Jazz Fest Weekly Artist Spotlight: Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk

Dumpstaphunk @ Tipitina's 9.17.10 - Photo © Jeffrey Dupuis

With it being Mardi Gras, it’s time to spotlight one of our local favorites…

After many, many years of heavy national touring, Dumpstaphunk, at long last has a proper studio album to supplement their already sterling reputation for incendiary live shows. The 2010 debut LP Everybody Wants Sum includes many of the band’s road-tested favorites from over the years including the tough-chewin speed funk of’ “Gasman Chronicles”, the instrumental “Paper Chasin’ Britney,” and psych-soul groover “Standin’ In Your Stuff” (a tune which immediately brings Parliament to mind). The wait for a proper album was well worth it, and we’re just plain lucky they’re even a band at all given their serendipitous beginnings. Dumpstaphunk formed as a one-off project when Ivan Neville needed to get a band together for a set at the 2003 Fest. With the help of his younger cousin Ian Neville, bassists Tony Hall and Nick Daniels, and drummer Raymond Weber, something bigger was born on-stage that day than any of the hired guns could’ve imagined.

The double bass low-end of this Funk, R & B and Soul monster is more pronounced than any in the city perhaps, serving as a fresh compliment to the understated sounds of The Meters and their progeny and the music-school jam complexities of Galactic. If you have a pulse, you’re not gonna wanna miss it when Dumpstaphunk hits the stage where they first cut their teeth eight years ago. Dumpstaphunk performs on Friday, April 29th at Jazz Fest. In the meantime, the band is also playing a FREE show this Sunday, March 6th at The Howlin’ Wolf as part of their 5 nights of free shows Miller Light series.

Dumpstaphunk – A Solution to Life’s Bullshit: just…Put It In The Dumpsta

March 3, 2011 | by Wesley Hodges | Festivals, Jazz Fest

About the author

Wesley grew up in coastal Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and The Big Easy where he helped get LMB NOLA off-the-ground after launching in January 2011. Over the past few years, he has also contributed steadily to JamBase and Relix Magazine. Recently, Hodges moved on to L.A. where Abita Beer is hard to find, costs about $6 if located and impromptu parading in the streets will most likely get you arrested on the spot.

Tags: Dumpstaphunk, Jazz Fest