Zigaboo Modeliste

We’re talking here nothing less than pretty much the funkiest skinhitter on earth. As a founding member of the legendary and highly influential New Orleans funk band The Meters he laid down syncopated second line rhythms that are impossible to beat. Countless hip-hoppers from Public Enemy to Beastie Boys have grooved on Zigaboo’s drum patterns that up-and-coming drummers all over the world are still studying.

In the 60’s and 70’s The Meters put out a bunch of albums, like Struttin’, Look A Py Py and Rejuvenation, that pioneered funk and inspired everybody from the Rolling Stones to Miles Davis. They also worked as a backing band for a host of great artists, like Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Lee Dorsey and Robert Palmer. Zigaboo has also drummed for Keith Richards, Bill Laswell, Harry Connick, Jr and John Fogerty. He has put out four albums as a leader on his own JZM label, the latest being the brand new New Life. After Hurricane Katrina Zigaboo moved to California, where he teaches and performs regularly, if he isn’t gigging abroad.