Following a Thursday performance outside Philadelphia, George Porter Jr. and his Running Pardners brought their all-star tribute to late, great drummer Russell Batiste to New York’s Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night. The musical honorarium included some truly special guests like drummer Adam Deitch (Lettuce), Adam’s father Bobby Deitch, New Orleans staple John “Papa” Gros, Cris Jacobs, Batiste’s Bonerama bandmate Mark Mullins, and trumpeter Tracy Griffen who packed the second set tribute full of love and memories.
Batiste was a born musician. He got his first drumsticks at six months old and by 12 months he was up and trying to play along. By age seven he was playing with his father and some of the top R&B, soul, and funk artists in their respective genres. He was a regular fixture on second lines as he grew up and in high school he joined the St. Augustine Marching Band which, to non-Nawlins residents, should be viewed as getting called to join the major leagues. By age 18 he was touring with George Porter Jr. and the rest of the legendary funk band The Meters‘ then-current touring lineup (Porter on Bass, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, and Art Neville on keys).
His connection with Porter would transcend The Meters and the later touring iteration The Funky Meters. The bass and drums duo would play together under the name Porter Batiste Stoltz (PBS) adding in guitarist Brian Stolz when Neville and Nocentelli were otherwise occupied. Batiste was even, along with Stoltz, a founding member of Saturday’s host band, Porter’s own Running Parders.
Batiste also played regularly with organ player Joe Krown and guitarist Walter “Wolfman” Washington as the Krown Washington Batiste Trio. If you needed a funky drummer and Batiste was available, Russell was your guy on skins as artists ranging Papa Grows Funk, Page McConnell and Oteil Burbridge’s Vida Blue, Harry Connick Jr., Champion Jack Dupree, Robbie Robertson (The Band), and Maceo Parker (James Brown) soon found out. It’s said that even Mick Jagger called Batiste “The best drummer in the world”. Heady words for a legend to speak and never a truer sentiment expressed.
The opening set Saturday featured the current Pardners lineup setting them up and knocking them down as only George Porter and crew can. Mixing in Pardner originals, reworked Meters classics, and that unmistakable, house-shaking bass from Mr. Porter, the stage was set for some serious jams to come.
The opening instrumental of the second set Batiste tribute was a fierce eight-minute-plus jam that allowed everyone a chance to warm up, check their equipment, and get in the spirit. With the crowd already in their palm, Porter led the ensemble into the first Meters song of the stanza, “Fire On The Bayou” with George whipping the crowd into a sing-a-long frenzy. John “Papa” Gros followed that nearly 14 minutes of music with the first story of Russell of the evening, thanking him for the very existence of Poppa Grows Funk and Bonerama as viable touring entities.
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Gros even shared a little behind-the-scenes tidbit that one of the first things Batiste asked of him when forming his self-named band was that they include “Thinking”, a Meters tune that Porter had apparently disowned at that point, in their live shows. Porter, to his credit, laughed it off and crushed the tune while the Bonerama horn section acquainted themselves admirably, as they would do throughout the show. From there the hits kept coming with “Fire In The Garage”, “Motha Funk Y’all”, and “Soul Second Line” before Gros introduced “Ain’t No Use” with another amusing Batiste anecdote.
On the way out to Oregon for a wedding gig, Russell badgered Pappa into learning and playing the breakup song “Ain’t No Use” to Gros’ valiant, if fruitless, resistance. In response to cries that it wasn’t appropriate, Batiste would only say “We gonna play it and they gonna love it!” After smiling at Gros through the entire rendition of the song which was met with jubilant applause, Batiste proudly said “I told ya” which just about sums up the man’s philosophy.
“Ain’t No Use” also saw Adam Deitch, tapped with the unenviable task of filling in for the departed Batiste on the kit, joined by his father, Bobby Deitch. Adam was up to the challenge of honoring his mentor, no doubt taking the opportunity of sharing the stage with so many distinguished musicians and the emotionally difficult task of honoring Russell as an acknowledgment of his hard work following his legacy-laden family’s lead.
Papa Gros went on to extoll another Batiste virtue: his love of crowd participation songs. Before running through the Russell-penned Papa Grows Funk tune “Ridin’ Through The Mountains” he taught the crowd their response to his calls, and to their credit the audience went all in and elevated the song to one of the most fun numbers of the evening.
Sadly, as with Batiste himself, all good things must come to an end. Porter called everyone out for a bench-clearing closing jam, the funky non-stop combo of “Soul Island” into “Hey Pocky A-Way” into show closer “Africa”. There will surely be other tributes to Batiste and his legend and legacy as the year progresses and the first anniversary arrives.
For now, for this night, the drummer was singled out and respect was paid by Porter himself. Anyone who saw the many, many iterations of that rhythm section’s pairings could tell you who Batiste’s favorite partner-in-crime was, and the emotional look on Porter’s face toward the end of the evening showed, unmistakably, that the feeling was mutual.
Check out a gallery of images from the Russell Batiste tribute concert from photographer Ken Spielman.
George Porter Jr. & Friends — Brooklyn Bowl — New York, NY — 3/16/24 — Full Audio
[Audio: McRoberts]
Setlist: George Porter Jr. & Friends | Brooklyn Bowl | New York, NY | 3/16/24
Set One: Unknown Instrumental, All We Want To Do, Hand Clapping Song, Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, I Get High, Out In The Country, Pungee, Cissy Got the Blues > Just Kissed My Baby
Set Two: Jam > Fire On The Bayou, Thinking, Fire In The Garage, Motha Funk Y’all, Soul Second Line, It Ain’t No Use, Ridin’ Through The Mountains, Soul Island > Hey Pocky A-Way > Africa
