8p | $15

Bashiri Asad & Xenobia Green – Indianapolis
The Right Now – Chicago
Deep Fried 5 – Nashville

Three bands share the stage for an awesome night of funk, soul and feel-good goodie-ness. As part of the Indy Jazz Fest’s Sunset Series this show is an elecric way to get the week going.

The Right Now – reverbnation.com/therightnow
Sounds Like: Raphael Saadiq, Amy Winehouse, The Spinners, Fitz & The Tantrums, Stevie Wonder
Based on Stefanie Berecz’s gutsy voice and Brendan O’Connell’s crafty songwriting, The Right Now is Chicago soul for the 21st century. The band will release their second album, Gets Over You, on April 10, 2012.
reverbnation.com/bashiriasad

Bashiri Asad – reverbnation.com/bashiriasad
Sounds Like: Anthony David, Eric Roberson, Bilal, Raphael Saadiq, Calvin Richardson

Acknowledging that each of us has a priceless gift that we must harness and share with the world, Bashiri has come to define his sound as “Indy-Soul”.  From shoo-wop style singing groups and classical vocal training, to performances local and abroad, his vocal prowess has been growing into the soul-stirring entity it is known as today. The influences of Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding echo in his performance, and those coupled with his own strength and passion have come together to create his version of true soul music. He, along with his dynamic band, Xenobia Green are seeking to join the ranks of other inde-soul artists looking to breathe new life into the Indianapolis music scene. He has begun to make a name for himself not just in the Circle City, but around the region. Bashiri Asad & Xenobia Green have opened for Musiq SoulChild, The Foreign Exchange, Kindred The Family Soul, Whodini, Malik Yusef and several other acts that have come to Indy. Humble in his approach, relentless in his delivery, you have to experience it to truly understand.

“Music is my weapon of choice, what’s yours?” bashiri asad

Deep Fried 5…
Out of their hometown of Nashville, TN- Deep Fried 5 has been making funky, soulful music exploding with groove and attitude since 2008 & haven’t looked back since.  With original tracks, reminiscent of 60s and 70s funk and soul, the music takes you back to when it was pure… “These dudes have moved to the top of the chart in our heart with a sound that finds the more commercial aspects of late-’70s soul — you know, when it was bumping uglies with the beast that was about to become disco.”  -Sean Maloney of the Nashville Scene.   The group continues to grow and expand, pushing the envelope of a new progressive funk sound that has undertones of jazz, rock, soul, r&b, and blues; winning the affection of all different genres of music fans. In late 2009, they began working on their first album: a 14-track, self-produced record at the Groove Compound Recording Studios in Spring Hill, TN. After releasing the album “Saturday Night Funk, Sunday Morning Soul”, the band began rapidly building up a funky fan base from the Southeast to the Midwest, spreading the “Deep Fried’ sound.  The band has been support for bands such as; Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Orgone, The New Mastersounds and many more.

 
7p • $10

Paul Hines has been involved with music all his life and it’s taken him all over the world. Paul is an Indy native and was a Motown artist for a number of years. He has recorded for, produced, written, arranged for or performed with the following artists … Ozone, Sammy Davis Jr, Patrice Rushen, Gerald Albright, Billy Preston, Syreeta, Miles Davis, Teena Marie, Rick James, The Temptations, Marlina Shaw, Roy Meriweather, Les McCann, John Mayall, El Debarge, Switch, Jeffrey Osborne, Luther Vandross, and George Duke just to name a few. An accomplished live and studio musician he can be heard on all of Teena Marie’s hit recordings such as Portuguese Love which was covered by Maynard Ferguson, Square Biz, I Need Your Lovin and many more.

Paul has now turned his attention to his own band “57 Special.” This band showcases his writing and arranging talents as well as his electric drumming. Come and enjoy an evening of music that FEELS GOOD — You will leave with a smile on your face!

The band will feature the vocal talent of Ms. Georgette Fraction, John Wood, bass, Steve Weakley, guitar, Reggie Bishop on keys and Adam Thompson on Sax. Some of the best Indy has to offer!

CD’s will be available.

7-10:30p | No Cover

Alto saxophonist Pivec’s post bop / hard bop styled group. As director of jazz studies at Butler University Pivec does great things for Indy’s young music scene.

7:30 & 9:30p | $15
joemcbride.html

Not even blindness can stop vocalist/keyboardist Joe McBride. His status as one of today’s most popular contemporary jazz musicians is rooted in a solid foundation of talent. Born in 1963 in Fulton, Missouri, he began playing piano at age four and started singing in high school. As a teenager, McBride contracted a degenerative eye disease and eventually lost his eyesight, but his passion for music was never impaired. He continued his studies at the Missouri School for the Blind and at Webster University in suburban St. Louis. McBride trekked to the sunny shores of San Diego for a while before enrolling at North Texas State University to study jazz and performance.

When McBride finally stepped out as a leader in 1992 with “Grace”, his first CD for Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, he quickly became a favorite in the contemporary jazz genre. His next recordings – “A Gift for Tomorrow” (1994), “Keys to Your Heart” (1996) and “Double Take” (1998) – featured some of the giants of contemporary jazz, including Grover Washington Jr., Peter White, Dave Koz, Rick Braun, Larry Carlton, and others.

Among McBride’s many credits in 2000 Joe enjoyed a major supporting role in “The Riff”, a feature film about the New Orleans jazz scene (directed by Mark Allen and produced by Bernie Pollack).

With the help of his new acoustic trio, McBride adds another significant title to his impressive discography with the July 2009 release of “Lookin’ for a Change”. On his latest Head Up recording he features songs originally written and recorded by a range of pop luminaries, including Gnarls Barkley, Coldplay, John Mayer, Seal and Jill Scott, and reinterprets them via
straightahead jazz arrangements.

“To be honest, I really wanted to try to reach a different audience with my new album,” McBride says. “I’m all about growth. It’s all about making the old things new. It’s okay to look back for just a moment, but the more important idea is to keep our eyes on the future.”

8p | $10

Kool’s Bazaar (Kb) is the brainchild of young musical visionary, Richard Trotman and was formed in June of ’08. Kb is an extension of the jazz/fusion semi-cover band, Acoustic Red (aR) and was created out of a need for Trotman to exercise his musical freedom and break away from the constraints and limitations of solely instrumental music. As a creative artistic collective, Kb plays original, stylized fusion music with influences from jazz, blues, neo-soul, hip hop, trip hop, electronica, rock, & acid jazz. Kb is a band that expresses and encompasses the theoretical, emotional, and aesthetic qualities of music, while staying true to its form.

Conceptually, Kool’s Bazaar (Kb) is just like any other band. There is a lead vocalist, a keyboardist, bassist, and drummer that makes up its core. However, when you peel back the layers, you find a mix of complex artist(s) who are thoughtful and intentional about the ways in which they create and think about music. Imagine, one unified machine on the outside and when you pry the machine open, you see an abundance of knobs, wires, cords, sockets, and gears all controlled by tiny entities that work in harmony to produce the sound that you hear. Kb engineers sound in such a way that propels the social messages (present in the songs) to a place that can be felt and internalized by the audience.