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Galactic Expands New Orleans Sound

Big Hassle

New Orleans future-funk trailblazers Galactic will perform Jan. 2 at Jannus Landing.

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By CURTIS ROSS cross@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2009

Like any sensible band, Galactic scheduled its Florida dates for January.

The New Orleans funk outfit will make its way across the state before heading to sea on the Jam Cruise, where it and other improvisation-heavy groups will play and party en route to Belize.

February, though, will provide a rude awakening, as Galactic ventures into the wintry heartland, with shows in Michigan, Montana and Idaho. That's got to be tough going for boys used to the Big Easy's heat and humidity.

Consider it an act of musical mercy.

"Yeah, we'll go face the cold," Galactic keyboardist Rich Vogel said by telephone a couple of days before Christmas. "We have some of our best shows in the dead of winter."

He credits the harsh winter weather.

"People get cabin fever," he reckons. "They need to get out and see a show."

Galactic - which also includes drummer Stanton Moore, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonist-harmonica player Ben Ellman and guitarist Jeff Raines - is a band with a mission: "to develop the contemporary New Orleans sound," Vogel said.

It's one the group has pursued since 1993, when New Orleans native Moore and some funk-loving transplants teamed up to play and celebrate the city's music.

Galactic's base is funk, but it expands easily to include jazz, rock and hip hop.

Galactic's last album, 2007's "From the Corner to the Block," featured appearances by emcees such as Juvenile, Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, Ladybug Mecca, Lyrics Born and Boots Riley.

The upcoming album, likely out this summer, will feature more of what Vogel calls "our own contemporary take on New Orleans music."

To that end, the album will feature collaborations with artists such as blues man Walter "Wolfman" Washington and R&B singer Irma Thomas as well as rappers from the city's hip-hop scene.

Although most of the band's members migrated to the city to immerse themselves in its sounds, drummer Moore grew up with them.

Moore "has developed his own take" on New Orleans' rhythms, Vogel said, "and that's due in part to the fact that he's from here, I'm sure. He grew up going to Mardi Gras parades, getting excited by the sounds of the marching bands.

"More important than him being born here is that he's made himself a student of the history of New Orleans' drumming and its musical history," Vogel said. "He's really a scholar of rhythm. That is kind of his approach and drive and desire to really absorb and digest the tradition."

The band members may have absorbed the city's traditions, but they're hardly slaves to it. Loops, samples and other electronic elements are utilized along with distortion, effects and other nontraditional techniques.

"We want to push the New Orleans funk sound into new directions," Vogel said.

ON TOUR

Galactic

WITH: The Lee Boys

WHEN: 9 p.m. today

WHERE: Jannus Landing, 16 Second St. N., St. Petersburg; (727) 896-2276

COST: $24

Music critic Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.

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