Turkuaz: A Nice Vintage
Anytime Turkuaz comes to town, you’re sure to be in for a fun-filled evening of dancing and nostalgia. This is a band that is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite live acts to go see. Their sound is based around funk, but to corner them into that genre alone would be to do them a disservice. Throughout their 3/25 performance at Burlington’s Higher Ground, the band wove through an array of sounds that had me gripping at the past while also catering to the contemporary.
Photo by FX Media Solutions
The show opened with “power death-trio” Lespecial. Lespecial is a band that admittedly has taken a while for me to warm up to. Their sound is a bit to the contrary of what I typically listen to, but it’s executed with an edge of sophistication and a raw “no-prisoners” attitude. They harness sounds that at times remind me of bands such as Primus or a grittier Lotus while also paying homage to the stoner rock sound of such bands as Sleep and Om. Their opening set was my favorite of theirs I’ve seen to date and left me excited to see the band in the future. It was a great way to set the tone for the night and offered a nice contrast to the music that would be heard the rest of the evening.
Turkuaz hit the stage around 10:30 and fired off right at the gun, wasting no time diving headfirst into a set that would keep the crowd enraptured from start to finish. “Bubba Slide,” the first song off their album Future 86, led off the first set. The song came in hard with a bass line and tone reminiscent of Parliament-Funkadelic, and the party was immediately in full motion.
Photo by Dani Barbieri
Only a few songs into the set, I was already deeply impressed by the depth of sound the band was making and the precision with which they made it. This is a band that truly plays as a unit, with turns on a dime and the sound of a group of people that are fully committed to what they do. If you put the music aside, they are just as enjoyable to watch perform as they are to listen to. The energy they cultivate on stage is comparable to The Talking Heads, with full-band choreographed moments and a playfulness that is rarely seen in the music scene today. They’re a band that provides some of the best music one could hope to dance to, all while dancing to it better than anyone in the audience.
This band is hip.
The first set smoldered on without a stale moment to be found. The evening’s performance of “Digital Love,” one of my favorite tunes off the band’s new album Digitonium, was one of my personal highlights in Act I. The groove is hot and sticky with a sound reminiscent of ’80s Funk act Zapp & Roger. This particular rendition boasted a powerful saxophone solo on par with many you’re likely to hear today, all while being nuanced by the precise and chunky rhythm guitar of front man Dave Brandwein. The band plucked along on the danceable and full-bodied groove before powerfully descending into a more relaxed section. After establishing an open musical terrain that allowed the band to move in whichever direction they saw fit, they slowly built it back into a dance party of epic proportions.
They ripped through a few more tunes that maintained their token personality and swagger before speeding up into a phenomenal version of their tune “Back To Normal.” The song is fast-paced and disorienting in the most pleasurable of ways. I’ve personally always gravitated more toward down-tempo funk as my poison of choice in the genre, but by the end of the tune I would have begged to differ. The song slapped me across the face with its high-energy funk and seemed to be over before it started, leaving me in a sort of music-induced daze.
Photo courtesy of Sound & Silence Magazine
I love the accessibility of this band. They conjure sounds that remind me of many different bands, all while maintaining their originality. During their first-set performance of “European Festivity Nightmare,” I heard heavy Steely Dan influence in both the composition and the execution of the song. At times I thought of more obvious bands such as Sly & The Family Stone and The Talking Heads, but at other times I found myself reminded of such musicians as Billy Joel and The Flecktones. They are a group that is poised to explode. They have a sound that caters to the mainstream while also being outside the box enough to gain the glowing approval of folks more privy to the jam. In no way would I ever pigeon-hole them into the jamband classification, but they are a band that DEFINITELY jams. It’s a sound I feel I could play for my parents, or for that matter any person with a musical taste contrary to mine, and they would enjoy it thoroughly. It feels to me universally understandable and relatable. It reminds you of a different time, and who doesn’t love that? I was searching for the right words when my good friend Nicholas Cioffi leaned in and said to me, “these guys’ sound is so… invitingly nostalgic.” I couldn’t have possibly said it better myself.
They closed out the first set with the tune “Monkey Fingers” and then allowed us all a much needed break to catch our breath after the full-force dance party that we’d all just partaken in.
Photo by Aaron Lingenfelter
The second set began with “Barking up the Wrong Tree,” another song off their new album Digitonium. They wasted no time settling us right back into that Turkuaz sweet spot that we all love so much. The set surged forward into their song “Snap Your Fingers,” which boasted an impressive trumpet solo that sounded more like a hybrid between a trumpet and a harmonica and paid homage to the early ’90s sounds of The Flecktones as alluded to earlier.
Every member of this band is devastatingly talented and musically intelligent. It’s a band that is truly unselfish and allows every member his or her moment to shine, creating a collective where no one member is more pivotal to the sound than the others, creating instead a musical marriage where each member plays the role in stride with the rest of the members of their team. This, as I would say, is perhaps the most important part of the fabric that makes a band truly outstanding. One of my favorite bust-out moments of the show mid-second set was when Joshua Schwartz (saxophone/vocals) stepped to the microphone and treated the crowd to a moment of soulful vocals that absolutely cut to the core. Something about having a man who can sing like that but NOT having him as the marquis singer in the band is part of what makes them so cool. When you least expected it, he slung his sax to the side and blew into the microphone with a ferocity and soul paralleled by few front men or women that I see singing music today.
It’s without question that this band is something very special.
Photo courtesty of www.chelseatakesphotos.com
The night’s take on “Murder Face” offered deep, bellowing horns and a cutting sound of looming suspense. It created a musical atmosphere where it felt like any turn could be taken within the score. They manage to take written sections and make them feel as though you’re in the throes of a deep and exploratory jam. The song was highlighted by multiple guitar solos by Craig Brodhead. The first was tight yet unhinged, offering great diversity despite the brief window. The outro solo showed us that Brodhead can rip with the best of them, yet with the precision of few.
The band blasted through a few more tunes including a Talking Heads cover before closing the night out with their song “Castor.”
In summation: GO SEE THIS BAND.
I promise you won’t be disappointed. They have mass appeal and a presence that is rarely seen in music. I can say with conviction that I will catch this band at every opportunity I have and can’t wait until my next show with them. Be sure to check them out on Facebook, as well as link up with their website at www.turkuazband.com. The website will let you know about shows coming up near you, as well as ticketing information and plenty of music for your listening pleasure. Over and out!
Setlist: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT 3/25/2016
Set 1: Bubba Slide, Future 86, Percy Thrills The Moondog, Digital Love, Coast to Coast, The Rules, Back To Normal, Everyone’s A Winner, Generator, European Festivity Nightmare, Monkey
Set 2: Barking Up The Wrong Tree, Chatte Lunatique, Snap Your Fingers, Babies Making Babies, Let It Ride, The Mountain, Murder Face, Nightswimming, 20 Dollar Bill, Castor