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By Erik Koral
Delta Nove |
If you live in California and are a fan of Latin, Brazilian, African, reggae, samba, funk, or jazz musical styles, then there is a good chance you have seen or at least heard of Delta Nove. Delta Nove formed in 1999 and started touring regularly in 2002. While the band has been playing gigs in California for years, 2005 has been the Long Beach band's most exciting year yet, with two successful tours around the country and big guest-filled festival appearances.
So who is Delta Nove, and what do they sound like? The band's name comes from the word "nine" in Portuguese, which describes the way that they meld so many different styles of music together in their self-described "worldfunk." The band's name is also a metaphor for the manifestation of your mind through music. At a Delta Nove show, you would perhaps think that you had been transported to Rio De Janeiro for Carnival, but you can also hear a little bit of Pancho Sanchez, Santana, Los Lobos, King Sunny Ade, and the classic funk of George Clinton in their sound. While they pay homage to their musical roots and heroes, the band has still created a sound that is fresh, relevant, uplifting, and carries a positive message.
The Viking :: Delta Nove by Alex Wyman |
Delta Nove's lineup has recently evolved into a tight and versatile six-piece outfit, including new members Dominic Freedham on drums and redhead Matt Welch, better known as "Viking," on bass and vocals. The original members are Rob Covacevich (saxophone, flute, clarinet, and percussion), Heath Bennett (vibraphone, steel drums, congas, and percussion), John Harrington (trumpet, percussion, vocals), and Bobby Easton (guitar, percussion, vocals). The music has been described as "Sensual, sultry, and sexy" and "High energy dance music" by fans and local press. At any point during a show, the band will abandon their original instruments and start a Brazilian or Afro-Cuban drum stomp, usually dancing though the crowd. Recently, they have been incorporating more hip-hop rhythms into their drumming and have been attracting more of an urban audience to shows. They have been embraced by a wide spectrum of other music lovers as well, including salsa/samba fans, the jam band world, club goers, and college-type crowds. It's a diverse mix of people, but one thing is for sure - everyone loves to dance.
Bobby Easton :: Delta Nove by Alex Wyman |
Over the last few years, the band has shared the stage with Umphrey's McGee, Steve Kimock Band, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, King Sunny Ade, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Particle, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Burning Spear, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and many others. Members of Delta Nove have also regularly jammed with - and are often compared to - Los Angeles's biggest multi-cultural band, Ozomatli. They had breakthrough performances this year at High Sierra Music Festival and 10,000 Lakes as well as the Brazilian Street Fair in Long Beach and several shows in Mexico. Michael Travis from String Cheese Incident is a huge fan of the band and has sat in with them several times. In October, the band threw a sold out pre-party for the Xingolati Groove Cruise, which featured guests Darren Pujalet from Particle, Kim Manning from Parliament Funkadelic, Jamie Janover from Zilla, and Brian Jordan from KDTU. The cruise also featured two powerful performances from the band, and John and Rob were used as the horn section for the Everyone Orchestra, which featured John Medeski, Vince Herman, G love, Jamie Masefield, Matt Butler, and several other musicians on the boat.
Some additional recent accomplishments include being voted "Road Warriors of the Year" by Home Grown Music Network, winning the Relix Magazine "Jam Off," being nominated for "Best New Groove" by Jambands.com, being voted one of the "Top 10 bands to see in 2005" by JamBase.com, and being nominated as a "Top Live Act" for the Orange County Music Awards. Also, over two hundred radio stations around the world are playing Delta Nove's music from countries as far away as Japan, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Brazil. They are also in regular rotation on many Latin, satellite, and jam radio shows all over the USA.
The band has released three proper albums including the self-titled Delta Nove, Signal Hill, and Deep in the Compound, as well as one EP Fiya Ballin. The band was also featured on a Talking Heads tribute album where they did their own funked-up version of "Crosseyed and Painless." Lately, the band has been in their own studio, called The Compound, recording their fifth release, which will come out sometime in Spring 2006. The band will continue to play in the Los Angeles area through January and will then embark on a California tour during Mardi Gras week, with each show featuring a New Orleans/Brazilian Carnival theme. Later in the Spring, fans can look forward to more touring around the country and to more festival appearances this coming summer.
JamBase took some time to catch up with Heath and Bobby to talk about their music, their career highlights, their future, and about how they see the band evolving into a touring force.
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