I’ve got to say 2006 was quite and amazing and eventful year. I’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing support and post a summation of the happenings and highlights of the past year; partly for your reading-but also to help me get my head around the whole thing.
- click here for a full listing of Stanton's 2006 gigs -
--- JANUARY---
photo: Michael WeintrobFor the last several years January has started off with the Jam Cruise which is always fun. Last year, because Robert Walter and Will Bernard happened to be on the cruise, we found time to abscond to some quiet stages and rehearse tunes for what would become my record. We learned a lot of the tunes on the boat and so were prepared when we went into Preservation Hall to record. The record, my third, was to be an organ trio record, but in a phone conversation with Skerik, he spouted out “Come on man, you can’t do a solo record with out Meeeee!?? Get Mark Mullins and me on there for a couple of tunes." So, schedules lined up and we were able to get the trio/quintet on record. It’s also interesting to note that this line up played Preservation Hall during the previous Jazz Fest. My original intention was to record the record in the Galactic studio, but the building that housed our studio was deemed structurally unsound after the storm and we hadn’t found a new place yet. (Fortunately we didn’t flood, so our gear was ok, but we needed a new building.) Preservation Hall was still not open for music, so with the permission of Ben Jaffe (the owner/proprietor) I was able to record the album in this most special of spaces. The vibe in the room is amazing and the sound is wonderful.
After the Pres Hall sessions it was off to Dallas to record 3 days of drums for the new Galactic/MC record. Here I met Count, our new engineer/producer for this project. We hit it off and laid down lots of grooves and variations to all of the material we’ve been writing with a variety of kits. We’ll also be organizing lots of material from this session into a loop/sample CD.
--- FEBRUARY---
HOUSE OF BLUES - LOS ANGELES, CA 02/11/06
photo: Jeff KravitzMost of February was spent on a west coast run with Galactic wrapping up with the Saturday and Monday (Lundi Gras) before Mardi Gras. We’ve played Lundi Gras at Tipitina’s for the last 7 or 8 years, but this year was particularly special to be playing our regular gig back in Tip’s for Mardi Gras with the city in such need of recovery. Having Mardi Gras this year felt like the first large step toward recovery. On Mardi Gras day we all paraded in Julu our annual walking krewe that plays and parades from uptown to down town. The krewe was started by the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars and began in the early years following Zulu. Klezmer is Eastern European Jewish folk music, hence the name Julu.
--- MARCH ---
STELLA BLUE - ASHEVILLE, NC 03/24/06
photo: David OppenheimerMarch 14th Galactic played the Jimmy Kimmel show backing up Juvenile. We rehearsed for a few days and learned the two songs before we went to LA to rehearse and play with him. He showed up to the rehearsal on time, we ran each song one time and he said “hell I ain’t gonna fix what ain’t broke. That was perfect- see ya’ll tomorrow.” He was cool and glad we were able to do the show with him. He was also in especially good spirits because his record debuted at no.1 the day of the show. After that, I did a south east run with my trio including Dr. Lonnie Smith on organ and Will Bernard on guitar. Dr. Lonnie is definitely one of the greatest living organ players and it was an absolute joy for me to get to spend 5 days playing with him. I spent late March and April on a north east/mid west run with Galactic. Which brings us up to Jazz Fest.
