH1’s Soul Cities and jammed with everyone from Chris Robinson to actor Anthony Anderson. But hanging with celebrities hasn’t softened the trombonist’s big band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation. “I think Peace Love and Understanding is a little harder-edged,” Williams says of his most recent release. “Our first album was more jazz-oriented and the second album has more of a funk vibe. But with this album, we get down to some funky rock in line with the sound we have been playing live.” Williams, who cut his teeth in The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, originally envisioned the Funky Nation as a side project, but eventually made the difficult decision to pursue his band full-time. “Those guys in the Dozen are my role models, but Funky Nation could never do a gig like ACL if I was still on the road 300 days a year.” His gamble paid off: Not only has Big Sam’s Funky Nation scored spots at festivals like Bonnaroo and Voodoo, but they’ve made a splash on the Hollywood circuit. “Anthony Anderson didn’t want to get off the stage [laughter]. We finished at like two in the morning and he was still up there on the piano.” www.bigsamsfunkynation.com

http://www.relix.com/Features/Bands_On_the_Verge/BIG_SAM%E2%80%99S_FUNKY_NATION,_New_Orleans,_LA_200809033121.html - Relix - The Magazine for Music

Big Sam's Funky Nation | 03.07.09 | S.F.
Words by: Eric Podolsky
Big Sam's Funky Nation :: 03.07.09 :: Boom Boom Room :: San Francisco, CA

Anyone intimately familiar with the New Orleans funk scene can agree with the fact that the city's best and funkiest bands usually follow a universal rule: keep it simple. The best New Orleans music has no high-handed concepts, and isn't put on a pedestal and presented as art. No, the best New Orleans music comes from the gut, swinging from the hip. Big Sam's Funky Nation knows this as well as anyone, and pulls no punches when it comes to bringing a straight raw party, as they clearly showed on a rowdy Saturday night at the Boom Boom Room.
From the first notes of the evening, it was clear that all the band asked of the audience was for us to shake our thangs. This was unapologetic party music, designed to help us leave any worries at the door and focus on the more pressing matter of getting down. With Big Sam Williams at the helm, fueling the fire with vocals and huge blasts of trombone, the Funky Nation hit us with their blend of boisterous funk rock. Comprised of Casey Robinson (guitar), Eric Vogel (bass), Adam Matasar (keys) and the monstrous MILK (drums), the band pounded its way through a first set heavy in call-and-response numbers. As Sam's trombone was the only horn in the group on this night, the focus was all on the band, which did most of the heavy lifting behind Sam, who assumed the role of a George Clinton-esque MC between his solos, riling the crowd with take-you-higher P-Funk/Sly Stone chants and band intros. With this format, the first set saw more shred-tastic heavy rock numbers than horn-driven funk.
To some, such a focus on rock may have been a bit surprising, as Big Sam grew up in New Orleans cutting his teeth as a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and playing in second lines. But, as Sam mentioned to me before the show, the cross-breeding of New Orleans music has been encouraged and welcomed for years now, with the Dirty Dozen blazing the trail of innovation.
"A while back, the Dozen flipped the strip. They were like, 'Look, we want to add a full drum set,' which changed everything. Then, they were like, 'Now we're gonna add a tuba who sounds like he's a bass player. Now we're gonna add an organ.' It's not a real brass band anymore but they're still doin' it. Then, they added a guitar and it started goin' into that funk and rock element. So, they're definitely the innovators of a bunch of brass bands with that."
"I played with the Soul Rebels before I played with the Dozen, and now the Soul Rebels have a guitar player. It's like that Dave Chappelle skit. You want to get the white audience you gotta have a guitar. You want to get the black people you gotta have drums. Most of the brass bands are tryin' to use the guitar sound now. Right now they have guys on the second line parades playing banjo with the brass bands! It's pretty hip right now. It's about time for some crossbreeding. I don't think it's gonna damage or hurt the music at all."
One thing was certain: this was not traditional New Orleans brass music. The second set started after 1:00 a.m., which thinned the crowd a bit but allowed for more dancing space and inspired a looser, less forced set where the band really got down to business. With Sam less worried about getting us to put our hands in the air, the music found its pocket and the room started to really move. The band busted "Hard To Handle," pounding it out with the elephantine force of a brass band. Sam kept the energy high, leading the band through random party numbers like Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" and DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat." One of the highlights was a mammoth drum solo by MILK, who rocked and pounded the skins like Bonham before busting into a sweaty funk groove.
By now, things were really moving and the band kept it going with their own take on "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Come 2 a.m., the funk was getting deeper and that New Orleans swagger started to really work its way into the grooves. Then came the Meters' "Cabbage Alley," which ignited a full-blown gospel rave-up. Sam's guttural trombone blasts on top of Matasar's huge, warm organ flourishes combined to bring us up and up, taking us straight to church. With our feet a-stompin' and hands a-clappin', the band brought us back home with climactic Hammond-driven versions of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "I'll Fly Away," leaving us sweaty and thoroughly raved-up.
There is nothing complicated about Big Sam's Funky Nation. Their music is in-your-face and unapologetic, like a good, raunchy trombone solo should be. Like much New Orleans music, it's a party for party's sake ("ain't nothin' but a party, y'all") and doesn't strive to be anything else. It's simple soul food to get us through the week, and this show was exactly that.
Funky Nation tour dates available here.
JamBase | Stuffed
Go See Live Music!

