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'Kind of a reunion': John Funkhouser to bring his jazz trio to Placitas
John Funkhouser will perform with John Funkhouser鈥檚 Boston Trio at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church on Sunday, March 17.
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John Funkhouser swears his name is for real.
The Boston-born jazzman is the leader and pianist of the John Funkhouser Group, and has toured the U.S. several times, performing at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Pittsburgh鈥檚 Mellon Jazz Festival, Oklahoma City鈥檚 Jazz In June, Boston鈥檚 Beantown Jazz Festival, and The Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has played at the Blue Note Jazz Club, Birdland, and Dizzy鈥檚 in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Wang Center and the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, as well as top venues in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Funkhouser also has performed on national television shows, including ABC鈥檚 鈥�20/20鈥� and NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday Show.鈥�
He moved to Albuquerque during the pandemic, and fans can see him at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church on Sunday, March 17.
Funkhouser studied classical piano from age 7 and bass at age 9 before turning to jazz and R&B.
In 2000, he accepted a job at Berklee College of Music, where he taught ear training, piano, bass, harmony and ensembles until 2021.
鈥淢y mom was an amateur classical pianist,鈥� Funkhouser said. 鈥淚 just never had a very good aptitude for classical.
鈥淛azz came more easily to me,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚t felt more like home. With jazz, it was fun to practice for hours.鈥�
Funkhouser is bringing his Boston band to New Mexico.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a reunion,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his will be the first time they鈥檝e been out here.鈥�
Audiences can expect a feast of Funkhouser鈥檚 original tunes. He described his style as a mashup of world music, South African jazz, Indian classical music, Irish fiddle music, New Orleans jazz and 鈥�70s prog rock, especially Frank Zappa.
He鈥檒l also throw in a few standards such as 鈥淟ove for Sale鈥� and 鈥淭he House of the Rising Sun.鈥�
The trio features Funkhouser on keyboards, Greg Loughman on bass and Mike Connors on drums.
Funkhouser still teaches privately and he performs around the city at Hotel Albuquerque, Vernon鈥檚 Hidden Valley Steakhouse in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Ben Michael鈥檚 Cafe and more.
Concertgoers are encouraged to come early for a 2 p.m. monthly artists鈥� reception in the church fellowship hall.