--- JAZZFEST APRIL 27th- May 7th ---
For the last several years Galactic has kicked off Jazz Fest at Tipitina’s the Thursday night before the Friday start of the festival. Friday night I had two gigs-the first being a river boat show with Garage-a-Medeski with Skerik, Mike Dillon and John Medeski. We rehearsed a good bit and the gig was as fun as it promised to be. Then it was off to the Howlin’ Wolf to play with MG5. This band was formerly the Frequinox and is a super fun kick ass funk party. It’s always fun to play with Donald Harrison and the material includes tunes from 1968-1974 with a lot of original material written in that vein. Saturday, I played the fairgrounds with Galactic, we were hoping Juvenile would stop by, considering we had just performed with him and he was playing the Fest later that day, but it didn’t work out. At around 9pm I went to Pres Hall to sit in as a guest for their grand re-opening, which was an honor to be invited to do. Then it was off to Tipitina’s to play with Galactic. Sunday April 30 I started out the night playing with Leo Noccentielli, Robert Mercurio and Rich Vogel at the Howlin’ Wolf. There were two drumkits set up because Russell Batiste and Adam Deitch were playing together later. Russell came by early to play a little double drums with Leo. George Porter also got up. Would’ve loved to stick around but I had to make it to DBA on Frenchmen Street to play with my trio, this time featuring John Medeski and Will Bernard. We rehearsed earlier in the day and John did his homework, so the gig was fun and went great. I always dig getting the chance to play with
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL 04/29/06
photo: Doug MasonJohn. Monday we had Instruments-a-Comin’ with Galactic. This is a benefit we’ve played for the last several years that has raised money for New Orleans music programs to buy the instruments they need and hand the instruments directly to the kids who need them. This brings us to Tuesday where I had an in-store at the Louisiana Music Factory with my trio (Robert Walter and Will Bernard), then the 8 o’clock set at Snug Harbor with Trombone Shorty (Troy Andrews) and then on to Pres Hall with my trio of Robert Walter, Will Bernard, with guests Skerik and Mark Mullins (trombone). This was a fun gig and I enjoyed playing at the site where we recorded the new album. Wednesday I played The Blue Nile with Dragon Smoke, Ivan Neville, Eric Lindell, and Robert Mercurio. One of my Jazzfest highlights was getting to play second drum set next to Idris Muhammad. Idris is one of my favorite drummers and it was great to be invited to play with him and to see him seem to have fun with it. Thursday was Galactic at the House of Blues and Friday was Galactic at the CAC. Saturday I played the Rock N Bowl with Anders Osborne and then later played Le Bon Temps with my trio this time with Brian Coogan (organ) and Will Bernard. I ran from Le Bon Temps at 4 in the morning to get on the Galactic bus and head to Memphis for Memphis in May. Sunday we played Memphis in May and then headed back to NOLA. All in all it was a great jazz fest. The rest of May included an east coast trio run and Robert Mercurio’s wedding.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER - NEW ORLEANS, LA 05/06/06
photo: Michael Jurick
--- JUNE ---
I played some duo gigs in NOLA with Robert Walter and Johnny Vidacovich, the Maple Leaf with MVVP (Moore, Vidacovich, Vogel, Porter), toured with Bonerama a bit, and did a few clinics all before playing High Sierra with Garage-a-Trois.
--- JULY ---
I played some gigs in NOLA and did an east coast run with Galactic including the All Good Fest, Summer Stage in New York, and Belle Chere in Asheville NC.
--- AUGUST ---In August, I played the occasional gig with Walter Wolfman Washington, and went to San Francisco to play with Dragon Smoke (Eric Lindel, Ivan Neville and Robert Mercurio). We talked about the possibility of doing a record and had two great gigs at the Boom Boom Room. On the 9th I left for England to do a couple of clinics including the Bath Rhythm Course and a clinic in Colchester. Upon my return I hit Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado with Galactic for the rest of the month.
