Wednesday at Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012


Doc, Mike Smith, Donnell, Godfather, Lorenzo, Dwayne


Smoke, Mike Muse, Jacques, Doc, Halima, Mike Smith, Donnell, Godfather, DP


Mike Muse, Jacques, Doc, Donnell, Mike Smith, DP, Godfather, unidentified fans
All pictures taken by and Copyright Jordan Rich

I arrived and sat down. Michon talked with Jacques. Jacques told Michon that the guy who drives the equipment truck for FF quit because they wouldn't let him go to Myrtle Beach, and they didn't find out until tonight. Doc put his bass down and sat down with his friend Tanya. When Halima walked to the service entrance, she had a funny look on her face - obviously she was confused as to whether they were performing because there wasn't any equipment set up. Jacques explained the situation to her. Donnell was late arriving because he was at his son Derek's high school graduation. I joked with Smoke about playing percussion on his body - I talked about the day at Takoma that Jammin' Jeff played percussion on so many other things.

When Baba arrived with the equipment truck, he asked me and the band members to help the equipment guys bring the equipment in, which we did. After they started assembling the drum kit and other percussions, I kidded Halima that she didn't have to sing acapella anymore.

6'9 was there.

Familiar Faces
First Set
Donnell apologized for the late start, he said, "Everything that could go wrong did." I was a little surprised he didn't just say, "Our driver quit."
Donnell introduced Mike Smith as someone he hasn't played with in five years. Donnell Jr. was there. He wore a tie. Donnell said on the mic, "My son is here, he's 12 years old."
1) Instrumental
2) Mike-led Bernard Ighner's Everything Must Change
Angie, who sat next to me, was really into Mike's singing
3) Mike-led Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do for Love
4) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
Darrell was there, he jokingly put his head in Angie's lap. Nephew got fresh with Angie, but he said she likes it. Tracy told me she though she saw me earlier walking a dog with a woman. I told her how my friends had seen two lesbians - one walking the other on a leash at Tracks when we were in college.
5) Mike-led Ruff Endz Someone to Love You
Donnell said, "Halima had called to say she was under the weather, but she's going to go ahead and try to sing."
She said, "Hi Googie," then greeted the audience before singing.
6) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know - she used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
Mike said, "She wasn't sick, she was just playing."
Donnell did shout outs to Sweet Tracy, Sweet Angie, me and Darrell
7) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Golden Lady
Donnell said, "Ray, if she wasn't here, I could give you a book of lies to tell her (so that he could go on the boat ride on Saturday)." Donnell said that the following Saturday, they would be a Venus during the fight then at Tradewinds for their usual show. Donnell teased Felecia (spelling?).

6'9 asked me if I had gone to Myrtle Beach and was going on the boat ride. I said no, but I am going to Miami.

Second Set
Donnell said, "Ray, you better get on the dancefloor or I'll tell your whole name" - Ray got on the dance floor.
1) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
Go-Go Mickey was there
2) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
3) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva / bassline from Stevie Wonder's Superstition
Robin said hello
4) Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down - James was on backup vocals
5) Halima-led Faith Evan's Again
6) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
7) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
8) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) / "20, 40 baby, baby" / "Wait a minute"
9) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda (tease)
Donnell said, "Jauhar is furious." Halima mocked it. I joked with her.
Dana and Shaun were there.

I asked Godfather who was playing drums for Rare Essence now, he said Blue (Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington). He told me Tracy is Bobby Smoot's baby sister. Jennifer, a white girl, was there.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location

Familiar Faces
When I arrived, the outside door was open, but not the inside door. I walked out again and Donnell was there with Mike Smith, formerly of Rare Essence. Donnell explained that Stomp couldn't make the coming Saturday's boat ride, so Mike would be filling in for him. Because the boat ride is so important, Mike will be playing with FF the whole week. I said I was disappointed Stomp wouldn't be at the rehearsal because I wanted to hear the results from the woofing between him, Charlie and Donnell about how many woman they would sleep with at Myrtle Beach. Donnell said, "Don't worry, other than (the late) Footz, there isn't anyone that could outdo me."

