Swaggering blaxploitation films, early-’80s synth-bass and electro-funk, jazz fusion grooves, elastic P-Funk joints. One can pick up the myriad influences that inform this project. The Swagism era saw a group of incredible musicians showing out onstage with ferocious fury, but in 2022 Ghost-Note presents as a cohesive, congruent band with a distilled vision and focused intent, making both the compositions and performance even more potent than before. The group has coalesced into a well-oiled machine, evolving towards something super-fresh and rather remarkable. Sput noted that the band had around forty songs in the can, slated for as many as four albums worth of new bangers. Ghost-Note focused on unveiling unreleased material that they meticulously worked out and recorded during the pandemic times. The cramped nature of this affair made for a vibrant energetic exchange between the band and audience over the course of 75 scorching minutes. MonoNeon set up behind him, next to Werth’s sprawling assortment of instruments, with Taplin buried in the far corner behind a grand piano and his keyboards. Sput was perched on his drum throne on the venue floor, in front of the stage, basically in the lap of the patrons at the first table, with the horns and Knudsen to his side. This entire contingent squeezed onto the extremely small Black Cat stage and proceeded to torch the sold-out room.Ī post shared by Cliff Nichols venue is a traditional jazz club with seated tables and limited standing room in the back. Though some members have floated in and out over the past few years, the rest of the group has solidified over time: guitarist Peter Knudsen Sylvester Onyejiaka (Prince, Quantic) on baritone sax, tenor sax, and flute Jonathan Mones (Funky Knuckles, RC & The Gritz) on alto sax and flute and Mike Jelani Brooks (Kirk Franklin, RC & The Gritz) on tenor saxophone. Soon thereafter, the idiosyncratic bassist Dwayne “MonoNeon” Thomas (Prince) and keyboardist/vocalist Dominique Xavier Taplin (Prince, Toto) joined the crew, each injecting their own individual flair and steez into the equation. The duo set out to to break the rigid rules, and to color far beyond the establishment lines. The co-founders are the uber-gifted Robert “Sput” Searight (Snarky Puppy, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar) on drums, and his longtime rhythmic co-pilot, Nate Werth, (Snarky Puppy) on a vast array of percussion. Ghost-Note was initially conceived back in 2015 as a percussion-focused collective of moving parts. Artistic ambition, an abundance of chops, and a bold spirit of defiance were on glistening display when Ghost-Note performed to capacity crowds of thirsty Bay Area music fans. The band of badasses commandeered San Francisco jazz haunt The Black Cat last week, dropping four searing sets over the course of two nights. Sure, they have impeccable jazz credentials, members have collaborated with funk, R&B, rock, hip-hop and gospel legends, and yet the impressive assembly cannot be pinned down by any of those industry labels or lanes. There is really no appropriate musical genre to classify the virtuosic, multi-hued group known as Ghost-Note.
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