Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes

Styles come and fads go, yet thankfully the funk always lurks, its spirit manifest in different forms and from unlikely tributaries. Believe it or not, New Orleans' Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes hail from classical-music backgrounds. At Loyola U., goateed bandleader Johnny Sketch (a.k.a. Marc Paradis) majored in cello. His Dirty Notes don't, however, "revive" funk — like Doctor Frankenstein, they assemble a patchwork of influences to create a swinging, heavy-stepping monster. Sewing up swampy N'awlins rhythms, the frenzy of Fishbone, and hearty horns à la Tower of Power, the six-piece zaps a mother of an electrical charge through the neck bolts, and it's alive! But most villagers party instead of flee.