First of all let me say that I don’t normally do concert reviews. However, this is one of the rare exceptions. This past Sunday night, I had the opportunity to catch East Bay Soul headed by the gifted musician, and arranger Greg Adams.

The concert was at Yoshi’s in Oakland a great place for food as well. A little side note, make dinner reservations, and you will get preferred seating in the venue. As we finished our dinner, my wife and I noticed a few musicians hanging around at the adult beverage dispensary. We saw Herman Matthews (drummer for East Bay Soul and former TOP member). Along with Herman we noticed Jeff Tamalier and Marc Russo (both former members of TOP as well as numerous other bands). I made the comment to my wife, about how cool it was to see Jeff, and Marc at the venue to support the band. We waited about five minutes and went into the showroom.

Within a short time the show started, and as the band came out, with surprise we knew this was going to be a great evening because sitting in with the band was Marc Russo. The band was on stage for about two hours playing a mixture of songs from the East Bay Soul CD, a few tunes from Greg’s solo recordings, and a couple of cover tunes.

Highlights-

• Greg Adams-his musicianship and arrangements need no description other than fantastic. Greg also adds great stories, and interplay with the audience to the show, making is a very at folksy down home experience.

• Marc Russo-Not sure if Marc is now a regular member of the band, or if he was sitting in, but his solos were incredible, and he looked very comfortable with the band, reading charts for the first time.

• Herman Matthews- what can I say, some great drum fills, and if you need someone to drive the musical bus, Herman’s the guy.

• Johnnie Bamont-since Johnnie is a Bay Area guy I have seen him with many bands throughout the years. Usually in a supporting act, it was great seeing Johnnie lay down a few solos. He plays everything from to flute to Bari with precision.

• James Wirrick-guitar player and Greg Adams writing partner. Great guitar fills and nice solo work as well.

• Joey Navarro-One of the surprises of the evening, this guy is one serious keyboard player.

• Lastly Darryl Walker. On East Bay Soul’s CD there are a number of vocalists. But in this show Darryl is the guy. Having not heard Darryl except on the CD I did not know what to expect. Well this guy can flat out sing, great vocal control; he doesn’t over sing, but has a mellow vibe, and smoothness to his voice.

On several of the bullet points I mentioned soloing. Not only does Greg lend his solo talents to the band, but he allows all the guys in the band to stretch out.

Get the word out about East Bay Soul. If they are in your area, get to a show. If they are not in your area, contact your local venue and request East Bay Soul. This is a band that needs to be heard live.

To book East Bay Soul contact:

ALM Management Group
Encino, CA. 91416
http://www.almmanagement.com/
Tel: 818-609-9528
e-mail : andrea@almmanagement.com

For more info on East Bay Soul go to : http://www.eastbaysoul.com/.

Get Ready to FuNk Your World!

Yoshi’s Jazz Club– Just announced Greg Adams and East Bay Soul blow into Yoshi’s Oakland Sunday November 7th for an East Bay party at 7pm!!! Dance floor open! Special drinks! An East Bay celebration!!

Greg Adams & East Bay Soul hit the stage at Yoshi’s Oakland November 7! City of Oakland residents: A limited number of $15 tickets are available (which include FREE parking & premium reserved seating) just purchase and present ID with Oakland address when you pick up your tickets, or purchase them at the Box Office.

You do not want to miss this show!

Yoshi’s Oakland
510 Embarcadero West
Jack London Square
Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: 510.238.9200

For Tickets and More Information Click Here: http://www.yoshis.com/oakland/jazzclub/artist/show/1314

As posted on Strokeland:

Rosco’s Place II, the anxiously-awaited follow up to Roger Smith’s original Rosco’s Place, is here and ready to light a fire in the contemporary jazz world.

Featuring world-class musicians throughout, Roger takes us on a fanciful romp filled with delicious grooves, soulful changes, and well-crafted melodies. Roger is a true master of the keyboard and his technical abilities are astounding, yet he never lets the technical side of his playing overshadow the soulfulness.

Roger stretches out on the organ, piano, Rhodes, synthesizer, and bass and never fails to delight, alongside beautifully crafted solos from his many special guests. Many present and former members of Tower of Power make appearances on JAZZ ROSCO II, along with other stellar musicians.

Rosco’s Place. It’s a great hang.

Also check out Roger Smith’s great previous contemporary jazz release, SITTIN’ IN, and the original ROSCO’S PLACE, also available right here on Strokeland Records.

Rosco’s Place II will be available at other outlets like Amazon, CDbaby, Itunes and more on October 31st.

For more on Roger Smith and Rosco’s Place II go to:

Roger at Stokeland
Jazz Rosco or
Roger Smith On Myspace

Still trying to catch up to Greg we are posting another of Greg’s short storeis.  Posted on East Bay Soul’s facebook page September 5th 2010

Greg writes:  2003…Being known primarily as an arranger for horn oriented music is my legacy. And of that I’m very proud. It’s both flattering and humbling when my writing is identified by listeners as “my sound”. Over the last 40 years I’ve had the pleasure of participating on several major recording sessions and I still to this day get a thrill when I hear something I know is going to be very special. One of my true loves, though, is writing for strings. I caught the bug early when I did the strings for You’re Still A Young Man on Bump City. From then on, it was always a thrill on each project the day arrived when we would be cutting the orchestra. Conducting is like a drug! I’ve had the good fortune to work with some of the finest string players in L.A. and New York. Also the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam. What a band THAT is…But Amsterdam is another story altogether. The food. The coffee shops. But I digress. Back to the strings.

One of my favorite two people in the world are Miwa Yoshida and Masa Nakamura. They are the super pop group Dreams Come True from Tokyo. I’ve arranged and played on numerous CDs with them over the last 15 years. I’m sure you can remember me talking of them in past SSS’s. Miwa also has 2 solo projects to her credit. They are entitled Beauty And Harmony and Beauty And Harmony 2. The string date for B and H 2 was recorded at Sony Studios in New York City. Here is the story. Miwa and Masa, her producer on her B and H 2 lined up a stellar cast of musicians for this CD. We recorded in L.A. and N.Y.C. ( see the line up of players following ) She composed a song of but a single melody. No chords. She then asked me to write it for strings and take it where I wanted to. It was kind of like taking a charcoal drawing and making it into an oil painting. I spent alot of time on it because it just had to be right for her. It had to reflect her…

My role as an arranger is to become a chameleon of sorts and, while bringing my sound to the song, morphing myself into the artist’s own sense of who they are and giving a proper representation of where they are going in their song. This can be the difficult part for some, but to me it comes very easy. Especially with Miwa. Day of session. Sony has very tight security and you have to go through metal detectors to enter the building. I got there early and as some the orchestra started to arrive, we learned of a commotion at security. We later found out that one of the violists was packing heat. I kid you not. Oh boy….And he was not giving it up. Scratch one viola from the date. Now you have to know here that Miwa has no idea what I’ve done here with her melody and I am not capable of playing this arrangement on the piano. I know what it sounds like in my mind though, and I’m anxious for her to hear it. The players are all in their seats and I go into the studio to discuss tempo and bow marks, etc. We do a couple of run throughs to warm up and get the kinks out. Al Schmitt, our engineer says, “Let’s make one, then come in and take a listen”. We do just that. I go into the booth to hear how it sounds. I ask Miwa, “Do you like it?” She turns to me with tear in her eye and a big smile. I have my answer. These musical moments are magic for me.

For more on Greg Adams go to http://www.eastbaysoul.com/ or http://www.gregadamsmusic.com/