A good musical team is born.

Byline: Paul Denison The Register-Guard

When Little Hercules, a Colorado funk band, opened for celebrated New Orleans funk guitarist Leo Nocentelli a couple of years ago, it got more than the usual 15 minutes of "shared stage" fame.

The band got a new musical partner, and an invitation to tour with Nocentelli as his backing band on a 2002 tour. Since then, the band also has played at the New Orleans Jazz Fest with Papa Grows Funk, which rates them as "the best band that we've played with on the road."

Little Hercules, which also has performed for four years with Liquid Soul, rolls into Eugene tonight for a 9 p.m. John Henry's show as Nocentelli's band. Admission is $15.

Nocentelli was an original member of the Meters, along with Art Neville, George Porter Jr. and Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste. Formed in 1967, the New Orleans funksters reached the Top 10 on the R&B charts early on with "Sophisticated Sissy," "Cissy Strut" (written by Nocentelli), "Ease Back" and "Look a Py Py."

Between 1971 and '78, the Meters recorded five albums for Warner/Reprise and toured with the Rolling Stones in the United States and Europe. After 12 years and a total of 10 albums, the Meters disbanded in 1979 because of business problems.

The Meters got back together at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1989. Nocentelli left the group, now known as the Funky Meters, in 1994.

Little Hercules consists of Jeff Armistead on keyboards, Cristian Basso on bass, Roy Burki on drums and Scott Kabel on guitar and lead vocals. They call themselves "sonic crusaders on the frontiers of timeless, hard-driving funk-rock."

"When I first met these boys, I knew that I didn't need to listen too closely," Nocentelli said in a New Funk Times interview. "They have a certain chemistry that struck my heart."

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Leo Nocentelli and Little Hercules will bring the funk to John Henry's tonight.