Hula-bound Displace Jams Post-Trombone Shorty

Story by Jess Phillips & Scott Hopkins. Photographs by Jess Phillips

So, you’ve just thrown down the funk with Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue at Jannus Live. What’s next? More funk, clearly, right next door at the Ringside Café.

That’s where Tampa’s Displace kept the party going until the wee hours, complete with a round of Happy Birthday for Ringside proprietor Mitch Gray and the roller skate crew dancing around the room.

It was a superbly classy, jazzy affair — with the esteemed gentlemen in sharp-looking suits and a whole set of sexy and smooth. The band, now with George Pennington III on guitar, fluently navigated through their two albums as well as a few exuberant covers, including “Valerie” and “Hey Ya.”

Chris Sgammato was a whirlwind on keyboards, alto sax, and vocals, and bandmates Vinny Svoboda and Tucker Sody brought the funk fusion with their unstoppable rhythm section (bass and drums). The set included songs from Undertow such as “Friction,” “Float,” and “The Flight of Admiral Archibald.” Tunes from first album Eureka! featured “Generation Sloan,” “Geonosis Shuffle” and others.

Dumpstaphunk’ s Tony Hall got on stage and closed out their set by playing “Fire on the Mountain” on Svoboda’s bass! Want to check out what these guys sound like? You can catch them representing the Tampa music scene at this year’s Suwannee Hulaween.