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/1 - Jambase

Big Sam of Big Sam's Funky Nation performs before thousands at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Saturday, April 25, 2009 in New Orleans. The festival features hundreds of acts on 12 stages this weekend and next. The festival will continue Sunday and pick up again on Thursday. Among this year's headline acts are Bon Jovi, Neil Young, Kings of Leon and Sugarland.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0bEF7lDftBeuI - Day Life

Thousands dance, clap to Big Sam's Funky Nation at Jazz Fest in New Orleans
By: CHEVEL JOHNSON
Associated Press
06/20/09 3:00 PM PDT
NEW ORLEANS — Big Sam's Funky Nation, one of New Orleans' most energetic brass bands, had a crowd of thousands on its feet at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Saturday, the second day of the outdoor music fest. Fans danced and clapped to the music under a sunny sky…

http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/ap/48683887.html
- Associated Press

Big Sam's Funky Nation | 03.07.09 | S.F.
Words by: Eric Podolsky
Big Sam's Funky Nation :: 03.07.09 :: Boom Boom Room :: San Francisco, CA

Anyone intimately familiar with the New Orleans funk scene can agree with the fact that the city's best and funkiest bands usually follow a universal rule: keep it simple. The best New Orleans music has no high-handed concepts, and isn't put on a pedestal and presented as art. No, the best New Orleans music comes from the gut, swinging from the hip. Big Sam's Funky Nation knows this as well as anyone, and pulls no punches when it comes to bringing a straight raw party, as they clearly showed on a rowdy Saturday night at the Boom Boom Room.
From the first notes of the evening, it was clear that all the band asked of the audience was for us to shake our thangs. This was unapologetic party music, designed to help us leave any worries at the door and focus on the more pressing matter of getting down. With Big Sam Williams at the helm, fueling the fire with vocals and huge blasts of trombone, the Funky Nation hit us with their blend of boisterous funk rock. Comprised of Casey Robinson (guitar), Eric Vogel (bass), Adam Matasar (keys) and the monstrous MILK (drums), the band pounded its way through a first set heavy in call-and-response numbers. As Sam's trombone was the only horn in the group on this night, the focus was all on the band, which did most of the heavy lifting behind Sam, who assumed the role of a George Clinton-esque MC between his solos, riling the crowd with take-you-higher P-Funk/Sly Stone chants and band intros. With this format, the first set saw more shred-tastic heavy rock numbers than horn-driven funk.
To some, such a focus on rock may have been a bit surprising, as Big Sam grew up in New Orleans cutting his teeth as a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and playing in second lines. But, as Sam mentioned to me before the show, the cross-breeding of New Orleans music has been encouraged and welcomed for years now, with the Dirty Dozen blazing the trail of innovation.
"A while back, the Dozen flipped the strip. They were like, 'Look, we want to add a full drum set,' which changed everything. Then, they were like, 'Now we're gonna add a tuba who sounds like he's a bass player. Now we're gonna add an organ.' It's not a real brass band anymore but they're still doin' it. Then, they added a guitar and it started goin' into that funk and rock element. So, they're definitely the innovators of a bunch of brass bands with that."
"I played with the Soul Rebels before I played with the Dozen, and now the Soul Rebels have a guitar player. It's like that Dave Chappelle skit. You want to get the white audience you gotta have a guitar. You want to get the black people you gotta have drums. Most of the brass bands are tryin' to use the guitar sound now. Right now they have guys on the second line parades playing banjo with the brass bands! It's pretty hip right now. It's about time for some crossbreeding. I don't think it's gonna damage or hurt the music at all."
One thing was certain: this was not traditional New Orleans brass music. The second set started after 1:00 a.m., which thinned the crowd a bit but allowed for more dancing space and inspired a looser, less forced set where the band really got down to business. With Sam less worried about getting us to put our hands in the air, the music found its pocket and the room started to really move. The band busted "Hard To Handle," pounding it out with the elephantine force of a brass band. Sam kept the energy high, leading the band through random party numbers like Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" and DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat." One of the highlights was a mammoth drum solo by MILK, who rocked and pounded the skins like Bonham before busting into a sweaty funk groove.
By now, things were really moving and the band kept it going with their own take on "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Come 2 a.m., the funk was getting deeper and that New Orleans swagger started to really work its way into the grooves. Then came the Meters' "Cabbage Alley," which ignited a full-blown gospel rave-up. Sam's guttural trombone blasts on top of Matasar's huge, warm organ flourishes combined to bring us up and up, taking us straight to church. With our feet a-stompin' and hands a-clappin', the band brought us back home with climactic Hammond-driven versions of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "I'll Fly Away," leaving us sweaty and thoroughly raved-up.
There is nothing complicated about Big Sam's Funky Nation. Their music is in-your-face and unapologetic, like a good, raunchy trombone solo should be. Like much New Orleans music, it's a party for party's sake ("ain't nothin' but a party, y'all") and doesn't strive to be anything else. It's simple soul food to get us through the week, and this show was exactly that.
Funky Nation tour dates available here.
JamBase | Stuffed
Go See Live Music!