Mike said he hadn't met me before when Donnell introduced us, but I told him that I had talked with him at Takoma Station a few weeks ago. Donnell played the commercial live recording from April 27th for Mike Smith.

Godfather arrived shortly afterwards - he and Donnell talked about how it was the women chasing the men at Bike Week. They said the stories about prior Bike Weeks were true and that the women showed a lot in public. I asked Donnell how the shows went - he said that the promoter wasn't a music promoter - he just needed to guarantee the sponsors a certain number of people would show up. He did this by having a best bike contest. Unfortunately, they had the contest before they performed both nights. The Thursday performance had a very small crowd of people who stayed through the performance, but Saturday's performance had a larger audience. Donnell said that Halima was on fire, it is okay to be weird on the road.

When Duane Face arrived and set up his keyboard - Donnell talked with him about his ability: he can play the notes; he's come a long way since he started practicing with the band, but he needs to develop arrogance in order to forge his own identity. These practices may not be the best place to do that, but it is important. Donnell said he can pick BJ out of a recording because he has a strong identity. Donnell also said to Duane - "I talked to your boss yesterday." Duane said, "My boss?" Donnell: "Jammin' Jeff, he's doing well."

Over time, DP, his sons Derek Jr. and Darrell, Mike, Halima, Dwayne, Doc, Lorenzo, Jauhar and Nephew arrived. Also, Stomp, Charlie and BJ all came in briefly - mainly to pick up paychecks.

Donnell said that Lorenzo was filling in for BJ who is going to play in another artist's band this week. Donnell talked about how both BJ and Godfather play by feel. He said the BJ plays the lead lines, if it were Godfather who was off (playing elsewhere), that Duane could sit in for him, but since it is not, Godfather would force him to play lead.

They first went over a cover for a song that Halima will sing - Minnie Riperton's Memory Lane. Then they quickly went over standard songs in their repertoire for Mike Smith, Rodgers & Hart's "My Funny Valentine" (they said this version was called Everything Must Change - I later discovered what they meant: it is the lyrics to My Funny Valentine and the music to Everything Must Change). Donnell asked where the song came from I pointed out that Rodgers & Hart wrote many show tunes years ago. A simple search of ASCAP shows that Lorenz Hart wrote 308 registered songs and Richard Rodgers 700. The other standards they went over were as follows: Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know, Marvin Gaye's I Want You, Bobby Valentino's Slow Down, Stevie Wonder's As, Erykah Badu's Cleva - which leads into Stevie Wonder's Superstition, Amerie's 1 Thing - they worked on this a little, Donnell said Halima should sing on the hook, Stevie Wonder's Superstition, Faith Evans' Again and Mesmerized. Donnell talked about the transition from Amerie's 1 Thing to Trillville's Some Cut. He also talked about Notorious BIG's Warning which follows that. Finally, they rehearsed Lap Dance. At one point during this, Godfather played with his eyes closed. Donnell and Lorenzo teased him about it.

Jauhar teased Dwayne to Donnell - he said of Dwayne, "He was really into it, you could see it on his face, it had to be the music because he didn't get any that weekend" (Dwayne's girlfriend didn't go to Myrtle Beach). All the band members I talked with said they had a good time at Bike Week.

Outside in the parking lot, Doc played Dwayne's current cut of Little Benny's new single in his car. They talked about a rap group called Bowboa that had been down at Bike Week with five expensive luxury cars with the band name painted on. Doc and Dwayne really admired that - they said that no one in DC has that kind of money behind their promotions. Until they can find that kind of backing, GoGo will not be national. They said even their website was professional. I told them about my meeting with Ed Stewart and my email correspondence with Largo District Record.

Blast from the Past at Club Levels
Club Levels, 1960 Montana Av NE, Washington, DC 20500

I arrived at 10:40 PM - this time I wasn't the first one there. The doorman recognized me. He said, "It's been a while". I paid the highly affordable $15. There were probably already fifty people there when I went up to the performance area. Iceberg Slim danced. Big Jim was there and said hello.

Ed Stewart was there, he said hello and introduced me to DC filmmaker Bruce Brown - so far I've only seen Streetwise among his movies. He talked about his large video/film collection with many performances, that "Ed wasn't ready for it yet". We talked with Big Tony when he came in. I didn't even try to bring a pen since I have had so many taken away from various venues (as a potential weapon).

