It's Saturday Nite Live!
Mardi Gras: King Cake Baby
18:30 - 21:00, March 1, 2025

SNL Limited Menu: Cajun chicken & jambalaya.

Hello FCCJ members and friends, Samm Bennett here, drummer and lead vocalist for King Cake Baby. Pianist Matt Gillan, bassist Hisayuki Nakase and I are very much looking forward to the special Mardi Gras show coming up on Saturday March 1.

As you may know, Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday) falls on March 4 this year, so Saturday the 1st is close enough! The holiday (in Louisiana it is a state holiday) is observed in the city of New Orleans with a massive street party full of brass bands and revelers playing and dancing in the streets. Most of the bands one hears at Mardi Gras in New Orleans play in a traditional style which has come to be known as "second line" style. This term originally refers to the dancers who follow the brass bands down the streets of New Orleans, and has come to also mean, generally, the rollicking style of music one hears there, and particularly the funky rhythmic character of the music.

Our band, King Cake Baby, is dedicated to bringing the second line style (particularly as made famous by New Orleans piano icons such as Professor Longhair, Dr John, Huey "Piano" Smith, Fats Domino, and bands like the Meters) to Tokyo audiences. It's good time music, party music: rambunctious and infectious grooves that could only have come out of New Orleans, with its unique melange of cultures and influences.

This will be the fourth time we've been fortunate enough to play at the FCCJ (twice at the old location, and once at the current one) and we've enjoyed it each time. Hoping to see lots of you folks there, ready to enjoy the deep New Orleans groove! Hoo nah nay!

And remember SNL is free for FCCJ members! For guests & non-members, there is a 1,000 yen music charge, an incredible bargain for Tokyo entertainment. Please note the charge will apply to all guests and non members who are in the SNL venue at the commencement of the first set.

Coming Up:

  • March 8 International Women’s Day: Trombonist Yuu Uesugi and her All-Female Band
  • March 15 St Patrick’s Day: Jim Ediger and Cuckoo Jam
  • April 5 TBD
  • April 19 Biwa Meets Electronica
  • May 10 R&B: Good Harvest

The Entertainment Committee