Quite possibly one of the best (intimate) live shows to hit New Orleans this season involved a 7-piece soul-funk band, 2 gorgeous vocalists and 1 comedian, er rapper. Enter: The Foreign Exchange.

The show at One-Eyed Jack's last week seemed to be somewhat of an insider's affair, considering there really was no mass advertising for the show, yet every +FE fan in the Greater New Orleans area was certainly in the house. Even loyal Little Brother fans probably had no idea what they were in store for - the other side of MC/singer Phonte's alter-ego on full display as 1/2 of The Foreign Exchange.

After local hero DJ E.F. Cuttin warmed up the floor, the Grammy-nominated outfit, headed up by Dutch musician-producer, Nicolay, and lauded rapper Phonte of North Carolina (and 1/3 of Little Brother with Big Pooh & 9th Wonder), has included a rotating assembly of some of Soul, Funk and Hip Hop's best and brightest from YahZarah and Carlitta Durand to Darien Brockington and Motown's Zo, but this tour brought NoLa debut performances from not only Nicolay, Zo and the band... but the lovely and sensuous songstresses Sy Smith and Jeanne Jolly graced the velvet-curtained stage at one of New Orleans' legendary former brothel burlesque houses - the perfect setting for the sultry set delivered by The Foreign Exchange. In fact, the sexy packed house was demanding more even post-encore.

It's safe to say, the secret is out: The Foreign Exchange won the oh-so-difficult and ever-coveted approval of the New Orleans audience. And we'll be watching for them to come back for more...

Don't believe us? Check out the photos from The Foreign Exchange @ One-Eyed Jack's 11/21/11 x Sierra Hudson here.

Photos of The Foreign Exchange's last show of the year: the Authenticity Tour stop in New Orleans.

Check out a few great shots from The Foreign Exchange's sold out Authenticity Tour stop in Houston!

Some great photos of The Foreign Exchange's debut performance in Austin TX.

Some great photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Nashville.

The Foreign Exchange could not have picked a better time to pull into B.B. King's than last Friday. OK, maybe the showtime could have been better -- 6:30 p.m. is way, way earlier than the Spin is usually out and about. But in terms of timing the show exactly when The Spin was going to need a damn fine R&B show, The Foreign Exchange couldn't have done any better. While we usually avoid pop country at all costs, somehow we got roped into spending CMA week slobbing on the proverbial knobs of Music Row via some non-Scene-related freelance work. We felt dirty, we felt whorish, we had the most trite songs about flip-flops and Mexican beer stuck in our heads. It was awful. But one awesome set by The Foreign Exchange made everything all right.

Granted, The Spin being The Spin, we got there late -- having spent an ungodly amount of time looking for parking and trying not run over tourists with glazed eyes and small children running around. It was a pretty good reminder of why we never, ever go to Second Ave, especially on a weekend night when the Interstate & County crowd floods the city with their knockoff Affliction shirts and acid-washed jeans. We appreciate the fact these folks want to spend hard-earned money as tourists in our fair city. But good gawddamn, people, pay attention to where you're walking! They might not have street lights out in Bumpkinsville, but we do here, and the red hand means DON'T WALK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING STREET. And don't stand there looking blankly as cars beep at you. It's Urban Survival 101, folks: Avoid ending up at the business end of a moving vehicle. The Convention and Visitors Bureau really ought to include that in the brochures.

Some excellent photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Birmingham AL, courtesy of our good friends at BamaLoveSoul.

Check out some great photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in St. Louis.

The Foreign Exchange kicked off its Authenticity Tour Wednesday night at Masquerade in Atlanta.

After opening with "Connected", one half of the duo, Phonte, told fans that he was fighting a 104 degree fever and was high on medicine. But that didn't stop him from belting out each song with strength and beauty. While the other half, Nicolay, kept his eyes closed his body began to move fluidly as if the music had entered his toes, traveled through his neck and exited through is head.

The FE live band included Zo! bopping on keyboards, (reminiscent of a cool high school band teacher), with singers Sy Smith and Jeanne Jolly holding down the background.

