Idle Monday nights led to a full-time gig for John "Papa" Gros.

In 2000, the keyboardist worked steadily as a member of George Porter Jr.'s band, co-leader of the rock band MuleBone and as a solo act on Bourbon Street. To fill his open Monday nights he launched an informal New Orleans funk project, Papa Grows Funk, at a weekly residency at the Old Point Bar, later moved to the Maple Leaf.

Papa Grows Funk is now Gros' main gig, with three CDs -- 2001's "Doin' It", 2003's "Shakin' ", and the new release "Live at the Leaf" -- and 200 shows annually on a touring circuit that extends from coast to coast and to Europe and Japan. PGF songs have turned up during broadcasts of Major League Baseball's World Series and the National Basketball Association finals.