With thanks to Keith Spera and The New Orleans Advocate…

“When Papa Grows Funk went on an “indefinite hiatus” in June 2013, bandleader and keyboardist John “Papa” Gros promised they would play again — and why not? Over the previous 13 years, Gros, longtime Wild Magnolias guitarist June Yamagishi, Absolute Monster Gentlemen drummer Jeffrey “Jellybean” Alexander, bassist Marc Pero and saxophonist Jason Mingledorff had released four studio albums and a live album documenting their distinctly New Orleans intermingling of modest funk and literate R&B. Allen Toussaint and Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond co-produced the band’s final studio album, 2012’s “Needle in the Groove.” When not on tour — they made it as far as — they logged a decadelong Monday night residency at the Maple Leaf Bar. The final Maple Leaf Monday, during the 2013 Jazz Fest, had a line out the door past 1 a.m. Since a “farewell for now” gig at Tipitina’s that June, Papa Grows Funk has reunited more than once for “one more Monday” at Tipitina’s. That tradition continues this Monday, 24 hours after the last notes are played at the Fair Grounds.”