This all-star evening with NOLA musical royalty starts with the Crescent City’s eclectic piano master Jon Cleary and culminates with Ivan and Ian Neville leading the preeminent funk-fusion export Dumpstaphunk.

The second in the franchise of the award-winning TAKE ME TO THE RIVER. “Take Me to the River New Orleans” celebrates the rich musical history, the heritage, legacy, and influence of New Orleans and Louisiana. A true collaboration and melting pot of influences from around the World, that came together and formed one of the world’s most unique cultural jewels. Our adventure shows the resiliency of surviving disaster to a formidable rebirth while pairing legacy musicians with stars of today, and how this unique cultural jewel came to exist.

“Dumpstaphunk has grown from a small side project into one of NewOrleans’ most prestigious modern funk ensembles.” – RollingStone

Dumpstaphunk stands out amongst New Orleans’ best, cementing themselves as one of the funkiest bands to ever arise from the Crescent City. Born on the Jazz & Heritage Festival stage, and descended from Neville and Meters family bloodlines, these soldiers of funk ignite a deep, gritty groove that dares listeners not to move. Their performances combine ingenious musicianship through complex funk, rock, and jazz arrangements accompanied by soulful melodies and Big Easy traditions.

“I don’t expect to hear anything funkier this year.” Jon Pareles, New York Times

For the past 17 years, Dumpstaphunk has earned its reputation as the most well-regarded next-generation New Orleans live powerhouse, the type of band whose live shows attract sit-ins from legends like Carlos Santana, Bob Weir and Trombone Shorty. Alongside Tony Hall, NickDaniels, Alex Wasily, Ashlin Parker and drummer Deven Trusclair, cousins Ivan and Ian Nevillehave built upon their family’s iconic NOLA legacy as they’ve transformed Dumpstaphunk into the city’s pre-eminent 21st-century funk-fusion export, resulting in recent career highlights like their July 2019 opening gig for the Rolling Stones on their home turf at the Superdome in NewOrleans.Dueling baselines from Tony Hall and Nick Daniels III set off one of the dirtiest rhythm sections on the planet, while Ivan Neville lights up the Hammond B3 keys and cousin Ian Neville’s funky guitar riffs send the groove into overdrive. Dumpstaphunk tosses around lead vocals and four-part harmonies the way Sly & the Family Stone did, but with three studio albums under their belt, Dumpstaphunk stands on the merit of their own material.

Modernizing and reinvigorating the Neville/Meters family groove has been one of the driving forces of Dumpstaphunk since the band spontaneously formed during New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2003. Their latest album Where Do We Go From Here is perhaps the best evidence yet of Dumpstaphunk’s ability to strengthen and transform their singular Crescent City roots in combination with the deeper outside musical and philosophical influences on which the band is founded.