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You get the feeling that keeping a secret is not Tommy Igoe’s strong suit.
The tall, lanky drummer is the leader of the 12-piece Groove Conspiracy, and whenever and wherever the group finds a home, word quickly spreads. It might have something to do with the fact that the Conspiracy has a reputation of being a combustible band brimming with fiery improvisers and brash arrangers unfettered by jazz big band conventions.
The initial New York iteration of Igoe’s band sneaked into Birdland one week, and before he knew it, the ensemble was attracting standing room-only crowds on a weekly basis. When his wife landed a job at Google and they relocated to Marin three years ago, Igoe reconstituted the group with a Bay Area cast and found a niche at the Rrazz Room, infusing San Francisco’s top cabaret venue with his swaggering synthesis of jazz, funk, Latin and Brazilian rhythms.
When the Rrazz Room closed, Igoe quickly made the jump to Yoshi’s-San Francisco, where the band’s weekly residency became one of the ill-fated club’s most consistent draws. The Groove Conspiracy stayed at the venue during its shockingly brief incarnation as The Addition, and,when that closed, made the leap across the bay, launching a new weekly residency at Yoshi’s in Oakland that starts next month.
Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy. Double drums with jazz legend, Jeff Hamilton! Tuesday, September 26, 2017. Doors: 7:30 pm / Show: 8:00 pm. Jeff Hamilton.
“It’s very important to know what you’re good at, and I realized it by accident in New York. In the jazz community I’m able to set up camp and generate a phenomenal product that people want to see again and again,” says Igoe, who brings the Groove Conspiracy to Kuumbwa on Thursday. The band plays Yoshi’s on May 6, then starts a regular Thursday night run on May 28.
The son of the revered jazz and studio drummer Sonny Igoe, who toured with the likes of Benny Goodman and Woody Herman, Tommy Igoe got his start on the road at age 18 with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Stints with Blood, Sweat & Tears, drummer Steve Jordan and pianist/composer Dave Grusin honed his versatility, though he became an international force by creating the drum part for Disney’s hugely popular Broadway production of “The Lion King.”
During his New York days, Igoe contributed to hundreds of recordings as a first-call studio player while pouring his energy into education, producing instructional books and DVDs and teaching students privately (he still devotes 10 hours a week to private lessons). A magnet for talent, Igoe has built the Groove Conspiracy into a formidable act by turning the band into an arranger’s laboratory. The players are all top-notch, a requirement, given that the band sight-reads new charts during the weekly gigs.
“Tommy has been so great about giving credit to the musicians doing arrangements and putting in all that extra time,” says East Bay trombonist/arranger Jeanne Geiger, a founding member of Igoe’s Bay Area band. “He puts a lot of trust in us. We have to write something that not only sounds good but has to come in legible, clean and have all the info you need to sight-read it down onstage.”
Some of the band’s best charts can be found on last year’s eponymous “The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy,” which seems designed to showcase the band’s versatility. Igoe gets bored quickly, and every track stakes out different rhythmic territory, from funk and R&B to Cuban and Brazilian grooves. Trombonist John Gove’s arrangement of Joshua Redman’s tune “Jazz Crimes,” a tune from a time when the saxophone star was veering away from straight-ahead jazz syncopation, sounds like a forgotten track from Steely Dan’s “Aja.”
Igoe brings the Groove Conspiracy to the Stanford Jazz Festival on July 11, and the SFJazz Center on Aug. 2 for a program devoted to the music of Steely Dan, featuring the band’s lead guitarist, Drew Zingg. Zingg is one of several high-profile special guests who have performed with the band, and with each one Igoe puts out a call for fresh arrangements (Geiger has contributed charts of Steely Dan’s “Green Earrings” and “My Old School”).
“We have a great core group of writers,” Igoe says. “Aaron Lington is such a pro. Mike Rinta and John Gove are fantastic, and Jeanne Geiger’s a great writer and arranger with great energy. They’re all amazing. People are constantly pitching me, and 99 percent doesn’t make it onto the stage.”
In concert the quality control is evident. It’s also the foundation of Igoe’s boundless ambition. He didn’t set out to lead a big band, but now he’s determined to let everyone in on the Groove Conspiracy, turning the band into a Bay Area brand “just like the San Francisco Symphony and Ballet,” he says. “We want to be your band. We want it to be a source of pride in the area, and I think we can become an important part of the cultural fabric.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at [email protected].
