John Papa Gros

Overview

Born in New Orleans, John “Papa” Gros has spent more than a quarter-century championing the music of the Big Easy. He’s played it all — New Orleans funk, rock & roll, jazz, blues, Americana, pop/rock — and he swirls those styles into a genre-bending gumbo that pays tribute to his influences while still pushing ahead into new territory. Like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, Gros is a proud local who carries on the tradition of New Orleans music, both honoring its past and helping to shape its future.

After graduating in 1989 from Loyola University, where he majored in French Horn performance, Gros kicking off his career as an organist and pianist during the 1990s. He began on Bourbon Street, where he played folk-rock songs at the Tropical Isle, and later joined George Porter Jr.’s Runnin’ Pardners. Porter, who had helped create the New Orleans funk sound as bass player of The Meters, became one of Gros’ biggest mentors, showing him exactly what it meant to be a champion of New Orleans music. Loyola University may have taught Gros how to play music, but it was Porter who taught him how to live it.