--- SEPTEMBER ---September was the roughest month of 2006 for me. I had already been traveling a good bit and then September was over the top. My plan was to maintain a regular Monday gig with my trio and a regular Wednesday gig with Robert Walter, while going to New York, Austin City Limits and running to Brazil and London all on the weekends with only missing one Wednesday gig with Robert Walter. The Monday night gigs were to be culminated with the Monday night before the release of my new record, celebrating my record release at mid-night Sept 26th. The plan worked, but was extremely tiring. The month started with Galactic going to Lacrosse Wisconsin for Jason Clark’s (one of our crew members) wedding. Seeing that our lay over was in Chicago, I planned a clinic with Galactic at the Drum Pad, a great store outside of Chicago. The clinic went great. After a fun wedding weekend it was back to New Orleans for my first regular Monday night gig for the month of September at Chickie Wah Wah. The trio this time was Robert Walter and Steve Masakowski. Great gig! Wednesday was a gig at the Maple Leaf with Robert Walter and Jeff Raines. Lots of rehearsals lead up to a two night live recording with Bonerama on Thursday and Friday, and then Saturday the 9th I flew to NYC to play BB King’s with Leo Noccentelli. On Sunday I made it back to NOLA in time to kick off and host the first Tipitina’s workshop for students. We had a lot of kids show up and it continues to be a successful series featuring tutorial workshops with my trio, Galactic, Bonerama, Down, and a varying cast of eclectic musical projects. This leads us into my second Monday night gig of the month-again with Robert Walter and Steve Masakowski. Tuesday I played a benefit for Officer Kevin Thomas (injured in the line of duty in my part of town) with my trio. Wednesday was my regular gig with Robert Walter and Jeff Raines. On Thursday night I left for a Texas weekend run surrounding Austin City Limits playing with Galactic, my trio and Papa Mali. Monday was time for my regular gig with the trio at Chickie Wah Wah-this time with Robert Walter and Cranston Clements. I left for Brazil on Wednesday, missing my gig with Robert Walter, to play with Garage-a-Trois. We arrived in Belo Horizonte and drove a few hours up in to the hills to the festival site in Ouro Preto, got something to eat and went to the hotel. All in all about a 24hr door to door journey. Went to check out some of the acts that evening and then hit the hay. The next day we played a workshop and did our set. I then rushed over in the rain to play with Preservation Hall. Everything went well and we had a nice hang. Here’s where stuff starts to get hairy. I had a driver pick me up at the hotel at 4am to drive to the airport. The drive was dark and winding-(driving out of the hills) with a lot of trucks on the road. The driver (who didn’t speak English-and I don’t yet speak Portuguese) was driving a bit fast for my taste. He was winding in and out our lane, passing what trucks he could on a pitch black hill-side two lane road (I thought I was going to die 4 times). It all made for a pretty harrowing 2 hour ride. When we arrived at the Ouro Preto airport, I made the discovery that the driver, while loading my bags and gear into the trunk of the car, had also loaded Skerik and Charlie’s pedal boards into the trunk as well. We were now 2 hrs from the hotel, it was 6 in the morning, I had no Brazilian cell phone and my driver didn’t speak English. A couple of people were nice enough to stop and try to help translate, but the driver refused to call the hotel for some reason. A porter came by to help me with my bags and maybe store Skerik and Charlie’s gear in a storage shed. After walking over to the shed and realizing there was no way to let the guys know where there stuff was, I realized I was running out of time. Luckily I ran past a guy who was at the festival and he said hi as I was passing. Realizing he spoke English, and he had a cell phone, I enlisted his help and contacted the hotel leaving word for the guys that their gear would be left at the check in counter. (thanks to the airline who bent then rules a bit) So with that taken care of, I rushed off to barely make my flight. My flight landed in Rio and I realized I had a 7 hour lay over. Totally exhausted I tried to sleep sitting against a wall. I had luggage and gear with me so I wasn’t too mobile. Eventually, I got on my flight to London to head to Drummer Live. I arrived in London and by the time I made it through customs (an hour and a half after I landed) the car that was supposed to pick me up was nowhere to be found. I had to call the hotel where I was staying on a pay phone and ask for someone to let Ian Croft and the folks at Drummer Live know I was on my way. I grabbed a cab and made it to the site, missing my sound check, but in time to set up, eat a sandwich, and shave. But the time I got to my dressing room to change my shirt, Vic Firth and Nicko McBrain (famed drummer of Iron Maiden) were on stage introducing me. I had no time to change my shirt and had to roll with the T-shirt I had been traveling in for the last 24 hours. I made it on stage and the crowd was very receptive so I had a good time presenting my approach to New Orleans drumming to them. Afterwards I went to dinner with Vic, Marco Soccoli and Zoro. I caught my flight in the morning and made it back to NOLA to play my regular Monday gig with my trio. This last Monday of the series was slated to be my record release party so I flew in Will Bernard to play guitar with myself and Robert Walter. This was also the night of the Saints’ first game back in the dome. All in all a great night and a monumental victory for the Saints and the city. The next day I played at the Louisiana Music Factory for an in store on the day of my release. Wed night I played the Maple Leaf with Robert Walter and then headed out Friday for a 2 week east coast run with the trio.
