It was real cool, the owner of the old club that gave birth to the
Solsonics decided to throw a 10th anniversary reunion, and a pickup band
made up of mostly-Solsonics members played. It was held in a rented
Hollywood studio soundstage and was pretty packed. They played some obscure
older tunes, covers (i.e. "Funky Nassau"), songs from singer Kevin
Williams' band Butterflow, and a couple old Solsonics faves. It was real
fun hearing some tunes not heard in a long time, even if they did botch up
"Montuno Funk" :) Hey, it's been a while...
Yes, they did break up, for a primary reason for which I won't go into
publicly on the list. I'm sure they did play in SD, they're friends with DJ
Greyboy and all - he even scratched on their album.
I also found out recently that there are TONS of unreleased studio material
from the Solsonics, though unfortunately they will likely remain that way.
In the meantime, here's what the ex-Solsonics members are up to, they're
all playing in and around the Los Angeles area, and occasionally, outside
of it -
Butterflow:
Funk/soul band led by singer Kevin Williams, also featuring Derrick Davis
on sax and keyboardist Mike Boito - most of the time. In the early days,
Willie McNeil played percussion for this band.
Jump With Joey:
Ska/Jump Swing band. Just because they're a SoCal band and play "ska"
doesn't mean they fall into the NoDoubtSaveFerrisSublimeEtcEtc mold, this
is a more traditional, jazzy form of ska, that even has latin influences.
Solsonics friend Joey Altruda leads the band, and Willie McNeil plays
drums, Mike Boito plays piano, Jim Akimoto plays sax and Dave Ralicke plays
sax/trombone.
Elliot Caine Sextet:
The man who played trumpet for the early days of the Solsonics leads his
own jazz band, and recently made a CD.
Califonix:
I formed this acid-jazz/new soul/drum & bass group (I sing and play
keyboards) late last year and was fortunate enough to acquire former
Solsonics guitarist Emile Poree and sax playter Jim Akimoto. We're
currently playing around town, I'll keep you posted.
Jez Colin:
The former bassist and mastermind behind the Solsonics apparently does
remixes, I heard recently he did a remix for an Erykah Badu song. I also
heard he's doing the drum 'n bass thang.
Keep The Rhythm Strong,
Elson
- 30 -
:. e l s o n t r i n i d a d
:. elson@westworld.com :. www.westworld.com/~elson
:. los angeles, california, usa
your opinions are just as wrong as mine.