New Orleans Funk-Blues
Located in 2 routes
New Orleans Funk-Blues puts blues riffs and vocal bite inside syncopated funk grooves, second-line drum logic, bass-line hooks, chicken-scratch guitar, organ or clavinet, and horn punctuation. The pocket is the star: loose but exact, greasy but disciplined, and often built from small rhythmic fragments that interlock like parade feet on cracked pavement.
History
The style grew from New Orleans R&B and soul as local rhythm sections turned blues feeling into funk, especially through The Meters, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, Earl King, Allen Toussaint’s performance catalog, and later Neville Brothers-related work. It was recorded through Sansu, Josie, Reprise, Island, and local studios, while the city’s clubs and Mardi Gras culture kept the grooves tied to live movement. New Orleans Funk-Blues influenced funk, hip-hop sampling, jam bands, second-line funk, blues-funk, and modern brass-band hybrids.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Jeff Hannusch, I Hear You Knockin'
- John Swenson, New Atlantis
- AllMusic
- The Meters and Dr. John discographies