--- OCTOBER ---
VEGOOSE - LAS VEGAS, NV 2006
photo: Jeff KravitzI was on the east coast with the trio from Sept. 29-Oct 13. On my return I played the Tip’s workshop on the 15th and then headed out again on the 16th for a west coast run with Galactic. On this run I was opening for Galactic with my trio. The three sets of music weren’t the taxing part, it was the two and a half hours of sound check everyday leaving me 45 min-1 hour to eat or shower before I had to play for the rest of the night. This schedule really started to wear me down. We played Vegoose on this run and had a couple MCs from the upcoming Galactic record sit in. Gift of Gab and Lady Bug (of Digable Planets) sat in with us and totally rocked it. They each did some of their own tunes and one new tune that we had written with them. They culminated with a joint freestyle over “Kashmir” that killed. Then back to New Orleans for Halloween at Tipitina’s.
--- NOVEMBER ---November 18th was to be my big night at Tip’s with the trio and the debut of the Midnight Disturbers. The Midnight Disturbers is an all-star brass band that Kevin O’day and I had been talking about for a while. The line up is myself on snare and percussion, Kevin on bass drum and percussion, Skerik and Ben Ellman on saxes, Big Sam and Mark Mullins on trombones, Jeffery Hills on Tuba and Jamell Williams and Troy Andrews (Trombone Shorty) on trumpet. So I laid fairly low (for me) for most of the month. I had some rehearsals with the Disturbers, went to Austin for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and headed back through Dallas to stop for a session with DJ Shadow. That all went well and I hope to work with Shadow more in the future.
At Tip’s, the Disturbers and the Trio were well received. Skerik and Big Sam played horns with the trio as well. We rounded out November by doing some southern gigs surrounding Thanksgiving with Galactic.
--- DECEMBER ---
MAPLE LEAF BAR - NEW ORLEANS, LA 12/02/06
photo: David FosterDecember started off with the launch of Galactic’s undercover funk series. This series is intended to bring some business to some of the smaller clubs in NOLA that are vital to the music scene and need some momentum. On Dec 2nd we kicked off the series by playing the Maple Leaf. David Letterman and Paul Schaeffer where planning to be in NOLA that night with their entire staff, so it was arranged ahead of time for David and 60 of his staff to come to the Leaf and for Paul to sit in with the band. We did a rehearsal with Paul that day and worked out a good bit of music. That all went great and it was great to meet Dave and play with Paul. I then headed to the west coast for a run with the trio (this time featuring Brian Coogan on organ). The run went great. Upon my return we did some recording in the Galactic studio with Kurbfeeler. Kurbfeeler is a heavy project I have with Pepper Keenan, Skerik and Robert Walter. We’re all looking forward to getting that completed and out. We then did a Texas run with Galactic leading into New Year’s Eve. A great way to end an emotional and very busy year.
I’d
like to thank everyone who came out and supported me and my various endeavors. Thanks
for a great year and I look forward to seeing ya’ll in 2007.
Take care, Stanton
All in all Stanton played 93 gigs with Galactic, 59 gigs with his trio, 7 gigs with Garage-a-Trois, 17 gigs with other projects like Leo Noccentelli, Bonerama and Robert Walter. 6 sessions (Galactic, Stanton Moore trio, DJ Shadow, The Gentilly Groove Masters, Matt Perrine and Kurbfeeler) one live record with Bonerama, 15 clinics, (including Drummer live and Bath Rhythm course in the UK) and spent about 200 days on the road. He was featured on the cover of the German, Japanese and UK drum magazines. His book won book of the year and his DVDs won second in the Modern Drummer reader’s poll (behind Neil Peart). His Book garnered 4.5 stars from MD and his DVDs earned a 5 star rating from MD, DVD of the month from Drummer UK and his new CD, Stanton Moore III also won CD of the Month in Drummer UK. The CD he recorded with Irma Thomas (After the Rain) was nominated for a Grammy (the CD won in the contemporary blues category in 2007). He also played many benefits, donated gear and started up a workshop for students at Tipitina’s. It was a great year and he’s looking forward to 2007-the release of the new Galactic/MC record, being featured on the cover of Classic Drummer magazine touring with Galactic, his trio and what ever else comes his way.
- click here for a full listing of Stanton's 2006 gigs -
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