March 04, 2017 9:00PM - 12:00AM at HopMonk Tavern Sebastopol
Hopmonk Sebastopol is hosting a Mardi Gras afterparty with The Dixie Giants, The Melt & Second Line. Ticket proceeds will be donated to Music for Schools, a program that supports music education throughout Sonoma County. Instrument and $$ donations greatly appreciated!!
Music For Schools is dedicated to encouraging, supporting, and expanding music education opportunities for youth. Thanks to generous community donations, the Music For Schools instrument lending library maintains an extensive collection of more than 400 items, including wind, brass, percussion, Orff, and stringed instruments and educational resources available for use by teachers and students.
The Dixie Giants -
“California Trad Jazz & more. No trumpet required.”
For the past 4 years the Sonoma County-based group, The Dixie Giants, have brought their own special version of New Orleans music to the Bay Area. Whether they’re playing in clubs or on the streets, The Dixie Giants are infamous for radiating an infectious energy and always having a blast. While continuing to play the music of their heroes (Louis Armstrong & The All Stars, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Thelonious Monk, Jackson 5), they have also been writing original music in an effort to continue to evolve the idiom of Traditional New Orleans Jazz.
The Dixie Giants have shared the stage with such acts as Bonnie Raitt, Galactic, Rebirth Brass Band, The Wood Brothers, Charlie Musselwhite, New Orleans Suspects, Tuba Skinny, Dustbowl Revival, and many more. Their sounds have been heard at Strawberry Music Festival, Petaluma Music Festival, San Jose Jazz Fest, Healdsburg Jazz Fest, Sausalito Arts Festival, Lagunitas Beer Circus and Honk Fest West, and have appeared at events and in commercials for the San Francisco Giants. Winners of the North Bay Bohemian's "North Bay's Best Jazz Band" award in 2014, The Dixie Giants released a new album of instrumental originals titled "Dressed & Ready to Go" in February, 2017.
The Melt -
Funk and creativity is the soul and driving force behind the Sonoma County sensation The Melt. Funk and creativity is the soul and driving force behind the Sonoma County sensation The Melt. This eclectic and talented group of musicians came together in 2015 from completely different angles and different bands, but with one goal in mind – to create deeply grooving music that grabs your soul and makes you get up and move your butt. Sharing the stage with famous acts at prestigious Music Festivals, and headlining iconic music clubs like Slims, Fenix Live and the Boom Boom Room give the band a wide reach with enthusiastic audiences.
The band’s debut “Monkey Genes” CD in 2015 gives insight into the raw potential of this band. Written, produced and recorded by all members just 1 month after meeting each other, the results speak for themselves. Originality was the order of the day, and the creative influence of all members is on pure display. Many of the cuts were done in one take, and the energy and creativity of the end result gives us a glimpse of what’s to come from this creative ensemble.
Band leader Todd Bugbee’s BA in music from Humboldt State lays the foundation for much of the band’s original music, but the creative input from the rest of the members takes the seeds of Todd’s ideas to new heights, weaving in the intensity of Soulive, the funk of Martin Medeski Wood (MMW), Grant Green and John Scofield and the exploratory passages of Phish and The Dead. Todd’s work with Leo Nocentelli from The Meters is reflected in the bands syncopated and complex style, and Jeff Stevenson’s study of the Hammond B3 with John Medeski from MMW pays off in spades by adding melodic texture and a playful, whimsical sense of the unexpected to the original music the band is so well known for. Rounding out the rest of the rhythm section is Harlan Rollins on bass who studied with John Kulowitch in New York and has played jazz and funk all over the country, and Rhyne Erde on drums who has studied with drum masters, Pete Magadini (Diana Ross) and Chuck Brown, (Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, David Giribaldi, Jeff Campitelli). The members of the band have performed for audiences as large as 70,000 people with legendary musicians such as, Greg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone, Jerry Garcia), Terry Haggerty (Sons of Champlin), Val Fuentes (It’s a Beautiful Day) and Lester Chambers, lead singer and front man of The Chambers Brothers.
Second Line -
Second Line brings a taste of the bayou to Sonoma County through their blend of Swamp Funk influenced by the music of New Orleans. The band has quickly developed a loyal following that thrive on the energy and party vibe that emanates from the stage during every show. Their musical vocabulary spans Funk, Jazz, Blues, Soul, and Rock from the Crescent City. On any given night, you’ll hear Mardi Gras and New Orleans Funk Classics by The Meters, Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Jon Cleary, Earl King, The Radiators, The Iguanas, Galactic and the inimitable Professor Longhair – plus original music with a spicy Big Easy flair.
Second Line features professional musicians that are current & former members of; It's a Beautiful Day, Big Brother and the Holding Company, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Snooky Flowers, Smoke Inc, and Bill Cutler. The band also features current members of local bands the Pat Jordan Band, The Zins, Stephanie Teel Band, Rhythm Drivers, Rosetown Revue, Mojo Filter, and Travelin’ Soul. The band formed in 2014 as a collaboration of longtime friends that share a passion for the music and culture of New Orleans.