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Seattle's soul train to roll in
By Paul de Barros
Seattle Times jazz critic
Break out your fright wig, baby, and your platform sneakers, too.
Seattle is celebrating its soul music legacy.
Say what?
Yes, Virginia, Seattle had a soul train, too, though it's taken 10 years of sleuthing by Ballard deejay Mr. Supreme (aka Danny Clavesilla) and Light in the Attic record producer Matt Sullivan to coax that train out of the tunnel of time.
Tomorrow, at the hip Seattle nightclub Chop Suey, Seattle's musicians gather to celebrate the release of "Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest in Funk & Soul 1965-1975," a compilation of Emerald City soul produced by local label Light in the Attic. Musicians on hand include those from classic groups like Cold, Bold & Together (Kenny G's launching pad), Black on White Affair and Cookin' Bag, as well as lounge jazz pianists Overton Berry and Johnny Lewis and the romantic balladeer Patrinell Staten, known today as Pat Wright, leader of the Total Experience Gospel Choir.
"There was a very vibrant, very strong music scene here," recalls Cold Bold & Together (CBT) percussionist Tony Gable, who still leads the smooth jazz band, Tony Gable and 206.
Robert Nesbitt, a deejay for the now-defunct Seattle soul music station, KYAC, evokes the scene in his liner notes for "Wheedle's Groove."
"You could find the masterful showman Manuel Stanton of Black and White Affair doing flips and spins while playing bass on a Monday at the Gallery," writes Nesbitt. "Meanwhile, on the same night, you might catch Robbie Hill, flashing like a Christmas tree in a red rhinestone-studded jumpsuit, matching red Big Apple cap and the huge hair, keeping the beat for his band Family Affair at the District Tavern."
Bands started out playing covers, says Gable, but gradually started composing originals. The best ones got played on KYAC.
A good example from the album is "I Just Want To Be (Like Myself)," by Robbie Hill's Family Affair, which hit No. 1 on the KYAC playlist for three weeks. Like much of the music on "Wheedle's Groove," Family Affair's psychedelic funk reflects the influence of Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, War and George Clinton, among others.
Cookin' Bag's "This Is Me," an up-tempo number with a great horn arrangement and a tough tenor sax solo, recalls James Brown, as does Ron Buford's "Deep Soul Pt. 1." Buford is a second generation Seattle musician whose father, Vernon "Pops" Buford, played sax on the Jackson Street jazz scene.
Some numbers sound like pure kitsch today, such as Berry's version of the Beatles' "Hey Jude," Johnny Lewis' cheesy clavinet keyboard on the Meters hit, "Cissy Strut," and The Topics' oddly compelling take on "Louie Louie."
Though the Seattle funk scene was mainly local, some of the musicians went on to greater things. CBT keyboard man Phillip Woo played with Patti LaBelle and Whitney Houston.
Pat Wright's lilting romance, "Little Love Affair," was picked up by a London deejay and reissued on a compilation two years ago.
And Kenny G, of course, went on to superstardom. That's him as a high schooler, playing the alto sax solo on CBT 's "(Stop) Losing Your Chances."
"Kenny was suggested to us by the people at Franklin High School," remembers Gable. "He looked kind of geeky, but they said, 'Give him a chance.' I had to go over and talk his dad into letting him play in this all-black band." According to Gable, race was an issue.
"One time," he says, "we showed up at a private club in the North End for a function, and they thought we were moving the equipment. When I said, 'We're the band,' they said, 'We have a problem.' We said, 'If you don't want us to play, give us the check now.' And they did."
But warm memories predominate.
"In those days, we lived in band houses," says Gable. "We rehearsed together, ate together, shared rooms together and had parties together. Yes, we did have a few female guests, and keggers were not foreign to us."
Seattle's golden era of funk came to an end around 1978, when disco invaded the town. A quarter century later, the memories are still vivid and many of the musicians are around to celebrate this untold story.
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