Groove Collective

Groove Collective is a contemporary jazz group. In 2007 they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year for the release People People Music Music on the Savoy Jazz label.

Style

Groove Collective was formed in 1990 by Richard Worth, Itaal Shur, Gordon Clay, Genji Siraisi and Jonathan Maron. Saxophonist Jay Rodriguez and percussionist Chris Theberge played in the inaugural gig (at Nell's 14th St NYC), and Fabio Morgera, Bill Ware and Josh Roseman soon joined the fledgling band. After witnessing an early show, producer Gary Katz negotiated the band's signing to Reprise Records, and produced their eponymous debut album in 1993. They scored two minor dance instrumental and adult contemporary hits in 1996 with a cover of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (US Dance/Club Play #45, US Dance Maxi Singles #23) and "Lift Off" (US R&B/Hip-Hop #73).^[1]

Groove Collective's musical style reflects the wide-ranging backgrounds and interests of its individual members. Commenting on the group's 1996 release, We the People, critic Michael Casey referred to the numerous influences at work in Groove Collective's sound, specifically the presence of Afro-pop, Latin jazz, hip-hop, and traditional jazz stylings. This mix is born of the members' varying influences, including bebop, funk, old-school hip-hop and classic soul.^[2] Bassist and co-founder Jonathan Maron has acknowledged the importance of a DJ aesthetic in the music, stating that "(Groove Collective's) goal has always been to emulate the range of music a DJ plays during the course of the night at a packed club....A great DJ knows the songs that can ignite the room and fill the dance floor. Some of my favorite musical experiences have been in clubs, where you listen and realize how well all of these styles blend together into one big idiom of its own."^[3] Central to the group's ethic is its insistence on live instrumentation and its ability to create and sustain grooves for a dance floor audience.

Discography

• Groove Collective (Reprise Records, 1993) US Jazz #20^[4]
• We the People (GRP Records, 1996) US Jazz #20
• Dance of the Drunken Master (Shanachie Records, 1998) US Jazz #22
• Declassified (Shanachie, 1999)
• LIVE and Hard to Find (2000)
• It's All in Your Mind (Shanachie, 2001)
• Brooklyn, NY 04.20.02 (live album) (Kufala Records, 2002)
• People People Music Music (Savoy Records, 2006)
• PS1 Warm Up:Brooklyn, NY, July 2, 2005 (live album) (Kufala, 2007)

Current members

• Genji Siraisi - drums, guitar vocals, production
• Jonathan Maron - bass, keyboards guitar, production
• Jay Rodriguez - saxophone, flute, vocals
• Chris Ifatoye Theberge - percussion, vocals
• Barney McAll - Keyboards
• Curtis Fowlkes - trombone
• Fabio Morgera - trumpet, vocals

Past members

• Richard Worth - flute, kalimba, vocals
• Nappy G/ Gordon Clay - percussion and rapping
• Itaal Shur - keyboards, vocals, production.
• Bill Ware - vibraphone, vocals (ex-Steely Dan)
• David Jensen- tenor saxophone
• Josh Roseman - trombone

Collaborators

• Adam Rogers - guitar
• Mark Anthony Jones - guitar, vocals
• Ettienne Stedgwick - keyboards
• Victor Axelrod - keyboards

Current subs

• Ben Stivers
• Reut Regev
• Etteine Stedgwick

References