George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners

George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners

George Porter Jr. is an award-winning bassist, songwriter and vocalist. He is a founding member of New Orleans’ seminal funk band, The Meters, and widely recognized as one of the greatest bass players of all time.

He formed The Meters alongside Art “Poppa Funk” Neville, Leo Nocentelli and Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste. The pioneering R&B funk outfit hit the scene on the streets of the Crescent City in the 1960s and became one of the progenitors of the funk music genre, carving out syncopated polyrhythms and grooves inherited from New Orleans’ African musical roots.

Porter’s heavy pocket and fat notes formed the rubbery bass lines behind funk classics like their signature "Cissy Strut," the 1969 instrumental that reached No. 4 on the R&B chart and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Meters are widely heralded alongside James Brown, Sly Stone, and George Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic as founding fathers of funk. They have been nominated four times for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (most recently in 2017) and were presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018.

At the outset of his career, Porter developed his signature style on sessions in New Orleans with Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas, Snooks Eaglin, Eddie Bo and The Lastie Brothers. The Meters became the house band for Allen Toussaint’s label, backing records from Dr. John, Lee Dorsey and Earl King, and later supplied the musical foundation for recordings by Robert Palmer, Paul McCartney, Tori Amos and Taj Mahal, as well as Patti LaBelle’s No. 1 R&B hit "Lady Marmalade."

George and The Meters toured with the Rolling Stones in 1975, were embraced by Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, and influenced modern artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beastie Boys. Porter’s rhythmic work with drummer Modeliste became the basis for samples used by hip-hop artists of the 1980s and 1990s, including A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC, N.W.A. and Queen Latifah.

Porter has appeared on stage as a band member or special guest with David Byrne, Dead & Company, Jimmy Buffett, Warren Haynes, Widespread Panic, Tedeschi Trucks Band, John Scofield, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and various members of Phish.

For more information, visit georgeporterjr.com

• Infants and children under 6 are not permitted in the venue for amplified night time shows due to sound levels and crowded conditions.
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