By ted cogswell (66.167.53.21) on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 01:31 pm:

Could someone familiar with the Funk Bros. touring plans let me know if there's any shot of them making it up to the northwest US (Seattle/Tacome, Portland or Vancouver) on this tour? I didn't see anything on the one tour schedule I saw, but I know that sometimes things get added.

By douglasm (68.113.13.31) on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 01:37 pm:

Remember Ted.....
....This is the Great Pacific Northwest, where the holy trinity is Paul Revere, The Ventures and The Wailers.
(...and I grew up thinking it was GM, Ford and Chrysler)
Doug in Wenatchee

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 03:01 pm:

We need them in Florida!!! How 'bout the House
of Blues, Downtown Disney?

By ted cogswell (66.167.48.149) on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 10:28 pm:

I've complained about it on this board before, and it's true, we hardly get any good soul acts here!

By douglasm (68.113.13.31) on Thursday, April 17, 2003 - 10:25 pm:

Ted....
...why should we? I don't mean it the way it sounded, but there really isn't much of a soul (as we generally define it) tradition up here, it's more in the jazz line, and as far as I've been able to tell, there's no black equivilent to The Spanish Castle or Eagles Auditorium in the Seattle area. If someone (Art?) knew how to get hold of Pat O'Day, maybe he could explain it to us. Near as I can tell, there's only 1 soulish radio show in Seattle, on the local Jack Straw Radio outlet, and it's low power.
Blues acts, on the other hand, do get some booking, witness James Cotton appearing at Jazz Alley, and the number of blues festivals that seem to spring up on every street corner during the summer. That one I can't explain, except maybe blues are "hip".

By ted cogswell (69.3.232.149) on Thursday, April 17, 2003 - 10:56 pm:

No, there isn't any real soul tradition here to speak of. Ray Charles worked here for a while very early in his career. Quincy Jones grew up here, so did Jimi, and they both got out of town as soon as they could. I think the high point of Seattle R&B history is that Big Jay McNeely's "Live at Birdland" was recorded here. The only noteworthy soul artist of recent vintage to come out of this area is Oleta Adams. All that aside, there IS a big enough black audience to warrant a visit from more touring bands.

When the Experience Music Project first opened a few years ago, they were bringing in more older acts who you don't see in Seattle very often, and while they did get Solomon Burke in 2002, they've shifted their focus more towards rock acts and usually offer a lineup not much different than what you could already have gotten at the Showbox or the Moore Theater. Occasionally the Paramount gets a tour (they had the 70's Soul Jam, Luther Vandross, The Temptations Revue, and Maze over the last couple years), but those are far and few between as well, not to mention very expensive (the Paramount routinely charges more, milking it's status as a premium venue). All that's left are the oldies packages that pass through the Mukelshoot Casino.

I really do believe that this city could support more soul music though, and I think it's more a case of playing it safe than anything else that we haven't seen more venues book touring soul acts.

By ted cogswell (69.3.232.149) on Thursday, April 17, 2003 - 10:58 pm:

... and Jazz Alley could really step up to the plate on this issue. If they can have James Cotton
and Shemekia Copeland, they can have some soul artists too.