Guitarist Leo Nocentelli reigns as one of the founding fathers of funk. The guitarist is the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with The Meters, and he has recorded and performed with top artists such as Etta James, Dr. John, The Supremes, Jimmy Buffett, and Patti Labelle.
Nocentelli, born in 1946, was raised in New Orleans’ Irish Channel and Seventh Ward. By his early teens he was playing and recording professionally with a long list of local and national artists, including Otis Redding, Earl King, Chris Kenner, Albert King, and Clyde McPhatter, and Motown greats like The Supremes, Temptations, and Spinners.
He soon hooked up with Art Neville, Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste, and George Porter, Jr. in the group that eventually became The Meters. Their early releases – the singles “Cissy Strut,” “Look-A-Py-Py,” and “Sophisticated Cissy,” as well as the albums “Cabbage Alley” and “Fire on the Bayou” – have become classics, and their funky grooves built a foundation for a large swath of today’s American popular music. The Meters disbanded in 1977 but have played together in reunion shows and in various configurations over the years. (Art Neville died in 2019.)
Nocentelli is regarded as a top-notch side man, composer, and session player. He toured with Jimmy Buffett in the early ‘80s, and recorded albums with Patti Labelle, Etta James, The Winans, Peter Gabriel, Kip Hanrahan, Robbie Robertson, Maceo Parker, Keb Mo, The Soul Rebels Brass Band, Bonnie Raitt, Trombone Shorty, and his mentor, Allen Toussaint. He performs with his own group and as a guest artist with a number of bands. He has composed numerous songs, and contributed to movie soundtracks, including “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Blaze,” and “Heartbreakers.” He has appeared on TV’s “An Evening at the Improv” and on “Saturday Night Live.”
In acknowledgement of their seminal role in the genesis of today’s modern funk sound, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presented The Meters with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. The group has also been nominated four times for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
