Happy Birthday George Porter Jr. – ‘Sugaree’ At Bear Creek

Today marks the 68th birthday of legendary bassist and New Orleans native George Porter Jr. Renowned for his work as a founding member of The Meters, he has amassed an impressive body of work performing with a variety of lineups over the course of his storied career. Porter currently leads his Runnin’ Pardners ensemble, and will appear with fellow original member of The Meters Zigaboo Modeliste as well as Eddie Roberts and Joe Tatton for a Foundation of Funk show on New Year’s Eve along with The New Mastersounds. GPJ’s spirit for collaboration is as strong as his basslines are funky, and we’re revisiting one sit-in filled jam in celebration of his birthday.

Back on November 11, 2011 Anders Osborne helmed the stage at the Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival in Live Oak, Florida for a set alongside guitarist Billy Iuso, bassist Carl Dufrene and drummer Eric Bolivar. During the performance Osborne welcomed drummer Stanton Moore and Porter to sit-in on a NOLA-centric take on “Sugaree” by the Grateful Dead in which GPJ showed off his skill on bass while also helping out on vocals.

Directed by Jeremy Sewell, the pro-shot video below features how the fairly impromptu collaborative cover went down, have a look:

Porter will celebrate with a Birthday Bash tonight at Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans in which he’ll play the first Runnin’ Pardners album in it’s entirety, songs from the Joy Ride EP with special guest Bruce Macdonald and more. Others slated to appear include Brint Anderson, Doug Belote, Alonzo Bowens, Brian Graber, Tracy Griffin, John Gros, Terrence Houston, Mike Lemmler, Mark Mullins and Khris Royal.