New Orleans Suspects

New Orleans Suspects brings together some of the best, most highly respected players in New Orleans including; “Mean” Willie Green on drums (Neville Bros.); Jeff Watkins on saxophone (James Brown Band, Joss Stone Band); Jake Eckert on guitar/vocals (Dirty Dozen Brass Band);  CR Gruver on keyboards and vocals (Polytoxic, Outformation) and Eric Vogel (Tony Hall Band) on bass guitar.  Founding member Reggie Scanlan (The Radiators, Professor Longhair) still performs at select shows.

New Orleans Suspects released their third full-length studio recording, Kaleidoscoped, in September 2016 to rave reviews and substantial airplay on four stations on Sirius/XM Radio. It was added into rotation on neary 170 non-commercial AAA, blues and jazz stations.  Kaleidoscoped  encompasses traditional Louisiana genres such as Cajun swamp pop, Mardi Gras Indian Funk, a pastiche of Southern rock, Dr. John-style R&B and traditional jazz all with a colorfully distorted lens. The band’s sound is often described as “psychedelic funk.” A slight outlier of a track, “Dixie Highway,” was written by Paul Barrere for Little Feat; he and Fred Tackett (also of Little Feat) add guitar/vocals and mandolin, respectively, for a New Orleans feel the listener might imagine Little Feat having searched for, but never located. 

Known for their blazing live performances,  New Orleans Suspects continue to excite audiences around the country and are revered in their hometown of New Orleans.

As Glide Magazine said, “Excuse the cliché, but if there is one act right now whose music can truly be considered a gumbo of styles, it’s the New Orleans Suspects…. those that were hip enough to get on the train were taken on a ride through the many sounds of the city’s music. Funk, soul, brass bands, R&B and zydeco were all given fair treatment by the Suspects, and the audience embraced every moment of it. It doesn’t matter how small or large the crowd is because the New Orleans Suspects play each show with the same vigor and are well worth catching.”