Big Sam’s Funky Nation
Discography
King of the Party (2010)
Peace, Love & Understanding (2008)
Funky Kidz (2007)
Take Me Back (2006)
Birth of a Nation (2003)
Soco Music Fund "Start Up the Music" (2006)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band:
Down & Dirty DVD (Terminus, 2002)
Medicated Magic (Ropeadope, 2002) Featuring
John Bell, Dr. John, Olu Dara, Norah Jones, DJ
Logic, and Robert Randolph
We Got Robbed – Live In New Orleans (Self-
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint:
"River in Reverse" (2006)
Hot As a Pistol Keen As a Blade - DVD
released, 2003)
(Epic, 2004)
Modest Mouse:
"Good News For People Who Love Bad News"
Funeral For a Friend (Ropeadope, 2004) Featuring
the Davell Crawford Singers and David Hidalgo
Dave Matthews Band:
"Some Devil" (RCA, 2003)
Lil Stooges Brass Band:
It's About Time
Widespread Panic:
"Till The Medicine Takes" (Widespread/Sanctuary,
Terence Higgins:
Swamp Grease
1999)
Govt’ Mule DVD & CD:
“Deepest End” (ATO, 2003)
Boyd Tinsley:
"True Reflections"
(RCA, 2003)
Allen Toussaint
James Andrews
Dr. John
Stanton Moore DVD
Terry (Bubba Mac Shack)
Nils Landgren & Joe Sample:
Creole Love Call (2006)
Make it Funky:
A documentary on New Orleans culture &
music by Michael Murphy.
King of the Party (2010)
Reviews:
THE DAILY NEWS- Pittsburgh - May 2010
Jeffrey Sisk
Funky Nation like to ‘Party’
“King of the Party” (Hypersoul Records) ✰✰✰1⁄2 — New Orleans funk-jazz collective Big
Sam’s Funky Nation know how to get their groove on. You won’t need more than a single spin
of their new “King of the Party” release to realize that. Mixing together elements of funk, rock,
hip- hop, jazz and pop into an enjoyable sonic stew, BSFN are
sure to get you on the dance floor. This entertaining mix of 13 tunes, including a handful of
instrumentals, showcases the talents of frontman Big Sam Williams (vocals/trombone) and his
band of merry musicians.
The Funky Nation are at their best on the instrumental tracks. Williams has a solid enough
singing voice — and he shines on a cover of “Hard to Handle” — but his song- writing skills are
far better when it comes to melodies than when it comes to lyrics. The title track opens the
proceed ings and is a funk-fueled raver, despite lyrical content that consists mainly of repeating
the chorus. Among the many highlights here are instrumentals “Straight to It,” “Take 5” and
“Work It” (with guest sax player Khris Royal stealing the show) as well as the auto-tuned set
closer “Dance Floor.” But the song that’s worth the purchase price all by itself is “Big Ole
Booty,” which finds Williams and trum pet player Drew Baham eliciting chills with their calland-response horn work. It’s a treat for the ears.
WHEREYAT MAGAZINE - New Orleans – May 2010
Sheri McKee
Big Sam’s Funky Nation King of the Party Hypersoul Records
From the first note you know Big Sam is in the house and he’s the King of the Party, bringing
the funky rhythms and incredible cool jams. This CD is freakin’ AWESOME! You can’t stay
still when you’re listening to it, just try. Sam makes sure ev- eryone can “Shake That Bootie” to
his “Krunked Up” beats bringing the best of funky grooves and rock together (think Earth, Wind
& Fire infused with NOLA street beats making love to a Jimmy Hendrix guitar). “Rock Yo
Soul” feels like something out of a Led Zeppelin catalog with the heavy guitar licks and a
psychedelic trip via a big bad trombone. Sam and his band bring an incredible local flavor to a
cover of “Hard to Handle,” and “Big Ole Booty” is a favorite with all the heavy brass. Sam’s
inspiration is simply out of this world—giving so much back to his audience that he energizes
the crowd like an Evangelical preacher on a Sunday morning, and this CD will send sparks
through you. “See Me Dance” is an obvious song about his cosmic talents and musical charisma,
and as entertainers his group just keeps giving their heart and soul. The group does momentarily
slow down a bit on “Take 5” and “Work It” just to throw in a brass-infused, break it down part
for a little spice, but then they’re back up and busting it again. Flashbacks of Xanadu and ELO
may occur when listening to “Dance Floor” at first, but it’s in yo’ face fly and needs to be a
Budweiser commercial for the summer. This is the 2010 New Orleans party CD to get this Jazz
Fest. When I’m exhausted, I’m just going to crank it in the SUV to
keepmegoing,andgoing,andgoingjustlikethe Energizer Bunny and Big Sam.
