Big Sam's Funky Nation at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest at Plaza De César Chávez

As anyone who has attended a recent Friday Main Stage session can attest, Summer Fest audiences love the funk. Trombonist Big Sam and his Funky Nation band brings just that—along with some Crescent City second line hometown flavor, a bit of hip-hop and infectious rock & roll swagger.

Sammie “Big Sam” Williams came up through one of New Orleans’ modern institutions, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and has a lifelong devotion to the city that bred him culturally, musically and spiritually.

“By playing on these streets, you learn how to work your craft and entertain an audience. It comes naturally in New Orleans,” he proclaims. “I’ve been here my whole life and rocking these streets. Even during Hurricane Katrina, I drove nine hours from San Antonio every weekend for two years just to play live. The sound out here is unlike anything else in the world.”...

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As anyone who has attended a recent Friday Main Stage session can attest, Summer Fest audiences love the funk. Trombonist Big Sam and his Funky Nation band brings just that—along with some Crescent City second line hometown flavor, a bit of hip-hop and infectious rock & roll swagger.

Sammie “Big Sam” Williams came up through one of New Orleans’ modern institutions, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and has a lifelong devotion to the city that bred him culturally, musically and spiritually.

“By playing on these streets, you learn how to work your craft and entertain an audience. It comes naturally in New Orleans,” he proclaims. “I’ve been here my whole life and rocking these streets. Even during Hurricane Katrina, I drove nine hours from San Antonio every weekend for two years just to play live. The sound out here is unlike anything else in the world.”

Songs in the Key of Funk, Vol. 1, the sixth and most recent album from Big Sam’s Funky Nation, will be released on April 21. It takes its titular—and some musical—inspiration from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 classic Songs in the Key of Life, and the Funky Nation sextet with trumpet, guitar and electric rhythm section brings funk and life to any street or bandstand…including 2018 Summer Fest.

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