In between New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival weekends, there are an increasing amount of great concerts and festivals. One of these special concerts took place on Wednesday night, May 1st, in the French Quarter’s Toulouse Theater as John ‘Papa’ Gros presented his tribute to Dr. John titled “Papa Plays The Nite Tripper”.
The two hour concert was filled with hits and deep cuts from Dr. John as Gros and company got loose, talked about Mac Rebennack’s cultural importance to the city, and played with energy throughout. Gros fronted the band, singing with a growl (that was accentuated by playing a lot of sets over the last few days) and playing piano and B3 as he was joined by Alexander Mallet (guitar), Matt Booth (bass), Russ Broussard (drums), Michael Christie (trumpet), Ian Bowman (sax) Nick Ellman (sax) and backup singers Kiki Chapman and Yolanda Robinson who both supported Dr. John back in the day.
The band dove right in with an opening pairing of “Qualified > Traveling Mood.” The high-energy tone was immediately set with chunky wah-wah and horns blaring during the opening tune, while “Traveling Mood” showcased a piano solo from Gros and pumping sax work. Mama Roux was a smooth outing that allowed the vocalists to shine before the slow-bopping version of Dr. John’s “Huey Smith Melody” had multiple brass solos.
Gros took a moment to talk about how “Me Minus You Equals Loneliness” was a very special song for him and one that Mac never played live. The tune was a mid-set highlight that started as a blues-based ballad before the trumpet kicked up and Mallet’s guitar blazed brightly, building to a huge finale.
“Accentuate the Positive” was easygoing and smile-inducing, while the group’s take on “Big Chief” was super sped up with excellent B3 work from Gros. The spooky “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” rolled out with deep bass that vibrated the venue’s floorboards and contained a mega sax solo. Special guest Pete Murano (Trombone Shorty) joined the band and instantly injected super hard funk to the sound during “Can’t Get Enuff”.
Another guest, BC Coogan, joined the group helping out on B3 for a driving version of “I Been Hoodood” that featured more killer guitar work from Murano as the players got after it. Gros then closed the show with a run of hits from Dr. John. The trio of tunes started with a fairly standard version of “Right Place Wrong Time” before morphing into the strutting “Such a Night” with some gorgeous piano work before “Iko Iko” wrapped up the set, getting the crowd dancing with joy.
No encore was needed on this night as the band left it all on the stage. Gros and company proved how dynamic and vibrant Dr. John’s songs remain today.
