BABY GRAND MEMBER TICKETS: $46.15
Craft cocktails and small plates begin at 5:15pm. General Admission seating available on a first-come basis, with preferred seating for our Baby Grand members.
Grammy-winning King of New Orleans Funk
“Music as broad, deep and rolling as the Mississippi River.” – David Fricke, Rolling Stone
British-born and New Orleans-bred, Jon Cleary is a triple-threat pianist, soulful vocalist, and songwriter celebrated as a primary torchbearer of the Crescent City’s funk and R&B traditions. His 2026 Tour: The Bywater Sessions brings the grit and joy of his home studio—Funk Headquarters—to the stage. Co-produced by Cleary and John Porter (The Smiths, Taj Mahal), this musical tour-de-force showcases the “nasty, good-time funk” that has packed concert halls from New Orleans to Tokyo.
After thirty-five years at the forefront of the New Orleans musical landscape, Cleary assembled his acclaimed all-star big band in his home studio in the Bywater neighborhood and rolled tape. The result is a stunning collection of performances—blending reimagined gospel-funk fusions and ‘low-down’ R&B—that affirms Cleary’s place in the New Orleans musical vanguard.
The performance features an expanded “best of the best” lineup, anchored by long-time Monster Gentlemen Cornell Williams and A.J. Hall, alongside Nigel Hall (Lettuce), Pedro Segundo, Xavier Lynn, and an all-star horn section. “Sophisticated, nasty, good-time, low-down funk is the folk music of New Orleans,” Cleary says. “Everyone playing is a New Orleanian by birth or by choice—it’s a high-octane celebration of a tradition stretching back over two hundred years.”
