Mardi Gras came to The Music Hall on May 20 as pianist Henry Butler, the Rebirth Brass Band and The Night Tripper himself, Dr. John, served up an evening of New Orleans musical gumbo to the delight of a large and enthusiastic crowd. The musicians were fresh off their recent appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and they brought the lively spirit of that event to the Port City.

Henry Butler, looking sharp in a striped dark gray suit, started the evening off with the tune “Orleans Inspiration,” a superb hodgepodge of New Orleans blues, funk and jazz with a few classical elements, as well. Butler is a remarkable pianist who possesses formidable technique and a keen sense of rhythm, which was on display throughout his set. He’s also a fine singer, as was heard on his gospel-influenced arrangement of “Sittin’ by the Dock of the Bay.” Butler engaged the crowd from the start, encouraging the audience to get up and clap and dance. And he had the house singing on the blues number “Got My Eyes on You.” Butler also has a sly sense of humor. While vamping on the march “Hail To the Chief,” Butler announced to the house  “since I’m up here in New Hampshire, I’m announcing that I’m running for president,” which brought a round of cheers from the audience, along with some chuckles from Butler. He closed his set with a tribute to the late Billy Preston by performing a jazz-influenced version of Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles.”

Butler’s portion of the show set the bar high. The Rebirth Brass Band raised it higher with its high-energy, party-oriented set. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to hear this remarkable band, and I wasn’t disappointed. Kicking off its portion of the show with a hard grooving version of Hugh Masakela’s “Grazing in the Grass,” the band had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Rebirth is celebrating its 24th year of existence, and there’s a lot of superb musicianship packed into this eight-man band, which had the house rockin’ on its version of “Mardi Gras New Orleans Style” and the tune “Ain’t No Shame in My Game,” which featured inspired solos from trombonists Stafford Agee and Corey Henry, saxophonist Byron Bernard and trumpeters Derek Shozbie and Glen Andrews. Anchoring the unit with their incisive drum grooves were Keith Frazier on bass drum and cymbal and Derrick Tabb on snare drum. Tuba player and leader Philip Frazier added his superb bass lines to the thick second-line grooves of the band as it left the crowd shouting for more.

After a brief intermission, the lights were lowered and onto the stage strolled Dr. John, resplendent in a two-piece cream-colored suit and his trademark funky fedora. Accompanied by a crack three-piece band called the Lower 9/11 Band, Dr. John began with the tune “Keep That Music Simple,” a sultry piece of New Orleans swamp-funk with the doctor cutting loose on the B-3 organ. The set that followed was distinctively more laid-back than the previous sets. But that’s part of the magic of a Dr. John show, with its unique blend of New Orleans R&B, funk and blues. He covered a variety of New Orleans-inspired tunes, including a funked out version of his hit “Right Place at the Wrong Time.” A highlight of the set was the reappearance of Henry Butler, who joined the doctor for the tune “Walkin’ on Gilded Splinters,” with Butler taking a terrific, rhythmically charged solo. Another highlight was John’s tribute to the Crescent City, “Sweet Home New Orleans” from his “Sippiana Herricane” CD. In announcing the tune, John said to the audience “I wrote this tune because I was pissed off at the politicians for their reaction to the hurricane. And my attitude has only gotten worse …” The show ended with a romping version of Harold Arlen’s “Blues in the Night,” rendered with a quasi-second line groove. Special mention should be made of drummer Herman Roscoe Ernest III, who kept the grooves happening with authority all throughout the set. His playing was a microcosm of all the good vibes that reverberated from The Music Hall stage that evening, an evening in which the spirit of New Orleans was alive and well in Portsmouth.