Leo Nocentelli

Leo Nocentelli is an original member of groundbreaking New Orleans funk group the Meters. The band, playing mostly instrumentals, stayed at the forefront of the music scene in the Big Easy and achieved national attention in large part due to his signature polyrhythmic guitar playing. He has since developed an idiosyncratic, vamp-centric style spanning blues, rock, rap, jazz, and funk. He has penned more than 200 songs, including the iconic “Cissy Strut” and “Hey Pocky A-Way.” Some of his tunes have been recorded by top-shelf artists including Joe Cocker, Etta James, Albert King, and George Duke. In 1971 Nocentelli cut a solo album at Cosimo Matassa’s Jazz City Studio in New Orleans with the Meters’ rhythm section and producer/keyboardist Allen Toussaint. It was shelved and thought lost for 50 years before Light in the Attic issued the primarily acoustic collection as Another Side in 2021.
Despite his desire to be known as a funk guitarist, Nocentelli originally wanted to be a jazz musician. He taught himself how to play the guitar by holing up in his room and listening to recordings by such artists as Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith, and Kenny Burrell. He found work with Danny White and followed up with a stint as part of Art Neville & the Hawkettes. The Hawkettes eventually evolved into the Meters, whose membership included George Porter, Jr. and Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste. Nocentelli’s career includes session work for a number of artists, including Peter Gabriel, Earl King, Dr. John, Lee Dorsey, and Patti LaBelle, as well as the Wild Tchoupitoulas, an offshoot of the Meters. He has also played on recordings by Manhattan Transfer, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Bonnie Raitt, Sting, and the Winans, among others.
Nocentelli’s first release, Live in San Francisco from DJM Records, came about almost by chance. He hadn’t intended to put together a live recording when he played one night at a club called Slim’s, but went about his business on-stage and gave a good show to his loyal following. When the night wound down, a man from the audience approached him and gave the funk musician a tape that he’d made that night with a DAT recorder. A few years later, the guitarist pulled the tape out of storage and asked a friend to copy it onto a cassette. While the music was playing in Nocentelli’s friend’s studio, DJM Records chief Daniel Moore stopped by. Nocentelli’s music caught his ear, and he agreed to put it out on a CD.
The guitarist played with an incarnation of the Meters, called the Funky Meters, until 1993, when he decided to go solo. He has also contributed to movie soundtracks, among them White Men Can't Jump, Blaze, and Heartbreakers. His television appearances include An Evening at the Improv and Saturday Night Live.
In 2021, Light in the Attic issued Nocentelli’s solo album Another Side. Cut at Cosimo Matassa’s Jazz City Studio in 1971, the tapes had been thought lost to time. It offered nine originals and a cover of Elton John’s “Your Song” performed on acoustic guitar with George Porter, Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste (the Meters’ rhythm section) along with album producer Allen Toussaint on keyboards. ~ Linda Seida & Thom Jurek