Papa Grows Funk is a funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. What started as an all-star jam session eight and a half year ago on a Monday night at the Old Point Bar on Algiers Point has blossomed into one of New Orleans' most successful funk bands. Papa Grows Funk's all-star lineup features New Orleans' finest musicians and funkiest characters, all of whom have deep roots in New Orleans music. Anchored around the slinky Hammond B3 grooves of band leader John Gros (George Porter, Jr. and Runnin' Pardners) is internationally renowned June Yamagishi (Wild Magnolias) on guitar, Marc Pero (Smilin' Myron) on bass, Jason Mingledorff (Galactic) on saxophone and Jeffery "Jellybean" Alexander (Jon Cleary), who replaced Russell Batiste, Jr. in 2005, on drums. Influenced by Dr. John, the Meters and the Neville Brothers, Papa Grows Funk are the guardians of New Orleans funk. PGF continually stretches the bounds of New Orleans music, turning ears and shaking hips wherever they perform. What started as an all-star jam session eight and a half year ago on a Monday night at the Old Point Bar on Algiers Point has blossomed into one of New Orleans' most successful funk bands. In 2001, the Monday night residency moved Uptown to the Maple Leaf Bar, where it has continued to this day. Without the help of a record label or distribution deal, the group has sold an impressive 30,000 combined copies of their four albums. Over the years, the band has accumulated a huge fan base through extensive touring averaging about 100 shows per year and producing fresh, original music. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Mahalia Jackson, often called the greatest gospel singer, returned to her hometown to appear at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April of 1970. While attending the Louisiana Heritage Fair in Congo Square (then known as Beauregard Square), she and Duke Ellington, who also appeared at the event, came upon the Eureka Brass Band leading a crowd of second-line revelers through the Festival grounds. George Wein, producer of the Festival, handed Ms. Jackson a microphone, she sang along with the band and joined the parade...and the spirit of Jazz Fest was born. This spontaneous, momentous scene—this meeting of jazz and heritage—has stood for decades since as a stirring symbol of the authenticity of the celebration that was destined to become a cultural force. From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festival was the culmination of years of discussions and efforts by city leaders who wanted to create an event worthy of the city's legacy as the birthplace of jazz. A couple of other festivals were held in the years leading up to the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, but those events, different in format, did not take hold as the Jazz & Heritage Festival would. New Orleans Jazz Fest with 12 stages of soul-stirring music—jazz, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, blues, R&B, rock, funk, African, Latin, Caribbean, folk, and much more—the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a singular celebration. The event has showcased most of the great artists of New Orleans and Louisiana of the last half century: Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Ellis Marsalis, The Radiators, Irma Thomas, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Better Than Ezra, Ernie K-Doe, Vernel Bagneris, The Zion Harmonizers, Beausoleil and many others. The Festival has always blended in a wide mix of internationally renowned guests, among them: Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Santana, Sarah Vaughan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Max Roach, B.B. King, Dave Matthews Band, Patti LaBelle, Tito Puente, the Allman Brothers Band, Joni Mitchell, Al Green, Linda Ronstadt, Lenny Kravitz, Sonny Rollins, Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Celia Cruz, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hugh Masekela, Cassandra Wilson, Willie Nelson, The Temptations, Burning Spear,Van Morrison, LL Cool J, Abbey Lincoln, Erykah Badu, Dave Brubeck, Gladys Knight, Youssou N'Dour and many, many others. Over the years Jazz Fest has received many honors, including being named the Festival of the Year four times by Pollstar magazine. The 2004 event marks the 35th anniversary of Jazz Fest, which the Wall Street Journal says "showcases a wider, deeper lineup of essential American musical styles than any festival in the nation..." and which Life magazine has called "the country's very best music festival.'' Inspired by the spirit of Mahalia Jackson and the Eureka Brass Band back in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival continues to celebrate the culture of Louisiana with the combined fervor of a gospel hymn and the joy of a jazz parade.