It just wouldn’t be Jazz Fest without Stanton Moore. This year, the ever-present Galactic drummer logged an impressive 22 gigs with various projects over the course of 13 days, making it hard not to see him at least once, yet nearly impossible to catch every one of his shows.
Moore delivered five standout performances at the Jazz Fest Fair Grounds, appearing with his solo band, Midnite Disturbers, Dragon Smoke, the Tony Dagradi Sax Ensemble, and, of course, Galactic. Beyond the festival grounds, he remained a ubiquitous presence on club stages across the city.
Among the highlights were shows with his all-star quintet featuring David Torkanowsky, James Singleton, Skerik, and Eric “Benny” Bloom, as well as performances with Robert Walter’s Current Futures, FiyaPowa (featuring members of Dumpstaphunk and Galactic’s Robert Mercurio), the Krasno Moore Project, and the annual Zildjian artist jam at Tipitina’s.
He also took the stage at Daze Between New Orleans alongside funk icons George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli of The Meters for a special GeoLeo set featuring Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk.
GeoLeo (George Porter Jr. & Leo Nocentelli w/ Ivan Neville & Stanton Moore) – “Just Kissed My Baby”– 4/30/25
Still, two of Moore’s most thrilling performances came as part of Live For Live Music’s Fest by Nite late-night series at Toulouse Theatre.
On Monday, April 28th, Moore reunited with Frequinauts, a cosmic funk collective featuring Robert Walter (organ; The Greyboy Allstars, Mike Gordon, Roger Waters), Robert Mercurio (bass; Galactic), and Will Bernard (guitar), plus new addition Skerik (sax; Les Claypool). The band delivered an eclectic set of far-out funk, jubilant jazz, and boundary-pushing boogaloo that stood out as a highlight of the series.
He returned to Toulouse on Wednesday, May 1st with Stanton Moore & Friends, helping kick off the second weekend of Fest by Nite with a similar lineup comprised of Walter, Skerik, Bernard, and Big Sam.
Check out video clips from Stanton Moore’s Fest by Nite shows and click below to view photo galleries from Frequinauts courtesy of photographer Jay Strausser.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