"We are an equal opportunity employer," Phonte said, referring to the multicultural band, which received cheers from its diverse audience.

"All or Nothing" had folks wiggling, and with introductions out of the way, the band dug into tracks from Zo! and Sy Smith, whose velvety voice sounded like a young Eartha Kitt. All that was missing was a purr.

Phonte's soliloquy during "Ball and Chain" segued into "Don't Wait," and insightful tune about love and the dos and don'ts of relationships.

"It's so confusing," Phonte said of "real love" and "cyber dating." He said with online, you don't know what you're really going to get. He encouraged fans to look around the room and speak to each other because their mate could be right there at the FE concert.

"The music you listen to is a reflection of how you see the world, and how you see yourself," he said.

Phonte explained how the best surgeons want the best equipment, musicians and lovers of music should want the best as well.

"Only in music are you looked down on for wanting the best", half of the Grammy-nominated duo said. "Expect better and you'll get better."

"Take Off the Blues" had everyone dancing and grooving as the band blended Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" into the song. But it was "Daykeeper" that sent the audience into frenzy.

After asking how many folks believed in the power of dreams, the band ended the night with a church-like twist to "Dream of Me." For an encore they offered "God is Laughing at Your Plans and "I Wanna Know," which had couples twirling and single folks dancing with imaginary partners

Some more photographs of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Charlotte, this time courtesy of our good friend Stephen Charles of CharlesMedia.

Photos (courtesy of our friend Vitamin Dee) of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Portland.

Check out some great shots of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Seattle, courtesy of our longtime friend Vitamin Dee!

Some great photographs of The Foreign Exchange's first ever show in Sacramento CA.

Compiled from still shots and live concert footage from their 2011 AUTHENTICITY tour, this 27-minute video provides an insider's look at one of the hardest working and most entertaining bands in modern music. Watch, laugh, dance and sing along with Phonte, Nicolay and their colorful cast of characters! Filmed in DC, Philly and Baltimore.

Check out some cool shots from The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Richmond VA, courtesy of our friends at VCU SHHO!

Yusuf Muhammad sent us his great shots of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

More photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Columbus OH, this time courtesy of Docuvent Photography.

More photos from the Authenticity Tour, this time of the World Cafe Live show in Philadelphia. Photos courtesy of our friend Stephanie Renee of Soul-Sanctuary.net

Some more photos courtesy of our friend Paris Bihari, this time of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Columbus OH.

Watch highlights of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop at Magic Stick in Detroit, courtesy of our friend Tafari Stevenson-Howard.

Some great photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour and Zo!'s homecoming in Detroit, courtesy of our friends SoulBounce and Tafari Stevenson-Howard.

Some excellent shots of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop at Grog Shop in Cleveland, courtesy of our friend Paris Bihari.

Enjoy some highlights from The Foreign Exchange's first Authenticity Tour stop at Double Door in Chicago.

Some great photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour stop in Indianapolis, courtesy of our good friend Fave.

The Foreign Exchange pay hommage to not one but TWO '90s classics during the encore of the Authenticity Tour stop in Falls Church VA.

Some great shots of the Authenticity Tour kick-off concert in Falls Church, courtesy of our friend Stephanie Renee of Soul-Sanctuary.net.

More great footage of The Foreign Exchange performing in front of hundreds of wonderful Parisians!

More amazing photos of The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour 2011 show (and Nicolay's homecoming) at Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL), this time courtesy of photographer Vera van Impelen.

Photos of The Foreign Exchange's second (and once again, sold out!) night at Cargo in London.

Another great video courtesy of the SpectrumLDN crew, this time documenting The Foreign Exchange's second (and once again sold out) night at Cargo in London. Starring The Foreign Exchange with Zo!, Sy Smith, AB and live band!

Our friends from Czech music website Cream.cz drove from Prague to Cologne (Germany) to see The Foreign Exchange's Authenticity Tour 2011 at Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld, and took some great photos.

Some great footage of the very first (and sold out!) show of the European leg of the Authenticity Tour 2011 at Cargo in London (UK), starring The Foreign Exchange with Zo!, Sy Smith, AB and live band!