That’s when Porter is most busy. He plays multiple gigs in various ensembles on the fair grounds, and an array of events at clubs across the Crescent City that can easily run until 5AM. Porter has been a mainstay at Jazz Fest since its inception in 1970, working both as a musician, and as a stage production coordinator. He has performed countless times with various incarnations of the Meters, as the leader of the Runnin’ Pardners, as a sideman with legends such as Snooks Eaglin, and in all-star outfits such as the New Orleans Social Club. That collection of top-shelf players—including keyboardist Ivan Neville (Neville Brothers, Dumpstaphunk) and fellow Meter Leo Nocentelli—is currently one of Porter’s primary projects. They were booked to back Taj Mahal on a session immediately after this interview took place. Porter was also gearing up for a gig with a jam-band super group including guitar ace Steve Kimock that was booked to play at hippie icon Wavy Gravy’s birthday bash in Berkeley, California. Porter’s phone keeps ringing, and he’s still jazzed to get the call.

One Night Stands

Who did you play with last night?
I played The Trio gig at Tipitina’s with Johnny Vidacovich on drums and June Yamagishi from Papa Grows Funk on guitar. That’s an all-improvisational situation, and it had turned into a sextet by the end of the show. I stayed to jam with Dumpstaphunk, and then I went to Snug Harbor to play with David Torkanowsky until about 3:30AM. After that, I went to the Howlin’ Wolf to sit in with Zig [Meters drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste], but I didn’t play because his bass player Chris Severin plays a 7-string bass, and that’s about three more strings than I’m used to working with [laughs].

How are you able to keep your energy level up?
Now that I’m sober, I recoup a lot better. I stopped putting stupid stuff in my body a long time ago, and I take naps in the afternoon whenever possible. If I do a day gig, I try to load in to the late gig right afterwards, so I can go home and sleep for a while in the evening. I go right to sleep when I hit the pillow.

Still Runnin’

The Runnin’ Pardners is a big band that doesn’t play together very often. How much do you rehearse before a main stage Jazz Fest gig?
The one rehearsal the Runnin’ Pardners did was probably our first in 20 years. [Laughs.] I usually book a gig at Southport Hall on the Thursday before the first Jazz Fest weekend, and we run through the festival set list. It didn’t work out that way this year because I tried to play a lot of songs from my new CD. I was getting good crowd response, but when [drummer] Russell Batiste started calling some of the older songs, I figured was losing the band.

How consistent is the lineup?
Almost all the players are original members. The lineup can vary because some horn players commit to playing with bigger, better-paying acts, and because we only play about eight shows a year. It’s much easier to keep the rhythm section together because Russell Batiste plays in so many of the things I do regularly, like PBS and the Funky Meters. The Runnin’ Pardners hasn’t been a road band in about a dozen years. It’s just too big, and people have other commitments. After Hurricane Katrina, my daughter started booking the band, so we’re playing together again. We’ve been doing weddings for fans who still have the set lists from back when we used to play regularly at Muddy Waters. Our set list was 60 percent original material from the two Runnin’ Pardners albums, and new arrangements of my favorite Meters tunes. At the last gig, the wedding song was “Just Kissed My Baby.”

Could you stop working at this point if you wanted to?
Financially, not yet. When we rebuilt this house after Katrina, we dug deep into our savings, so now I’m back to working and thinking that I need to work more. We may get relief from this Road Home disaster relief plan. They’ve done all the inspections, but we’re still down the list and haven’t received any Road Home money.

Ideas and Identity

Did you write any of the bass lines for your new solo record while you were on the road?
I wrote the line for “She Said” while I was jamming onstage alone doing a soundcheck. It’s a pocket groove in E, so you have that big open-string root note option when you need it. I immediately reached over to my Marantz and recorded a few bars of that line. The Marantz CDR420 HD CD is a great 40-gig hard drive recorder and CD burner that goes everywhere with me. Most of the time, I set it up onstage next to my rig. I use a little three-channel Shure mixer to blend one signal from the front of the house and two ambient mics on the stage. I’ll burn a CD and listen to the gig on the drive home if it’s long enough. I like to listen back to recordings of The Trio because it’s all coming off the top of our heads, so it’s fresh every time. I’ve written so many bass lines on that gig because I try to mix it up with different keys and changes.

How do you explore new ideas while maintaining your own identity within various combinations of other players?
I’m still exploring what I can do within the range of what I do. I play in a lot of projects, so I can’t bring just one concept to all of those different feels. I have to vary with what’s going on. I’ve been doing some Headhunters gigs with Mike Clark, Bill Summers, Donald Harrison Jr., and Jerry Z. I try to be more of a chops player in that fusion world, but I don’t play speed stuff very well. I know my limits.

When you need to employ your fastest speed, what do you do?
Pray! [Laughs.] I don’t think about it. A part of my brain says, now you need to leave the thumb alone, and play with your fingers.

Retiring the P?

Your old P-Bass might actually be able to play itself by this point. I notice you go right back to it as soon as possible whenever you break a string.
I used that bass for every track on my new CD, and I play it all the time even though it should have been retired two years ago. This past February, I made a bold statement at the Mexicali Blues Café in Teaneck, New Jersey. I announced that was the last time they were going to see that bass live. I walked offstage and people were making bids on it! [Laughs.] There were guys who wanted to put it on the wall in a museum—even the club owner wanted it.

What prompted the announcement?
The wood in the neck is getting soft, so the bolts in the back of the tuning pegs aren’t holding tight. I had to actually tie on the G string to prevent it from popping out of the peg head because it was set in so low that it couldn’t keep the string in place. My tech Miguel got inside and figured it out. He shaved off some matchsticks and put the chips inside the wood, and then he screwed the peg back in. It’s been holding, so the bass got a reprieve.

Do you have anything new and cool in your rig?
I just got an Ampeg SVT-610HLF loaded with Tone Tubby Super Boy hemp cone speakers. On its own, the sound is a little warm for me, but when I couple it with a stock 610—oh man, the blend is nice.

Production Pointers

What adjustments do you make when you have to play on backline gear provided by the venue?
I don’t play on backline gear anymore—I bring my Ampeg rig. Based on my experience working production at Jazz Fest, I’d say that the best thing anyone can do to make the gig go smoothly is to provide as much information as possible. For many years, I was the production coordinator of the Acura [main] stage. I acted as the liaison between the musicians and the production team. I didn’t so much tell the musicians what do, as what not to do.

What advice would you give to a player who is about to play a festival stage?
In addition to the typical stage plot that covers where everybody plans to set up and how many inputs the band needs, it’s best to provide additional information about your inputs and signal chains. Indicate how many DI boxes you need, which mics you are bringing and which ones you suggest, and what channels should have, say, compression or delay or noise gate. Include specific monitor mix notes. [He pulls up file on New Orleans Social Club and reads,] “The drummer likes his mix loud, and he likes to hear both bass signals. He will ask for all vocals, put them 2dB below the level of his kick drum in his monitor.” Arrive on time and work with the stage team to make the production efficient. Then hope it doesn’t rain. [Laughs.]

When did you stop working as a production coordinator, and why?
I had to stop about seven or eight years ago. The Monday after the second weekend of Jazz Fest, which would be today, I would break down and cry because I was hurting so bad. I wouldn’t get out of bed until Tuesday. While I was on that job, I’d be at the festival starting at ten o’clock in the morning and be out until three at night playing gigs. Doing that for two consecutive weekends, plus playing two or three times a night on the weekdays in-between was just too much.

Porter provided these copies of his stage plots, input lists, and notes, so that BP readers would understand exactly what information he suggests to give a venue before a gig.