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| Background information | |
| Birth name | George Porter Jr. |
| Born | December 26, 1947 New Orleans, Louisiana United States |
| Genres | R&B, New Orleans, Funk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1965-present |
| Labels | Rounder, Transvideo |
| Associated acts | The Meters The Runnin’ Pardners Porter Batiste Stoltz The Trio (with Johnny Vidacovich) 7 Walkers, New Orleans Social Club |
| Website
Notable instruments: |
http://www.georgeporterjr.com/ |
George Joseph Porter Jr. (born December 26, 1947) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and singer of The Meters. Along with Art Neville, Porter formed the group in the mid 1960s and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977, but reformed in 1989. Today the original group still plays the occasional reunion but the Funky Meters, of which Porter and Neville are members, most prominently keeps the spirit alive.
Porter has his own group the Runnin’ Pardners, and also other projects such as The Trio with Johnny Vidacovich, New Orleans Social Club, Deep Fried and Porter Batiste Stoltz. He has been performing and recording with wide range of artists including Soul Rebels Brass Band, Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Robbie Robertson, Willy DeVille, Robert Palmer, Patti Labelle, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Johnny Adams, Harry Connick Jr., Earl King, Warren Haynes, Tori Amos, and Snooks Eaglin among many others
Porter joined John Scofield’s Piety Street Band in 2008 to tour and to record. Jon Cleary and Ricky Fataar are also members of this band. In 2010, he replaced Reed Mathis in Bill Kreutzmann’s newest band, 7 Walkers. Also in 2010 he performed with Runnin’ Pardner at New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience.
revisit some of the old Meters tunes and you can’t help but notice the greatest groove-inducing element: space. Porter usually begins with a distinctive line, often of just a few notes, that is enhanced by the accompanying swing of the rhythm guitar. The simple phrase leaves room for organ embellishments and the highly syncopated, second-line inspired drums and percussion (“Fire On The Bayou” and “People Say” are great examples of this). His mature and minimalist approach is the basis for many of the hit instrumental tunes from the group… he functions as the foundation of the groove, the rice of the gumbo.
From a harmonic standpoint, Porter’s approach to songs with a major tonality frequently pulls from a “bayouized” version of an arpeggio with the addition of a 6th. A common pattern in blues and Zydeco (a traditional Louisiana/Cajun genre), he adds glissandos or half-step pickups as he moves through the major pentatonic scale. This creates a bit of tension, particularly when he accentuates a chromatic triplet line (2-b3-3). More often than not, Porter creates a groove simply using the root, 5th, and 7th, leaving plenty of room for harmonic interpretation by the soloists and intricate fills that flirt with thirds. This provides him with an interesting advantage; he can choose to pronounce the flat third to firmly dictate a minor tonality or to add bluesy dissonance with a major third over a 9th or #9th chord.
Bass Stuff 