NewOrleans.com – April 2010
Dwayne Fatheree
NEW ORLEANS | Back in the day, the kids in the horn section weren't the cool kids. Sure, they
could blow, but it was the guitar players, piano players and long-haired moneymaker-shaking
lead singers who got the spotlight.
There's a whole wave of musicians fronting bands in New Orleans who are changing that. "King
of the Party," the latest release from Big Sam Williams and his Funky Nation goes a long way
toward destroying that stereotype.
Williams knows where the traditional sound lies. He cut his teeth as the trombonist for the Soul
Rebels and Dirty Dozen brass bands before forming the Funky Nation. And on "King of the
Party," the band's fourth album, he has pushed farther afield from those roots than ever before.
From the very first notes, it is clear that Big Sam's Funky Nation is not your dad's brass band.
Guitar, bass and drums swirl around the horns like some sort of aural caduceus, with Sam's
trombone weaving the melody over the crunchy bits of psychedelic soundscape.
If there was a name for what BSFN has created, it's Noladelic. At its heaviest, the band can hold
its own with any of the dinosaur rockers of old. But when the sound starts to move forward and
twist the beat around those complex horn lines and head-exploding guitar leads, something
completely alien to traditional funk and rock pops out and makes you want to dance.
The eponymous lead track lays out the architecture for the record. There's the killer pulsing beat
from drummer Milk and bassist Eric Vogel, then the guitar wall of Takeshi Shimmura. Inside
that you hear William's call-and-response vocal beckoning the listener to jump right into the mix
and dance their funky butts off.
It's one thing to make a band sound like a party, but BSFN has done it with taste and style.
Between the raucous good time you can here slivers of Hendrix, old Steely Dan and even
touches of Cameo and old dance floor tracks. There is also that quiet pause in the middle for
"Take 5," a nice bit of soothing ginger before the second half of the party unfolds.
For what it is worth, BSFN isn't the first band to experiment with this hybrid rock-funk-brass
sound. Mark Mullins and John Gros starting pushing this to the forefront with Mulebone in the
last decade. But Sam and his bandmates may have found the a way to take that sound to party
anthem status.
The closer, "Dance Floor," will send those old enough to remember back to those days of foggy
dance clubs, heavy straight beats and Ray Ban sunglasses. The only way to summon more 80s
schtick would be to glue a Nagel poster on the track. But it brings the energy and Williams sells
it like a pro, distorted vocal and all.
That, in a nutshell, is what Big Sam's Funky Nation is about, bringing the noise and bringing the
party. On "King of the Party," they manage to do both, unabashedly.
OFFBEAT MAGAZINE – New Orleans - April 2010
Alex Rawls
BIG SAM'S FUNKY NATION King of the Party (Hypersoul)
Big Sam’s Funky Nation is not going to confuse you. On King of the Party, Sam Williams and
company pick up the funk-rock blend that Trombone Shorty and Bonerama have been toying
with and puts it in your face. Guitars on 10, arena rock drums and the horns blaring like they’re
in the phone booth with you. No idea is complicated; when Sam wants to get funky, the Nation
goes into James Brown mode for the unfortunately-titled “Krunked Up” (When grandmothers
spoke of “getting krunk” during the playoffs, “krunk” lost all hip cred—if it had any left). When
Sam wants to party, he declares himself the king of the party in the title cut then backs it up.
As you can imagine, we’re not going to learn life lessons from Big Sam’s lyrics, but this is
visceral music. It’s made to be felt, not thought about, and as long as nothing’s off-puttingly
dumb, it works. And nothing is; in fact, “See Me Dance” is a charming bit of self-mythologizing
and one of the most compelling songs on the album.
King of the Party works because Big Sam knows who he is as a musician and embraces it. His
charisma, exuberance and sense of joy translate to the album, which is good because they keep
you hooked despite frustratingly low vocal levels throughout. On one track, it sounds like he’s
singing through a CB radio, but the air of fun is such that even his dalliance with AutoTune is
amusing.