Symphony Boy Funk Ensemble

About the Artist

Dave Anderson (Symphony Boy), a professional double bassist, joined the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans as Principal Bass in September of 1996. He has performed and recorded regularly with orchestras including the Louisville Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Since 1994, he served as Principal Bassist in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon. He has performed extensively with ensembles including the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua Festival, Colorado Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, and Bobby McFerrin. A composer as well as a performer, Anderson has published bass duets and quartets, including a bass quartet that was performed to acclaim at the Chamber Music Festival at Indiana University in 1993. Several years ago he completed a concerto for bass trombone, commissioned by his father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bassist Hal Robinson, was premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997 and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra season, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.

Dave Easley, pedal steel guitarist, one of the most familiar players on the New Orleans music scene, is at home with rock, blues, psychedelic, and jazz. In addition to performing with the Symphony Boy Funk Ensemble, Easley is a member of bassist James Singleton’s creative jazz powerhouse, 3Now4. Easley has won numerous awards and has been featured on numerous CD recordings.

Jamal Batiste, percussionist, began playing drums at the age of three and developed a strong rhythmic sense consisting of a wide gumbo of jazz, rhythm and blues, funk, and hip-hop. Today he studies music under the direction of Ellis Marsallis at the University of New Orleans.

His own Batiste Brothers’ Band and the Jam All-Stars consists of many talents including his sister, Eboni Batiste on vocals, his brother, Damon Batiste on congo, and four of his cousins.