A number of veteran New Orleans musicians went on something of a political
convention tour over the past few weeks, beginning at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium on
August 24 for the DNC and coming to a close last Monday at
Minneapolis’ The First Avenue Club in time for the RNC. The all-star cast
featured such notables as The Voice of the Wetlands All Stars (which
features the likes of Tab Benoit, George Porter Jr., Cyril Neville, Big
Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich and Anders Osborne), the New
Orleans Brass All-Stars (boasting Donald Harrison, Jr., Kirk Joseph, and
James Andrews), the Soul Rebels Brass Band and the Wild Tchoupitoulas
Mardi Gras Indians. The tour also made stops in Aspen, CO and Jackson
Hole, WY and, as expected, drew in a few notable guests along the way.
Both Colorado date also featured the Yes We Can Band, an ensemble anchored
by original Meters members George Porter Jr., Zigaboo Modeliste, Leo
Nocentelli and, in Denver, featuring their longtime associates Allen
Toussaint, Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington and Randy Newman. The Meters
segment found String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth and Widespread
Panic’s JoJo Hermann filling in for Art Neville in Denver and Aspen,
respectively, on a handful of Meters chestnuts. In addition, the revue’s
Aspen gig featured an appearance by area-resident John Oates (of Hall &
Oates), who jammed with Benoit, Henry Butler and Cyril Neville, among
others. The shows benefited Friends of New Orleans Friends of New
Orleans, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that
‘provides a vehicle for people in the US and abroad who care about this
region, to declare their support and get involved.’