Nece the promoter was there, wearing a shirt advertising the club's new restaurant starting Tuesday - Scoopie's Soul Cafe.

Rootie Baltimore said hello, he said, "You didn't go out of town (with FF)?" He told me he had written some of the songs on their album (Evolution). I knew that, I told him how Godfather had tried to call him about the chords for I Dreamed You at rehearsal. He said he wished the best for Donnell and them. He said it was really fun when 911 was first formed. He said he's playing for Ayre Rayde now.

I also said hello to Tee Bone, he asked me how I'm doing.

EU was up first - it was weird, there was no big announcement between switching from the DJ music to EU, they just started performing. They really cranked - their setlist was similar to what they performed the last two times I saw them at Bud's. They opened with Earth, Wind & Fire's Can't Hide Love. They performed for about 45 minutes. Then Billy the Kid, the MC suggested people go to the buffet, which I did.

Donny Ray said hello and "You sure get around." Sugar Bear greeted me as he left also. The food was good. After, I ate, I got a drink and on my way back, I spotted Roosevelt Littlejohn. We talked for a little while he was waiting in line.

Ayre Rayde was up next, they introduced themselves as "Maryland's own - Ayre Rayde". I didn't see China Boogie among them. Their performance was nice - the music was not very focused on lyrics. They did mostly originals, but they covered PFunk's Get Off Your Ass and Jam and another cover I don't remember. Again, they performed for about 45 minutes. Tee Bone was working the monitors for them.

Billy the Kid kept joking about how thin Tee Bone used to be. Laughing Lenny performed - he was okay.

Rootie talked with me some more. He said, "They (the new members of Familiar Faces) are living off of what we did." He said he remembered when they went from big crowds to no crowds. He was thankful to Donnell for being the first to give him a chance to put his songs on an album. He repeated wishing Donnell and them the best.

Trouble Funk was the headliner. They had a lot of technical trouble getting the sound up to their standards. They opened up with a tease of Ludacris' Number One Spot. Then after working on the sound some more, they performed almost entirely their own music. I don't remember it all - but they played Let's Get Small, Hey Fellas, Trouble Funk Express, Don't Touch That Stereo, Drop the Bomb, and finished with a tease of 4th Gear. Towards the end, the lights came on, Tony said, "we have a lot to play, turn the lights back off." They then had a young rapper and singer cover Keith Murray's Call My Name - it was very different in style from the normal Trouble Funk sound. During the performance, a guy walked by me and said, "A white boy!" The woman next to me smirked. At one point a guy standing next to me played pool on his cell phone during Trouble Funk's performance. Trouble Funk's performance was nice. It ended a little after 3 AM - I was right up by the stage at the end. It was a great performance and I'm looking forward to more.

Meeting with Ed Stewart
Uncle Jed's Roadhouse, 7525 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD 20815

I met Ed Stewart of Sticky Candy this morning at 11:30 AM. He is the co-producer with Big G of an in-progress documentary on GoGo called 68 Square Miles. He is from DC, born and raised on GoGo, but is currently a film student at AFI in Los Angeles. We talked for a while about his project. His documentary is on the history of GoGo. He had a local film crew film the performance this past Sunday at Fur with Suttle Thoughts, Familiar Faces, and L!ssen. He said the total performance parts from his documentary may only be fifteen minutes of the total ninety minutes. He has already interviewed Chuck Brown - two or three months ago. He also found out that Chuck was not the first to start GoGo and will interview the pioneer. I told him that I had heard that Chuck was like Miles Davis with Jazz Fusion, he wasn't the first, but his adoption of it gave credence to the genre. Chuck also talked about an outstanding bass player at the Vegas Lounge who never made it big. He will also devote his documentary to DC's taxation without representation. He told me about an email he received from Darrin Jackson at Largo District Records, when I discussed the Joe Clair LA GoGo label rumor. He knows Rich Harrison from high school and Harrison's success spurred Ed to do this documentary. He also interviewed Breeze, whose whole interview was a commercial against the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Breeze also told him about a woman (I later learned her name is Rachel Story) who has been working on a documentary on GoGo for nine years! Ed is planning to finish his next year. He also talked about the name GoGo music being from Smokey Robinson, but ultimately related to GoGo dancing as in GoGo girls with GoGo boots. He also got an excellent unrehearsed sound bite from China Boogie at the Ayre Rayde reunion. He said that DC was behind the times - they didn't start listening, much less liking rap until 1990, therefore they are a decade behind. We discussed the violence both perceived and real at GoGos. He said that the people who commit violence at GoGos are cheating themselves out of entertainment opportunities. He also said they deserve to go to prison. He said he is a fan of police now; his viewpoint has changed since he was younger. He wants to talk about all the existing types of GoGo including Gospel GoGo. He has not watched the previous documentaries on GoGo as he does not them to influence his existing creative vision. He is very straightforward and professional - we discussed me possibly doing research for him, but I would have to sign a non-compete clause, so I passed. He knows exactly what he's doing. There will be a Citypaper article on his project coming to print shortly. He said I am already working on a documentary since I have filmed my interviews. I wish him and his project the best of the luck.

