On Tuesday, February 21st, an all-star collaboration between George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds), Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars & Roger Waters), and Nikki Glaspie will celebrate Fat Tuesday with the release of “Mardi Gras Day.” Featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison on alto saxophone, the track is the lead single off of a forthcoming record Floki Sessions: Boots in Place that will be released this summer via Eleven Music Experience in collaboration with Color Red.
The album was recorded at Floki Studios located in the Fljót Valley on the mountainous Troll Peninsula in northern Iceland at Eleven Experience's Deplar Farm. Robert Walter brought in this instrumental groove to the session and upon hearing it, Roberts was immediately transported to the sounds of The Wild Magnolias and other Mardi Gras Indian recordings of the ‘70s. After the initial session in Iceland, Eddie approached Big Chief Donald Harrison who is revered as an iconic jazz artist best known for being the horn counterpart of trumpeter Terrance Blanchard in the ‘80s lineup of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Donald is also the Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans Culture. While performing in Denver fall of 2022 and they seized the opportunity to get him into Color Red Studios to craft “Mardi Gras Day.” Eddie remembers Donald saying that there were no songs out there with “Mardi Gras Day” as the hook and the rest wrote itself.
“It doesn’t come much more legit than a Mardi Gras anthem played by two of New Orleans’ legends, George Porter Jr. and Big Chief Donald Harrison,” remarks Roberts, “In fact, everyone on the track has lived or gigged heavily in New Orleans at some point in their careers. This new record captures the spirit of some classic Mardi Gras Indian tracks of the ’70s, but is brought to life in 2023!”
Porter adds, “Big Chief Harrison has brought a fresh spin to Mardi Gras Tradition. Paying homage to that tradition is important to keeping the culture alive.”
This inaugural edition of the Floki Sessions comes hot off the heels of The New Mastersounds’ The Deplar Effect which garnered acclaim earning the #1 spot on the Relix Radio Charts, reached the #24 spot on NACC’s 2022 R&B/Soul Charts, and editorial playlist support on Spotify & Apple Music. In addition to Roberts’ successes with The Deplar Effect and a recent run in Japan with The New Mastersounds, Walter has been the touring keyboardist with Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) and Glaspie has maintained an active schedule touring with Trouble No More, an all-star tribute to The Allman Brothers.
The full-length album produced by Roberts will feature guest artist appearances by Erica Falls (Galactic), Son Little, Lamar Williams. Jr. (Trouble No More, The New Mastersounds & North Mississippi All-Stars), Tierinii Jackson (Southern Avenue), Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce) and rising Chicago artist GreenTTea.
The record can be pre-ordered here: https://color-red.com/products/pre-order-floki-sessions-george-porter-j…
