Dr. Klaw is one of those supergroups that makes perfect sense during the New Orleans Jazz Fest, when the stars are aligned and members of bands like Lettuce, Soulive, and Dumpstaphunk can gather together and lay down the jams. Luckily for the attendees of the 16th annual Bayou Rendezvous, Dr. Klaw chose to bring their rare funktacular display of musicianship to the annual New Orleans Musicians Clinic benefit.
The walls of the Howlin’ Wolf reverberated late into the night with the sounds of Soulive guitarist supreme Eric Krasno, Lettuce beat master Adam Deitch, The Shady Horns (also known as Eric “Benny” Bloom and Ryan Zoidis), soulful keyboardist Nigel Hall, super slinky guitarist Ian Neville, and one of the funkiest men alive on bass, Dumpstaphunk’s Nick Daniels III.
Born down in New Orleans years ago, Dr. Klaw is a semi-stable cadre of the down-and-dirtiest players on the funk scene. Though the membership can vary slightly and their gigs are few and far between, those in the know know that there’s no better place for a fan of bass-popping, groove-locking, mind-blowing jams than at a Dr. Klaw show. The newcomers to the Dr. Klaw experience were easy to spot as they went through an easily recognizable cycle of slack-jawed disbelief followed by unstoppable grooving.
It’s no wonder that the music these men make sounded so good… it was being made in service to their own brethren. The Bayou Rendezvous benefits the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, which was founded in 1988 for the purpose of creating a healthcare safety net for the city’s music community—a group notorious for dedicating all they have to their craft. The music these people make not only brings joy to all who hear it but is a vital part of the tourist draw for this massive metropolis. You can donate to the Clinic, which provides a much-needed safety net to New Orleans most vital resource, their incredible talent pool of working musicians, HERE.
You can check out videos of Dr. Klaw tearing up Parliament’s “Unfunky UFO” and The HeadHunters’ “God Made Me Funky” below, courtesy of our Rex Thompson of Rex-A-Vision. You can also check out more videos from Dr. Klaw’s standout headlining set at the 16th-annual Bayou Rendezvous on Youtube here.
Dr. Klaw – “Unfunky UFO”
Dr. Klaw – “God Made Me Funky”