Acclaimed New Orleans bassist, producer, and songwriter Roland Guerin returns to the Maple Leaf Bar at 8 p.m. on April 30, fresh from Switzerland, for a night of PROG:FUNK alongside a band featuring Brian Blade, Seth Finch, and Chris Adkins. The performance arrives during a busy homecoming stretch, with Guerin also set to appear at Jazz Fest on May 3 with the Allen Toussaint Jazzity Project, marking a reunion moment tied to one of his most formative musical relationships.
Guerin’s PROG:FUNK EP brings together progressive structures with melodies, rhythms, and storytelling techniques rooted in Louisiana tradition. Across tracks like “Bridge to Open Waters,” “Crunch Time,” and “I Propose,” he builds a bass-forward sound that reflects years of touring and recording with artists including Jon Batiste, Alvin Batiste & the Jazztronauts, Paul Gilbert, the Marcus Roberts Trio, and the Brian Blade Fellowship Band.
That lineage is central to the project. “Allen Toussaint was my mentor in songwriting and arranging,” Guerin has said, citing Toussaint alongside Alvin Batiste and Dr. John as key influences. His time as Toussaint’s longtime bassist and Dr. John’s music director continues to shape how he approaches composition. “I learned how to expand the story,” Guerin said in a previous American Blues Scene interview. “Not just how to play it, but how to shape it.”
PROG:FUNK reflects the philosophy in both structure and process. Guerin often builds songs from what he describes as the “top and bottom” (melody and bass) before filling in the middle, allowing his instrument to function as both foundation and lead voice. “Most of the time, my bass lines are like melodies,” he said. “It doesn’t take a lot of notes to have a complete idea.”
The EP, released on Louisiana Red Hot Records, has already drawn recognition, with “28 Days” earning Burl Audio’s Song of the Year and the project landing on TIDAL’s 50 Most Out There Jazz Releases and Apple Music’s New in Rock. Produced in his home studio using gear won through that Burl Audio competition, the recordings capture a hands-on, immediate creative process.
“Once it has a title, the whole song starts to unfold,” Guerin said. “If I have enough time, I can finish the meat of the song right on the spot.” That approach echoes Toussaint’s belief in completing songs quickly so they can “live.” It surfaces in tracks like “I Propose,” which pairs layered instrumentation with a direct message of connection in a deeply divided moment. “This is a very sincere wish of mine,” Guerin said of the song’s call for unity.
The project itself is part of a larger arc. Guerin is currently finishing a full-length album that began in New Orleans, evolved in Canada, and is wrapping in Switzerland, with additional stateside and European performances on the horizon. Back home, the upcoming Maple Leaf show offers a live snapshot of that evolution, while Jazz Fest brings him back into the musical world that helped build it.
