Saturday, November 17, 2012 @ 8:00 PM

$12 adv / $15 dos

Joe Krown (Hammond B-3), Walter Wolfman Washington (guitar & vocals) & Russell Batiste (drums & background vocals) started playing together in March 2007. The trio has been performing every Sunday at a local New Orleans nightclub, the Maple Leaf Bar. The combination of the soulful vocals of Walter with the big sound of the Hammond B-3 (Joe also plays all of the bass parts on the B-3) and the masterful drumming skills of Russell Batiste Jr. has developed it's own unique sound. The trio recorded and released a live CD, Live at the Maple Leaf (JK1003) in the fall of 2008. Live at the Maple Leaf captures the magic of these great musicians.
"A killer collaboration between three of New Orleans greatest players!" Jan Ramsey, offBEAT Magazine.

Joe Krown:
Joe held the keyboard chair with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown & Gate’s Express from 1992 until Gatemouth's passing in the fall of 2005. Joe is featured on the chart topping albums The Man, Gate Swings, American Music, Texas Style and most recently Back to Bogalusa albums. The band, Gate’s Express won an Offbeat 2004 Best Band in the Blues Category. Joe is also featured in Gatemouth's band on Carlos Santana's Carlos Santana Presents Blues At Montreux 2004 (2006) DVD From September 1996 to June 2001, he held the Traditional Piano Night slot at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. Joe followed that strong tradition with his debut solo release Just the Piano...Just the Blues (1998) and the follow-up CD, New Orleans Piano Rolls (2003). Joe has been a headline performer at WWOZ's Piano Night during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival every year since 1997. In November 2003, Joe made his European debut as a solo piano performer playing a 5 night club tour in Germany. His band, the Joe Krown Organ Combo (New Orleans, LA) was formed in 1999. The Combo made its European debut in November 2001 at the Ingolstadt Jazztage in Ingolstadt Germany and makes regular appearances at the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Joe Krown Organ Combo performs every week at one of the many New Orleans nightclubs, including the Maple Leaf Bar, House of Blues, Tipitina's, Le Bon Temps Roule and dba. The Joe Krown Organ Combo has 4 CD releases. Down & Dirty (1999), Buckle Up (2000) and Funkyard (2002) were all released on the New Orleans label STRdigital. The Combo’s newest release Livin’ Large, released in February 2005, is Joe’s first independent release with Krown as producer.

In the fall of 2007, Joe was invited to be a feature artist in the Solid Blues Tour. The tour was a 38 U.S. city tour in October and November 2007 and it featured Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, the North Mississippi All-Stars and Joe. Joe performed a 20 minute solo piano set featuring music from his latest CD Old Friends (2007), and then he joined the North Mississippi All-Stars backing up Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite.

Russell Batiste Jr.:
As a member of one of N’awlins legendary musical families, Russell Batiste Jr. knows his way around a sound stage. He’s played multiple instruments, and has been at the drum kit since the age of four. Even before that, Russell recalls watching his daddy, David Batiste (of the city’s seminal funk band David Batiste and the Gladiators), jam with an endless array of the city’s most talented musicians. That band hosted a virtual “Who’s Who” of ’60s musicians. One of Russell’s earliest memories is sitting on Jackie Wilson’s knee listening to him sing “Lonely Teardrops”!

Russell joined the Funky Meters in 1989 and, like Porter, has played with a wide variety of performers, including Harry Connick Jr., Champion Jack DuPree, Robbie Robertson, and Maceo Parker. An industrious artist and creator, the busy Batiste also manages to put time into his own projects, too, like Orkestra from da Hood, who released their debut The Clinic a few years back. “I believe music is in you naturally and you just have to tap into it,” he says. “It’s got to be an emotional thing. When we play together in Porter Batiste Stoltz, what we do touches all three of us emotionally. That’s music to me.”

Walter "Wolfman" Washington:
Walter “Wolfman” Washington has been an icon on the New Orleans music scene for decades. His searing guitar work and soulful vocals have defined the Crescent City’s unique musical hybrid of R&B, funk and the blues since he formed his first band in the 1970s.

Washington began his career during the fertile heyday of the 1950s Rhythm and Blues period that spawned dozens of Number 1 songs and made New Orleans the recording destination of choice for hit makers like Ray Charles and Little Richard. Born in 1943, Washington was on the road by his late teens spending over two years backing the great vocalist Lee Dorsey who was touring in support of his smash hits, “Ride Your Pony” and “Working in a Coalmine.”

His tenure with Dorsey took him to all of the great music halls in America including appearances at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. Before he went out on his own with his Solar System band, he also did stints with acclaimed New Orleans songstress Irma Thomas as well as with the legendary jazzman David Lastie’s Taste of New Orleans band.

During the 1970s, Washington began a 20-year association with one of the most important vocalists to hail from Louisiana- the late, great Johnny Adams. Dubbed “the Tan Canary” for his peerless vocal stylings, Adams was a mentor of sorts to Washington who developed his singing style while the two worked together at back-of-town clubs including a long stint at the famed Dorothy’s Medallion in the Mid City section of New Orleans.

When Washington formed his first band as a leader he was often pigeonholed into the blues genre. But by taking his cues from the likes of Dorsey, Thomas, Adams and the jazzman Lastie, his sound reflects the full range of music from New Orleans. He certainly can howl the blues, hence his nickname, but his musical talents have always defined pure Crescent City soul. In later years, with the second rise of funk, Washington fully embraced that genre as well.

*Times listed are when doors open. Music typically begins one hour later. Prices listed are for tickets only, an additional $5 door charge may apply for those under age 21 at our 18 and over shows.

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