David Russell Batiste Jr. (December 12, 1965 – September 30, 2023) was an American drummer based in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Batiste played drums for the bands the funky Meters, Papa Grows Funk, and

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (; July 28, 1949 – May 6, 2023) was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty ...

Biography

David Russell Batiste Jr. was born in New Orleans on December 12, 1965. He was a member of the New Orleans musical family, the

Batiste family The Batiste family of New Orleans includes twenty-five or more musicians, including: *Alvin Batiste (1932–2007), American jazz clarinetist *Harold Battiste (1931–2015), composer and arranger *Lionel Batiste (1931–2012), American jazz musicia ...

; he started playing drums at the age of four. He also learned to play keyboards, saxophone, guitar and bass, and started to play in the family band when he was seven. Batiste left college after two years to join

Charmaine Neville Charmaine Neville (born March 31, 1956) is a New Orleans-based jazz singer. Biography Raised Catholic, she is the daughter of Charles Neville of The Neville Brothers. She is the lead singer of the Charmaine Neville Band, a jazz and funk ba ...

's band. He joined the funky Meters, the reincarnation of the funk band

The Meters The Meters (later The Funky Meters) are an American funk band formed in 1965 in New Orleans by Zigaboo Modeliste (drums), George Porter Jr. (bass), Leo Nocentelli (guitar) and Art Neville (keyboards). The band performed and recorded their o ...

, in 1989. The funky Meters without

Art Neville Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from New Orleans. Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band T ...

played under the name Porter Batiste Stoltz (PBS) (with George Porter Jr. on bass, and Brian Stoltz on guitar).He also played drums with George Porter Jr. and the Runnin Pardners. As a solo artist, he led his own band Russell Batiste Jr. and the Orkestra from 'Da Hood and has released two albums under the name. Batiste also played regularly with organ player Joe Krown and guitarist

Walter "Wolfman" Washington Walter "Wolfman" Washington (December 20, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American singer and guitarist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. While his roots were in blues music, he blended in the essence of funk and R&B to crea ...

as the Krown Washington Batiste trio. This unit released a live CD ''Live at the Maple Leaf'' in 2008. Batiste performed with a wide range of musicians and bands including Papa Grows Funk,

Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling ma ...

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orle ...

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

and

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of ...

. In 1987, Batiste was in the New Orleans funk band Nuclear Rhythms featuring percussionist songwriter Rosie Rosato, psychedelic funk guitarist songwriter Dirk Billie, bassist songwriter Mark Adam Miller and guitar and keyboard player David M. Brown. Batiste died of heart attack at his home in

LaPlace, Louisiana LaPlace ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States, situated along the east bank of the Mississippi River, in the New Orleans metropolitan area. In 2020, it had a population of 28,841. LaPla ...

, on September 30, 2023, at the age of 57. His funeral was scheduled for October 10 at St. Katharine Drexel Church in

Awards and honors

''OffBeat'''s Best of The Beat Awards

Discography

Solo works

* 2000 ''Orkestra from 'Da Hood'' (Russell Batiste Jr.) * 2003 ''The Clinic'' (Russell Batiste Jr.)New Orleans Music Guide Book, p. 206, Blues Interactions

With The funky Meters

* 2003 ''Fiyo at the Fillmore, Vol. 1'' (Fuel 2000)

With Vida Blue

* 2002 ''

'' (Elektra) * 2003 ''

The Illustrated Band ''The Illustrated Band'' is the second album from Vida Blue, featuring Phish keyboardist Page McConnell along with bassist Oteil Burbridge and drummer Russell Batiste. The album features four long tracks performed alongside The Spam Allstars, a ...

'' (Sanctuary) * 2019 ''

Crossing Lines ''Crossing Lines'' is an internationally co-produced crime drama television series created and executive produced by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer. The series premiered on June 9, 2013, at the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo. ...

'' (ATO Records)

With Porter Batiste Stoltz

* 2005 ''Expanding The Funkin' Universe'' (Ouw) * 2008 ''Moodoo'' (High Steppin' Productions)

With Krown Washington Batiste

* 2008 ''Live at the Maple Leaf'' (Independent) * 2010 ''Triple Threat'' (Independent) * 2013 ''Soul Understanding'' (Independent)

References

External links

The funky Meters official website

Porter Batiste Stolz official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batiste, Russell Jr. 1965 births 2023 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century American drummers 21st-century American male musicians African-American drummers American funk drummers American male drummers People from LaPlace, Louisiana Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Batiste family Drummers from New Orleans