09/09/2026
𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐌'𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐘 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, Led By Legendary Trombonist "BIG SAM" WILLIAMS, comes to the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market (w/Premium Sound & Lighting) on 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓 𝐚𝐭 𝟕 𝐏.𝐌.
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑂𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑥-𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠, 𝐵𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡, 𝑣𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑜, 𝑃𝑜’ 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠, 𝑔𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑜, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐵𝐼𝐺 𝑆𝐴𝑀’𝑆 𝐹𝑈𝑁𝐾𝑌 𝑁𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑁𝑂𝐿𝐴 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠.
"...𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒔 "𝑩𝒊𝒈 𝑺𝒂𝒎" 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔."
— 𝑺𝑨𝑵 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑰𝑺𝑪𝑶 𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑳𝑬
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/music-schedule/
Nᴇᴡ Oʀʟᴇᴀɴs Jᴀᴢᴢ & Bʟᴜᴇs Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛ ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀs Wᴏʀʟᴅ-Rᴇɴᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ & Aᴡᴀʀᴅ-Wɪɴɴɪɴɢ Mᴜsɪᴄɪᴀɴs, Nᴇᴡ Pʀᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ Sᴏᴜɴᴅ & Lɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Tᴇᴄʜɴᴏʟᴏɢɪᴇs, Sɪɢɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ Cᴏᴄᴋᴛᴀɪʟs & Dʀɪɴᴋs, Pʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ Vᴀʟᴇᴛ Pᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ, ᴀs ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴀs Lᴇɢᴇɴᴅᴀʀʏ Lɪᴠᴇ Pᴇʀꜰᴏʀᴍᴀɴᴄᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ Oᴜᴛsᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ Mᴇᴍᴏʀᴀʙʟᴇ Exᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇs!
𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐌'𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐘 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐣𝐚𝐳𝐳, 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐩-𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 “𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬,” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦. They might very well be The Big Easy’s best kept secret. No other place could birth such an undeniable, unpredictable, and downright unique collective.
𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐟𝐚𝐧-𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. Powered by jaw-dropping technical talent and uncontainable energy on stage, their performances have become the stuff of legend. Big Sam ensures you’re not just a part of the crowd, but “a part of the show dancing and singing along.” Beyond standout sets at the likes of Voodoo Music + Experience and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the boys have performed at Bonnaroo, SXSW, and Austin City Limits, to name a few.
𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧 “𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐦” 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, spanning everything from 300 shows per year during his days in Dirty Dozen Brass Band and gigs backing up Widespread Panic and Dave Matthews Band to recording and touring with Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello. Additionally, he also had a recurring role on the critically acclaimed HBO series Treme.
𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒’𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤-𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ‘𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧’ (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐬), 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 “𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.” So, he decided to “write originals that show how cats like Morris Day & The Time, The Gap Band, P-Funk, inspired [him]—while not just repeating the past.”
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 ‘𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤, 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏’. Spending just five days at The Parlor Recording Studio in New Orleans, Big Sam’s Funky Nation emerged from the studio with an album tailor made for singing, dancing, and, of course, partying.
“𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒,” ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑠. “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 1. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠: ‘𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑒𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒’. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒. 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒. 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜’𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢?”
𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 “𝐏𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩”. On the track, a simmering beat punctuated by seventies-style synths gives way to lively horns, handclaps, and howls. Merging bounce energy and jazz virtuosity, the call-and-response culminates on Big Sam chanting a hometown phrase, “Show me what you got for a poke chop.”
𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, “𝐁𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐧” 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬. Painting a vivid picture of hot and heavy love at first sight on the dance floor, the frontman croons, “Girl, you got me buzzin.”
𝐀𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.
“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒,” ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓. “𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑂𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝑆𝑎𝑚’𝑠 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑦 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤, 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟.”
𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬:
Big Sam Williams - Trombone & Lead Vocals
Drew “Da Phessah” Baham - Trumpet & Vocals
Jerry “JBlakk” Henderson - Bass
Alfred “Sgt Gutta” Jordan - Drums
Seizo Shibayama - Guitar
Kendrick Marshall - Keys
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐌'𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐘 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market on 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓 𝐚𝐭 𝟕 𝐏.𝐌. are NOW On-Sale on Ticketmaster, Facebook Events at: https://www.facebook.com/share/18fNiZBNmS/ and the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market Website at: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/event/big-sams-funky-nation/ - 𝑫𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏 2 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘!!
𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭: https://www.instagram.com/jazzbluesmarket/
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 & 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/music-schedule/ - 𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑮 2026 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾𝑺 𝑶𝑵-𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑾!!
𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧-𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭: www.jazzandbluesmarket.com/subscribe to stay informed on Upcoming Shows, New Artist Announcements, Promotional Offers, Ticket On-Sale Dates, Special Performances, and much more!! Thank you!!
𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒, 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 & 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. The New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market offers a spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations!! If interested, please email: [email protected].