Photo by Stephen Maloney

Cyril Neville to Join George Porter Jr., Zigaboo Modeliste for New Year’s Show

Cyril Neville will join his old Meters bandmates George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste when their Foundation of Funk project rings in the New Year with “A Truly Funky Affair” at New Orleans’ Joy Theater.

The singer and percussionist, who was a member of the pioneering funk band during the 1970s, will perform as a special guest at the December 31 show.

As previously reported, British funk quartet The New Mastersounds will also play a set at the event, marking their third consecutive New Year’s Eve show at the Joy Theater.

Foundation of Funk is a new project from Porter and Modeliste that finds the bassist and drummer joined by a rotating cast of a musicians. The upcoming New Year’s show will feature Eddie Roberts and Joe Tatton of the New Mastersounds on guitar and keys, respectively (a previous incarnation included Dumpstaphunk’s Ivan Neville and Tony Hall).

Modeliste spoke with OffBeat about the Foundation of Funk in a new interview, which appears in the December 2015 issue of the magazine. The legendary drummer told us:

The Meters music is something that will last the test of time, I believe. [George Porter Jr. and I] both share that belief. There’s a lot of bands out here playing The Meters’ music. Some of it’s correct and some of it’s not so correct, but we do know that it doesn’t have the feel that it should have without George and myself. So the Foundation of Funk is just a setup that George and I have been brainstorming for a while—just building on the drum and bass relationship that we created years ago, and continue to create together today.

Tickets for the Foundation of Funk and The New Mastersounds’ New Year’s Eve show–billed as A Truly Funky Affair–are currently on sale.