Ivan Neville Leads Dragon Smoke Through Tom Petty Cover In New Orleans

Performances from Dragon Smoke have become a tradition during New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and this time around the group served up a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Each year, Ivan Neville, Robert Mercurio, Eric Lindell and come together, reviving the supergroup project featuring members of Dumpstaphunk and Galactic.

This year, Dragon Smoke reconvened at One Eyed Jacks during the week in between Jazz Fest weekends. As part of the show, Ivan Neville led the quartet through a stunning cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” which honored the late rocker who died in 2017. During the cover of the Full Moon Fever classic, the band infused the tune with a reggae twist, using an easygoing dubbed-out rhythm throughout the sing-along to the 1989 song.

Watch the “Free Fallin'” cover below, courtesy of Nunu Zomot: