Dr. John, following the release of his acclaimed new album, Locked Down, on Nonesuch Records in April, spent the spring and summer touring the United States and Europe with his band the Lower 911 featuring Jon Cleary. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is now set to hit the road again, this time with a four-piece band and five-time Grammy Award winners The Blind Boys of Alabama for the Spirituals to Funk tour. Under Dr. John's musical direction, the world premiere of Spirituals to Funk represents the first-ever touring partnership between these two icons of American music. The San Diego Union-Tribune, previewing this Saturday's performance at the Balboa Theater, says: "Musical pairings don’t come much more inspired."

Based on the legendary Carnegie Hall Spirituals to Swing concerts produced by John Hammond in the 1930s, Spirituals to Funk features an integrated show that explores the connections between jazz, blues, and gospel.

The Spirituals to Funk tour will visit 30 cities and towns in 14 states across the United States, kicking off at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, California, tonight, and coming to a close at the Park Theater in Cranston, Rhode Island, on November 18. See below for all of the tour dates; for additional details and ticket links, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.

To pick up a copy of Locked Down, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout. "Full of muscled, vintage R&B grooves, fevered soloing, psychedelic arrangements and oracular mumbo jumbo," says Rolling Stone of Locked Down, "it's the wildest record he's made in many years." Dr. John, says NPR, "proves that now, as always, he's the ruler of American roots music."

SPIRITUALS TO FUNK TOUR