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From OffBeat Magazine: After last year’s successful debut launched NOLA Funk Fest to the elite tier of the fall festival circuit, it’s returning even bigger in 2024 with a dynamic lineup. Taking place over three days from October 18–20 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum complete with food trucks, face painting, drinks, a special exhibition, symposia, and VIP show alongside the live music. NOLA Funk Fest is intended to showcase and to support the potential of the Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience: a large-scale, immersive museum conceived by music philanthropist and activist Chris Beary to showcase the full story of Louisiana’s music.
“It should exist, because this whole city is based upon music. Everything — Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, everything revolves around music. And they should have something to exemplify that… and the people around the world could come to this museum and see and hear it and know where it came from,” said Leo Nocentelli, guitarist of the fabled Meters and advisory board member for the future LMHE. “And a museum is the perfect vehicle, I think, to show that.”
Showcasing New Orleans Musicians
NOLA Funk Fest 2024 will showcase the potential of the LMHE for music entertainment and education. Musical acts billed for the main stage include The Soul Rebels, George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, John “Papa” Gros Band, Dumpstaphunk, Marcia Ball, Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Bobby Rush, Jamal Batiste Band, Space & Harmony (featuring members of The Revivalists and Naughty Professor), Erica Falls & Vintage Soul, Omari Neville, River Eckert, Good Enough for Good Times, Tribal Gold with Big Chief Juan Pardo, New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Soul Project, a Russell Batiste Memorial Second Line featuring the Original Pinettes Brass Band & the Le Bon Temps Baby Dolls, Eddie Roberts & the Lucky Strokes, Corey Henry & Tremé Funktet, New Orleans Suspects with the Dirty Dozen Horns, Jason Neville Funky Soul Band, and David Batiste & the Gladiators.
Headlining the main stage are some of New Orleans’ greatest musical icons: Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, and GeoLeo — consisting of George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli of the Meters backed up by Galactic’s Stanton Moore on drums and Ivan Neville on keys. “That is crazy. That is nuts. To have that kind of a backup on keyboards and drums,” Nocentelli marveled. “Oh man, it’s a dream come true.”
Even given the worldwide acclaim the Meters have earned, Nocentelli emphasizes what an honor it is to headline NOLA Funk Fest, given the immense local talent also featured.
“I could think of several other acts, several other artists [from the lineup] that could headline that thing, you know, that’s why I’m so honored that I would be part of something that’s headlining such a group from New Orleans,” Nocentelli said. “My hat’s off to Chris Beary, because he was intelligent enough to recognize that and really want to put it on the forefront and make it where the people can see the talent and that hey, we got talent here in New Orleans. It’s all going to be New Orleans talent. Here it is.”
Passing the Torch
A big part of the LMHE and Funk Fest’s mission is to shine a light on the next generation of Louisiana musical talent. That’s why Beary and his team have made the Passing the Torch Stage an important component of the festival again for the second year. This outdoor stage allows young artists and music industry professionals from Loyola and NOCCA to perform or work at a major festival, boosting their resumes and experience in the process.
“Funk Fest really provides that opportunity in the fall to get our students on the stage at a festival and to work at a festival,” said Jonathan McHugh, producer, director, music supervisor and current chair in Music Industry Studies at Loyola University New Orleans.
“You’re playing in the Funk Fest. You take that and it’s on your resumé… and then when you pitch the next festival down the road, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I played the Funk Fest here in college’ … for us, it’s just the opportunity to be able to get our kids in front of as many people as possible and as big a stage as possible. That’s our goal.”
When McHugh first moved back to New Orleans from Los Angeles to teach at Loyola, Tipitina’s Sonny Schneideau invited him to roll in the Krewe of Tucks Mardi Gras Parade. When the parade got stuck in the lineup and didn’t leave Tchoupitoulas for hours, McHugh and Beary got to talking. That’s when Beary pitched him the idea of having a stage at Funk Fest devoted to the emerging talent at Loyola. “I love the idea of getting our kids to play, any stage in New Orleans, especially if it’s attached to a festival,” McHugh said.
On the wall of Loyola’s Music and Communications Complex, McHugh has started the Loyola Wall of Fame, featuring the accomplishments of alumni and faculty. “Proudly on that wall is a graphic of Funk Fest. So, when I walk down that hall and different new students or parents are visiting, we can say, ‘Look, our goal is to put you, or your students, your children, up on these stages.’” McHugh said. “And so, it’s a goal of mine to turn this into like Loyola Live, where every student is out in the field, working as a sound engineer, a grip, a stagehand, or they’re performing on a stage or they’re jumping up with this artist in the community.”