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/1 - Jambase

Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Forget the jokes: Trombones are serious business again in New Orleans.

Trombone Shorty is a 22-year-old rock star, and Bonerama takes the ensemble approach. But the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz these days is Sammie "Big Sam" Williams.
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"I heard one the other day - what do you call a trombonist with a pager?" says Williams by phone from the home of the blues. "An optimist. Man, that's cold blooded."

Williams is leader of Big Sam's Funky Nation, a killer septet of young assassins with an explosive blend of hard-driving funk and the festive sound of New Orleans street parades, coming Friday and Saturday to the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco.

Williams, 26, also plays with the town's top songwriter, Allen Toussaint, and has been touring with Toussaint and Elvis Costello the past two years. He was snatched right out of college by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a mere three years after taking the instrument seriously in high school.

"I picked it up very quickly," he says. "Very quickly."

Williams is a product of the city's unique tradition of brass bands that has flourished anew with a younger generation. While they were all still in high school at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Williams and Funky Nation trumpeter Andrew Baham were founding members of the Lil' Stooges Brass Band, a group that continues today under the direction of their partner, Walter Ramsey. Williams also played around town with the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Eventually the young hotshot came to the attention of the city's leading brass band.

Williams had been moved to take music seriously in the first place when he heard the Dirty Dozen Brass Band CD "Ears to the Wall" while visiting a girlfriend whose father happened to be trumpeter Efrem Towns, one of the long-standing Dirty Dozen's original members.

"I decided I would either play in this band or have one of my own just like it," he says.

When the Dozen needed a new trombone player, a scant three years later, they plucked Williams, not yet out of his teens, straight from the University of New Orleans and put him on the road. Two months later, Williams found himself at a music festival in Colorado with jam rock band Widespread Panic. "I had no idea music could be that big," he says. "From there on out, my whole concept of playing music has changed."

In addition to the three-horn front line, Williams' band features a fiery rock-oriented guitarist, Casey Robinson, at age 28 the band's oldest member, and a deft keyboardist, Adam Matasar, whose fascination with vintage funk sounds leads him to some interesting places. "The other night, we were playing a gig and he was coming up with all these psychedelic sounds," Williams says. "I love that. 'Keep reaching,' I told him, 'just keep reaching.' "

But Williams also knows his band is deeply rooted in New Orleans. "No matter what we add - R&B, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, P-Funk - we are all from New Orleans and it all has that New Orleans style of playing."

He says he was always large for his age when he was growing up and earned the Big Sam nickname long ago, even though he isn't an especially gigantic fellow. "I've been losing weight lately, too," he says. "It's kinda stuck with me now."

