Festival year 2009
A Night with Motown: Jr Walkers Allstar Band
16.7.2009 >> Otava Factory >> 30 EUR17.7.2009 >> Otava Factory >> 30 EUR
(US)
soul, funk, R&B with pop influence
The 60’s produces many fine things that history has proved timeless, even though at the time they crystallized the mind-expansion and having fun together that were so typical to that optimistic period. Motown is definitely one of those things. One of pop music’s greatest stories, the Detroit-based company grew into a summery music style that knitted great soul singing, driving R&B rhythms and catchy pop melodies into a seamless whole.
The company’s black founder/owner Berry Gordy wanted from the beginning Motown music to cross racial boundaries. In that he more than succeeded. The Holland-Dozier-Holland threesome, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder created tunes that spoke and keep speaking to people of all colors all over the world.
Sax legend Jr. Walker is gone, but his Allstar Band holds top-notch players that have had first hand experience with many Motown stars, while the vocal side rests in the able hands of The Ladeez. Esther Todd, Phyllis Parham and Kimberly Smith are just as experienced having sung back-up for giants, like The Temptations and The Miracles. You will hear solid Motown gems from The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas, The Marvellettes, Gladys Knight & The Pips and many more, not to mention the funky Jr Walker instrumentals, like Shot Gun, Road Runner and the blaxploitation classic Cleo’s Back.
Members:- Ronnie Nelson, drums
- Ernest Atkins, keyboards
- Robert Penn, guitar
- Charles Jackson, bass
- Acklee King, percussions
- Esther Todd, vocals
- Phyllis Parham, vocals
- Kimberly Smith, vocals
- Bernard Gibson, vocals
- Martinus Montgomery, saxophone