One such example is Dylan Miles, nephew of New Orleans live music painter Randy “Frenchy” Frechette, who was given the opportunity to sit in with Nocentelli when he was just 14 years old during one of the Funky Uncle live-streamed shows that Beary and his Mardi Gras Krewe Funky Tucks produced in 2020. This year, Miles—now a freshman at Loyola— will play the Passing the Torch stage with his band Surco and sit in with acts like Eddie Roberts on the main stage. His uncle Frenchy will be present to paint the Fest and have a tent of artwork set up, too.
Also, among the Loyola and NOCCA acts to play the Passing the Torch stage this year are rap artists flow mvnny, Mac NL, Ja Fearce, Azure Skyz; singer-songwriters Tuller, Dizzy, and Montey; R&B artists Aaniyah Anderson, Kai De Lua, and Royale; rock/funk bands Surco and Bread for Sale; and rock acts Tired Eyes and Hypo Nun. “A lot of our talent is not funk, and so it’s one of those things where you can have hip-hop, you can have R&B, you can have pop, you can have all these different things,” McHugh said. “And Chris doesn’t put a label on ‘It has to be this. It has to be that.’ And I love that.”
One young artist who appreciated the experience of playing the Passing the Torch stage for the inaugural Funk Fest in 2023 is River Eckert, the 14-year-old piano player and current NOCCA student whose impressive chops rooted in New Orleans musical influences like Dr. John, Professor Longhair, and James Booker have already landed him on stages across the city.
“When I played the Passing the Torch stage, it was my first time playing with my own little band,” recalled Eckert. “And I think it’s important to have stuff like that, because the culture here in New Orleans, for generations it’s been passed down from one generation to the next, and it should continue to get passed down.”
This year, Eckert has already graduated to playing Funk Fest’s main stage. “I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hoping that we can try out some new stuff, maybe some original songs. I just really look forward to being on the main stage. I’ve never really been on a main stage at a festival until now,” Eckert said. “It’s something that when you hear ‘main stage,’ you just hear like, ‘woah, that’s big time.’ It just sounds exciting. I’m looking forward to it. I always look forward to playing, playing on a main stage is even better.”
Besides the exposure and experience, Funk Fest provides an incredible opportunity for young artists like Eckert and other NOCCA and Loyola students to interact with some of the city’s most revered artists as peers. “Sometimes it’s a little intimidating,” Eckert said with a chuckle. “But I don’t let any of that get in my head or anything, it’s just good to talk to these guys who are successful, because, you know, some of them are hanging around maybe before after their set just to be there and have a good time. So sometimes you can have a little chat with them. They can give good advice, too. And maybe, if you really get lucky, you can sit in with them, or something like that. That’s always fun to get to sit in with someone you idolize. It’s just great to be around so many legends. They’re all inspiring to me.”
The festival and LMHE’s emphasis are on continuing the lineage of New Orleans music and musicians. Eckert believes the mission is important, “You can go anywhere else in the world to learn rock music or even straight-ahead jazz — you can learn it in many places. But the only place you can come to learn New Orleans music is New Orleans,” said Eckert. “It’s important to keep this history and culture alive. And at the Funk Fest, the Passing the Torch Stage gives the more up and coming bands, like I did last year, a chance to play and show what they’ve been doing, what they’ve got for the world.”
Mission
The LMHE and Funk Fest’s mission is no small undertaking. Thankfully, those fighting to secure funding and support for the LMHE are Beary, former president and CEO of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Terry Stewart (future CEO of the LMHE), founding curator of the GRAMMY Museum and Rock Hall; Bob Santelli (future curatorial director of the LMHE), the Recording Academy’s New Orleans-based Membership & Industry Relations representative Reid Wick, and an extensive advisory board of some of the state’s most influential musicians and industry professionals, including OffBeat Publisher Jan Ramsey. They recognize the potential economic impact a project like the LMHE could impart for Louisiana: with a projected impact of $150 million back to the local economy annually, the LMHE would in theory pay for itself again and again, year after year.
“If it costs $160 million to build it, and we contribute about that much every year to the economy, from a pure economic perspective, it’s a no-brainer,” Beary emphasized.
While the projected economic impact is substantial, the potential for job creation and providing a world-class space for immersive and high-tech exhibitions and performances showcasing the best of Louisiana music is less quantifiable, but even more vast.
“Chris has really great ideas: interactive spaces, performances, good food,” said McHugh. “When you get people that really get the culture like Chris who are able to launch something like that, you know it’s going to be badass.”
“Chris Beary is an important man — an important entity for the future development of this city,” said Nocentelli. “He believes in this city, and he believes in all New Orleans culture. And the way to show his belief, how strong the belief is, is to build something—to build a monument to that, and that’s in the form of a museum.”