He was shocked and critical when I told him this blog is edited, that D-Floyd and others don't want me to include their comments critical of other bands and other things of a personal nature. I only censor those kinds of comments from rehearsal & the studio - anything they say in public is obviously fair game. But I don't just censor that- they are things only I know that I don't choose to share with the world. If I didn't censor my blog, there are things they simply wouldn't tell me. He said therefore my blog is not actually a blog. He said finding this out was like finding out Santa Claus isn't real. He said I am really only a commercial for Familiar Faces. There are things I don't tell on my blog that I do tell in person to people. It does give me something to think about. Given his view, the only thing I didn't include that he told me is the name of his potential executive producer/distributor - a big name.

Wednesday at Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Packy's arm is better - it is no longer in a sling. Tim (LJ) said he may do the Miami trip. A guy named Perry introduced himself to me. Tamara was celebrating her birthday.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Grover Washington Jr.'s Lock It in the Pocket - very long with nice solos by Donnell, DP, Stomp, Jacques and BJ
Donnell said, "We call Jacques 'Dr. Noise'."
Donnell said, "Stomp is trying to get sexy."
James went onstage
2) Mike-led I Dreamed You, the smoke machine came on
Mike talked about his co-workers (from Verizon) at the table next to him.
He introduced the next song as "Coming from the days of album covers."
3) Mike-led Atlantic Starr's Send for Me "Goodbye doesn't mean a thing to you and I" - I recognized it as a song that Donny Ray often sings when he sits in.
Godfather arrived
Mike introduced the next song as "Put out to anyone struggling with relationships."
4) Mike-led John Legend's Ordinary People
Mike said see what Packy-our light man does with special effects - I feel like Michael Jackson
5) Mike-led John Legend's Live It Up
Mike introduced Halima as a prodigy
Halima encouraged everyone to tip the bartenders and show love to one another
6) Halima-led Alicia Keys' Diary
7) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva with Stevie Wonder's Superstition bass line / Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Superstition - Halima danced when not singing

Ytee, Tracy, Angie and Robin were there. Robin wore a T-shirt with the words "I Have Issues" printed on it. I said, "You have issues?" She said, "All women have issues" (all men do too).

Second Set
1) Halima-led Faith Evans' Again with James on background - nice solo by Halima
2) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
3) Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down - both Halima & James were on backup vocals, Smoke had a nice solo
Mike danced with a woman in the audience at the end
4) Halima-led Faith Evans' Mesmerized
5) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
Ray was there
6) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot - the sound was terrible as if the speaker were blown, but there was nice percussion
7) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing
8) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - lots of birthday announcements / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
Slim Goodie was there
Ytee screamed
8) Donnell rap "Baby baby"
9) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
10) Alternating Donnell-led DIP / "It might be, tell your man, you've known me a long time"
11) Mike-led Prince's Purple Rain
I told Halima what Mike said about her: "She might be witch" - she laughed, said who said that? She said "I may be a witch". I said, "A good witch?" She said, "Yes". I told her a story about a Wiccan witch who supposedly cast a love spell on a man. I talked about the trip to Myrtle Beach; she said she would sleep as soon as she got there. I said since you were in Florida, you didn't go on long trips to Florida. She said she went to school in Daytona Beach and lived in Fort Lauderdale, ten minutes from the beach. I said, "So you are sun-brewed, like your tea" She laughed and said, "Yes".
Robin pulled me on the dance floor and I danced with her and Angie. Donnell did a shout out to me, "Don't get carried away"

