This past Thursday night at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins, CO, the funk gauntlet was thrown down, as Dominic Lalli (Big Gigantic), along with Dave Watts, Joey Porter, and Garrett Sayers (of The Motet), and Dan Schwindt (Kyle Hollingsworth Band) paid tribute to one of the masters of jazz-funk and fusion, none other than Herbie Hancock. As Porter told the crowd, “This is our favorite music to play,” it was quickly realized early on in the first set that his statement was no lie, with the group putting on a collaborative clinic.
The two-set show consisted of classic tracks such as “Heartbeat” (from 1975’s Man-Child), “Sunlight” (from the 1978 album of the same name), “Actual Proof” (off of 1974’s Thrust), and “Tell Everybody” (1979’s Feets, Don’t Fail Me Now), among others. Each member of the group displayed the skills necessary to pay homage to one of the OG’s in the jazz-funk scene, which is no easy feat. Porter utilized every key and knob on his setup, while Dom went off on some nasty sax solos. Watts and Sayers are undeniably one of the best rhythm units in the scene today, and Schwindt is essentially the sleeper of the group. He is straight filthy on guitar and deserves way more recognition than what he gets.
The crowd responded to the two-set tribute with plenty of moving, grooving, and a whole lot of sweat. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night. The group plays Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom with Casey Russell’s Soul Shack tonight, July 29th (purchase tickets here). Check out video from the Aggie show, including video of the band performing the classic 1975 track “Hang Up Your Hang Ups” below:
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