Williams turns the trombone into a brass machine gun, sputtering rapid-fire bursts against the big, fat grooves the band supplies. He has his own voice on the instrument, although it does have a New Orleans accent.

He hopes to turn trombone into an instrument kids growing up want to play, and he is aware of the instrument's rehabilitation on the New Orleans music scene.

"There's certain similarities between us," he says of Trombone Shorty, Bonerama and his band. "We all live in New Orleans and we've all been around each other quite a lot now, but, overall, we have completely different approaches.

"Right now, someone else is planning on coming along with another completely different approach, too," he says. "I can't wait to see what happens."

Big Sam's Funky Nation: 9:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat. at the Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore St. Tickets: $15. Call (415) 673-8000, Ext. 1 or www.boomboomblues.com.

Big Sam on YouTube: links.sfgate.com/ZDHP.

E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
- San Francisco Chronicle

Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Forget the jokes: Trombones are serious business again in New Orleans.

Trombone Shorty is a 22-year-old rock star, and Bonerama takes the ensemble approach. But the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz these days is Sammie "Big Sam" Williams.
Images
View Larger Image

"I heard one the other day - what do you call a trombonist with a pager?" says Williams by phone from the home of the blues. "An optimist. Man, that's cold blooded."

Williams is leader of Big Sam's Funky Nation, a killer septet of young assassins with an explosive blend of hard-driving funk and the festive sound of New Orleans street parades, coming Friday and Saturday to the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco.

Williams, 26, also plays with the town's top songwriter, Allen Toussaint, and has been touring with Toussaint and Elvis Costello the past two years. He was snatched right out of college by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a mere three years after taking the instrument seriously in high school.

"I picked it up very quickly," he says. "Very quickly."

Williams is a product of the city's unique tradition of brass bands that has flourished anew with a younger generation. While they were all still in high school at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Williams and Funky Nation trumpeter Andrew Baham were founding members of the Lil' Stooges Brass Band, a group that continues today under the direction of their partner, Walter Ramsey. Williams also played around town with the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Eventually the young hotshot came to the attention of the city's leading brass band.

Williams had been moved to take music seriously in the first place when he heard the Dirty Dozen Brass Band CD "Ears to the Wall" while visiting a girlfriend whose father happened to be trumpeter Efrem Towns, one of the long-standing Dirty Dozen's original members.

"I decided I would either play in this band or have one of my own just like it," he says.

When the Dozen needed a new trombone player, a scant three years later, they plucked Williams, not yet out of his teens, straight from the University of New Orleans and put him on the road. Two months later, Williams found himself at a music festival in Colorado with jam rock band Widespread Panic. "I had no idea music could be that big," he says. "From there on out, my whole concept of playing music has changed."

In addition to the three-horn front line, Williams' band features a fiery rock-oriented guitarist, Casey Robinson, at age 28 the band's oldest member, and a deft keyboardist, Adam Matasar, whose fascination with vintage funk sounds leads him to some interesting places. "The other night, we were playing a gig and he was coming up with all these psychedelic sounds," Williams says. "I love that. 'Keep reaching,' I told him, 'just keep reaching.' "

But Williams also knows his band is deeply rooted in New Orleans. "No matter what we add - R&B, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, P-Funk - we are all from New Orleans and it all has that New Orleans style of playing."

He says he was always large for his age when he was growing up and earned the Big Sam nickname long ago, even though he isn't an especially gigantic fellow. "I've been losing weight lately, too," he says. "It's kinda stuck with me now."

Williams turns the trombone into a brass machine gun, sputtering rapid-fire bursts against the big, fat grooves the band supplies. He has his own voice on the instrument, although it does have a New Orleans accent.

He hopes to turn trombone into an instrument kids growing up want to play, and he is aware of the instrument's rehabilitation on the New Orleans music scene.

"There's certain similarities between us," he says of Trombone Shorty, Bonerama and his band. "We all live in New Orleans and we've all been around each other quite a lot now, but, overall, we have completely different approaches.

"Right now, someone else is planning on coming along with another completely different approach, too," he says. "I can't wait to see what happens."

Big Sam's Funky Nation: 9:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat. at the Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore St. Tickets: $15. Call (415) 673-8000, Ext. 1 or www.boomboomblues.com.

Big Sam on YouTube: links.sfgate.com/ZDHP.

E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
- San Francisco Chronicle