By Margaret Hicks
Eagle Staff Writer
mhicks@theoklahomaeagle.net
‘Do U Want It’ Makes Its World Premiere
“Do U Want It,” an ABIS Productions Film documentary of the band Papa Grows Funk (PGF) will make its world premiere on Friday, April 21, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. at The Roxy Theater in Muskogee, Okla., as part of the 2017 Bare Bones International Film & Music Festival. This exciting film celebrates the musical culture of New Orleans while exploring the complex nature of success.
About Papa Grows Funk
PGF is a band of musicians organized by frontman John Gros in 2000, originally, to play just for one night. Gros wanted to do a project “just for fun,” so he invited a group of elite musicians from varied backgrounds to join him. “…this team included Japanese guitar virtuoso June Yamagishi, soulful saxophonist Jason Mingledorff, “slay-the groove-master” Marc Pero, and drummer/mad man Russell Batiste Jr., who left the group in 2005 and was replaced with Jeffery “Jellybean” Alexander. Together they became Papa Grows Funk.
PFG played every Monday night from 2001 to 2013 at the Maple Leaf Bar, a music performance venue in New Orleans that hosts a variety of other events.
While New Orleans nurtured them creatively and made them a success locally, the city also inhibited their ability to sustain a national presence. New Orleans is a city that runs on music with more live shows per capita than anywhere else in the world. This fosters an environment in which the potential to make a comfortable living as a professional musician is realistically attainable. The members of Papa Grows Funk took advantage of this, enjoying artistic autonomy by playing in multiple bands around town. Additionally, no one in the band was a young man, and their careers, mortgages and families were all in New Orleans. These factors prevented the band members from fully committing to PGF which inhibited the band’s ability to grow.
As the band leader, Gros decided the only path left for the band to take was to record an album unlike any they had made in the past. By hiring New Orleans’ musical icon Allen Toussaint and Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond to co-produce the album, and by making a conscious effort to emphasize vocals and song structure, Gros believed the band could attract a wider audience. In the end, Gros’s decision to force the other band members out of their creative comfort zones brought to the surface greater internal problems that had been brewing and ultimately led to the band’s decision to take an indefinite hiatus.
The film follows PGF as they embark on their farewell tour. The film asks the question- what is “success?” Is it filling out large concert venues, selling records, and gaining widespread recognition? Or is it playing with your best friends and family every week, being part of a community, and going home, not rich, but with enough money in your pocket to do it all again tomorrow?
Credits
This film is directed by Josh Freund and Sam Radutzky, produced by Josh Freund, Sam Radutzky, Alex Mallonee, and Rachael Ponn, edited by Josh Freund, Sam Radutzky, and Manuel Tsingaris. Run time is 95 minutes.