The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St.,
Santa Cruz
Tickets: $20-$25;
831-427-5100,
www.kuumbwajazz.org
Also: 8 p.m. May 6 and 8 p.m. Thursdays starting
May 28; Yoshi’s, 510
Embarcadero W., Oakland; $26-$75; 510-238-9200, http://yoshis.com
Where: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St.,
Santa Cruz
Tickets: $20-$25;
831-427-5100,
www.kuumbwajazz.org
Also: 8 p.m. May 6 and 8 p.m. Thursdays starting
May 28; Yoshi’s, 510
Embarcadero W., Oakland; $26-$75; 510-238-9200, http://yoshis.com
The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy, 64:49 ****1/2:
(Tommy Igoe – drums, programming; Dewayne Pate – bass; Colin Hogan – piano; Drew Zingg – guitar; Louis Fasman – lead trumpet, Flugelhorn; Steffen Kuehn – trumpet, Flugelhorn; Dave Len Scott – trumpet, Flugelhorn; Nick Ciardelli – trumpet, Flugelhorn; John Gove – lead trombone; Jeanne Geiger – trombone; Mike Rinta – bass trombone; Marc Russo – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone; Tom Politzer – tenor saxophone; Alex Murzyn – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; Aaron Lington – baritone saxophone; with guest artists Randy Brecker – trumpet (9); Kenny Washington – vocals; James Genus – bass (1); Michael League – bass (10); Karl Perazzo – Latin percussion (8,10); Scott Kettner – Brazilian percussion (5,7))
In New York City, Tommy Igoe made a name for himself as a modern big band jazzman. His sophisticated ensemble was anchored by his drumming at the legendary club, Birdland. He has performed on tour with acts like The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Tower Of Power, Boz Scaggs and Steely Dan. He wrote the drum set book for Disney’s Lion King, also performing as principal drummer and associate conductor for the Broadway show. Over the last decade, he has been involved in music education and written critically-received workshop materials. Now, Igoe has formed a West Coast edition of his big band, and is a staple on the San Francisco scene. To the delight of his fans, he has released an album of diverse big band material.
The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy gets off to a blazing start with “Mercy Mercy Mercy”. Written by Joe Zawinul for Cannonball Adderley, it became an unexpected hit. Wrapped in a tight soul groove, the Teddy Firth arrangement is broad and features Marc Russo (alto saxophone) and Tom Politzer (tenor saxophone). The muscular instrumentation accentuates the chorus refrains. The following track, “Friday Night” is big band swing with some jagged rock guitar (Drew Zingg). John Grove unleashes a scintillating trombone run before the band answers with a sharp tempo. Politzer wails on tenor saxophone as the percussive arrangement explodes into swing and syncopated tempo breaks that include some Igoe drum fills. The furious ending reunites the electric guitar with the band. The group’s take on Joshua Redman’s “Jazz Crimes” is stellar, drawing on a ’70s fusion vibe (like Tom Scott/La Express). The momentum of the music is propulsive and never lets up until a mid-song soul transition that leads into another explosive group run.
There are two vocal tracks on the album with Kenny Washington. “Let The Good Times Roll” was originally recorded by Louis Jordan in 1946 as a jump blues song. Igoe’s version has the large ensemble swagger of the Ray Charles cover. Straight ahead high octane rhythm and blues with an assist on alto by Russo still fits this song like a glove. But “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” (from the Broadway musical Pal Joey) is anything but conventional. Fronting a salsa jam, Washington’s singing (including some jazzy vocalese) is breezy and soulful. Aaron Lington’s baritone saxophone is gritty and is followed by a nimble percussive solo on piano by Colin Hogan. Hogan also shines on Quincy Jones” “Jessica’s Day” with inventive drumming by Igoe.
A “souped up” rendition of Arturo Sandoval’s “Capichosos De La Haban” showcases festive solos (trumpet/Dave Len Scott, trombone/John Gove). The band sparkles on another Latin number, “Aquele Um” which includes Steffen Kuehn on trumpet and flugelhorn. Igoe and his band interact flawlessly. There are two original compositions. “Plan B” is a full-bodied orchestration that has a feverish solo on trumpet by “guest conspirator” Randy Brecker. It channels the classic sound of big band jazz. On a funkier, groove (with a bass opening by Michael League) “Quarter Master” is expanded to include Brazilian percussion (Scott Kettner and Karl Perazzo) and a trio of trombonists (Gove, Jeanne Geiger and Mike Rinta). There is a show-stopping drum/ percussion transition and New Orleans inspired celebration that brings the album to a rousing close.
Big band music is alive and thriving!
TrackList: Mercy Mercy; Friday Night At The Cadillac Club; Jazz Crimes; Let The Good Times Roll; Aquele Um; Jessica’s Day; Caprichosos De La Habana; I Didn’t Know What Time It Was; Plan B; Quarter Master
–Robbie Gerson