New Orleans royalty George Porter Jr. brings his Runnin Pardners to Momo’s tonight. Expect two sets of funk n’ soul that wear a hole in your dancin shoes. Porter laid down bass lines in memorable sessions for Dr John (“Right Place, Wrong Time”), Robert Palmer (“Sneakin Sally Thru the Alley”) and dozens of hits for Lee Dorsey. Porter’s work in the Meters defined the funk genre, creating a standard that still inspires new musicians today. Typical Runnin Pardner sets include Meters songs, cover songs from George’s session work, and Runnin Pardner orignals. The Runnin Pardner band includes Brint Anderson on guitar, a former Austinite and leader of Austin band Coupe De Ville, known for their gigs with Stevie Ray and Dr. John back in the day.

Check the supreme funkiness of George and the Meters on this 1974 TV special. That’s George on the left in a solid white cape suit looking like a kung fu action hero. On percussion is south Austin resident Cyril Neville. Yeah you right!

AUSTIN DAZE: How does the Austin music scene compare to the New Orleans music scene?

CYRIL NEVILLE: Let me put it like this: there’s a lot more activity here after the storm than there was before the storm. I’ll just put it like that. The city is a lot bigger than I thought it was, really. Mechanisms here that allow musicians to help themselves have been in place for awhile now so it’s kind of easier for you to basically make a living doing what you love to do here in Austin. Another part about being in Austin is that you can get connected to a lot of different things. It’s more widespread. New Orleans is really a small place so the difference in the number of clubs is huge – just on sixth street there are more clubs just in that area than in one concentrated area in New Orleans. Read the rest of this entry »