New York City’s Groove Collective crosses musical genres with one goal: to move listeners’ feet and minds. This legendary band of musicians has been improvising and perfecting the stylistic crosspollination between funk, jazz and Latin music for more than a decade. Groove Collective’s pioneering members are fluent in the international language “groove”. Under their supervision, in-the-pocket drums and bass, vibrant and colorful horns, world percussion flavors, and intricate harmony all blend seamlessly. Groove Collective is renowned for their innovative and refined sound. They are masters at multi-hued Funk. According to Billboard Magazine, they are jazz/funk fusion at its best. When asked to describe the band, one member responded: “Part social experiment, part musical experience; We’ve tried democracy, communism, capitalism, dorian, chromatic, mixolydian, starvation diets, sleep depravation, meditation, mediation, co-op, cooped up, disco-ambient-futura-trance-jungle-drum and bass-trip hop-hip-acid-transistor-funk-rock-psychedelic-silicon-hard bop-big beat-tube-electronic-live-dub-salsa-mambo combo with a twist… and you know, I think it might be the next big thing!” Groove Collective’s remarkable history began in 1990 when they helped to grow New York City’s acid jazz scene. They were quickly a fixture in a growing underground club scene that paired DJs with live performers. Giant Step, a media and event producer mogul, ran this innovative enterprise. Groove Collective pioneered the “groove” genre, blending jazz and funk. Jon Pareles, The New York Times, says that Groove Collective’s identity is not in a single style but in its ability to welcome anyone who might be interested in keeping hips moving. They have maintained their “collective” spirit throughout the years, with a rotating roster of talented players. The current six-piece group includes five of their original members. Groove Collective is Jay Rodriquez (saxophones and flutes, bass clarinet), Genji siraisi (drums. programming. vocals), Fabio Murgera (trumpet. flugelhorn. effects), Chris “Ifatoye”, (congas. bata drums. percussion), Barney McAll (Fender Rhodes. synthesizers. piano), Jonathan Maron, (bass). User-contributed text may be available under Creative Commons By-SA License.
