Papa Mali

Malcolm Welbourne's personification "Papa Mali" is a salute to his home territory of north Louisiana. Malcolm was raised in Shreveport, where absorbing the blues along Bayou Pierre was just as much a matter of course as chasing the mosquito fogging truck with friends -- and equally intoxicating. He spent his summers with grandparents in New Orleans digging that city's rhythm (and blues) and after hearing the Wild Tchoupitoulas and the Meters on the streets of New Orleans at age eleven, he developed an early and ongoing attachment to Crescent City funk.

Papa Mali's long-awaited second album, Do Your Thing, drops in January 2007. More than a follow-up to his legendary debut Thunder Chicken (which Zigaboo Modeliste claims to have listened to over and over on one particular Christmas day), the latest record marks a Louisiana native's long overdue homecoming. Although he himself has been playing the clubs of New Orleans for over 20 years, this recording makes the connection to his musical roots more obvious. Featured guests for the journey are representatives from three of the Crescent City's deepest traditions -- Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles, Henry Butler, and Kirk Joseph -- as well as Victoria Williams (also a Shreveport native) and Chuck Prophet.

Although Papa Mali is a solo artist (performing on stages as diverse as Tipitina's and Bonnaroo), slide guitarist, singer/songwriter and acclaimed producer (Lavelle White, Ruthie Foster, and Omar & The Howlers), he can also be seen regularly collaborating with some of the most respected musicians on the scene today, including his longtime drummer extraordinaire Robb Kidd, Cyril Neville, Galactic, MOFRO, Robert Walter, Otis Taylor, George Porter Jr, Johnny Vidacovich, Anders Osborne, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Kevin Russell, and Double Trouble.