The New Mastersounds & Turkuaz Combine Forces with Brilliant Results
The New Mastersounds and Turkuaz just finished the October leg of their tour together last Saturday (October 22) in St. Petersburg with incredible performances from both bands. Luckily for us, The Sober Goat, aka Richie Williams, aka Shows I Go To, was there to document the amazing music.
Each band played a 90-minute set, with Turkuaz on first digging deep, deep into the funk. Leader Dave Brandwein (guitar and vocals) led his nine-piece band through a tremendous set, especially when delivering their “power funk,” a very apt description. Singers Sammi Garett and Shira Elias were wonderful as usual, and the band’s fashion and color sense is second to none. The best surprise was the stunning vocal work of baritone sax player Joshua Schwartz.
The New Mastersounds opened with their patented blend of jazz, funk and soul, so deep in the pocket. The first half of the set was great, but all of a sudden they shot through the stratosphere, absolutely the best I’ve ever heard from them. Then they invited the Turkuaz horns on stage (Schwartz, Greg Sanderson, and Chris Brouwers), and it got better. Garett then came out for a song, and everybody was lit up.
The Turkuaz folks left the stage as the New Mastersounds played a lovely cover of a song from their album Therapy, “Treasure.” After that, pure pandemonium. These two bands clearly love what each other does, so they combined for a 7-inch 45 RPM single, with each band playing a song from the other’s catalog, with lots of crossovers, of course.
So all of Turkuaz came out to perform “On the Border,” with the New Mastersounds hanging out. And they closed with Turkuaz’s song “The Rules,” performed by the New Mastersounds with all of Turkuaz on hand. It just doesn’t get much more joyous than this.
They were selling the single at the merch table after the show, and I had the pleasure of playing it on my jazz radio show the next night on WMNF 88.5 in Tampa (wmnf.org). It is fabulous. Got a turntable? Order one!
And don’t you dare miss these two great bands if they get anywhere near you. You have been put on notice!