Rah was there, he said hello.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location

Familiar Faces
When I arrived, Donnell, Godfather, Stomp and Charlie were there. Donnell bragged about getting four or five birthday cakes and that his house was "full of balloons." Over time, Mike, Halima, DP, DP's sons Derek Jr. and Darrell, Dwayne, BJ, Jacques, Duane Face, Nephew and Lorenzo (with a Roland XP-30) were there. Stomp and Charlie ate subs from Jerry's - I think it is the first time I've seen someone eating at rehearsal. They discussed the Sunday show, with a female background vocalist Tyrell sitting in with them. This show, which I was unable to attend since I was helping my sister move, was at the Fur and was filmed for a documentary. Donnell talked about reading the Tmott posting on the show:

all I can say is Donnell ..........Donnell .............Donnell

First off we was chilling in VIP poping moe and remy Lissen came in there and they told them to get out ( I was not going to put them out there like that ,cuz my man who I grew up wit play wit them, But FF set them dudes up.....see bottom

First my man chi and dem got there late so they did not play so suttle open they did ok pratt was a lil nerves cuz everybody in go-go was there exept Rah (Donnel was up front parting nervertheless) Dae Dae aright he got tighter since the last time i seen him Kimese

Dem came dem DOGS FF is no joke all star line up from G saying a lil speech right befor to stink a dink rapping, Stomp and smoke rocking then THE MAIN EVENTER "D. FLOid" the real most creative and talented lead mic took the party and left with the party soo much energy he brings

There girl singer (Halima - my note) tighter than all in the circuit at this piont everybody was parting until...............................

they step off the stage

Lissen did not come through they could came out a lil better although Peanny was the best congo player of THAT night and of course yanni was nice but that was not even fair to make them play after FF

who in the world had LIssen close that beautiful event?
Evil or Very Mad Twisted Evil Mad Crying or Very sad
_________________
Di De
www.diallodejaun.com

He did complain to Stomp. He talked about how in baseball, the two biggest things are the no hitter and the perfect game. He said he had a perfect game until Stomp ruined it. He said that after they do Lap Dance, they always pause and do it again and he messed up. Dwayne said he (Donnell) said, "Do something", so it was his problem, all he had to do was stop playing and it would have been fine. They talked about the great job that Halima had done (she was not at rehearsal yet at that point). They discussed her camouflage outfit she wore on Friday - Donnell said the women "Eat up her fashions." Mike said, "Watch out, with all the rubies and emeralds on her fingers, she may be a witch". Donnell talked about how he was so glad he didn't listen to Jauhar and Nephew who said she couldn't properly replace Adia.

Still referring to Sunday, Donnell said that if he had Yannie, he'd have her singing until her voice gave out - that she was that good. He said that Halima has learned from Yannie's physical showmanship. He said that E had begrudgedly given respect to Halima and FF. Donnell also said that Grady, L!ssen's manager, had invited out Chucky Thompson (who is working with Chuck Brown right now) to see L!ssen, but he ended up just watching FF instead.

Godfather asked me how Saturday's show went - he questioned why they had Spur of the Moment performing, and if so, they should have been in the back where the food was. It said they were tight, but I didn't like their song selection - which was lite jazz. The tunes were familiar, but the only one I directly recognized was George Benson's Masquerade. However, when Sugar Bear and JuJu (first on Congas, the drums) took over Spur of the Moment: that was the best part of the night. It was interesting seeing Sugar Bear cover Rare Essence - they covered Body Moves and One on One (Footz version). The all-star Trouble Funk part was nice too. But when Soundproof backed Little Benny for Rare Essence covers, it was terrible. They peformed with no heart, they totally slummed.

They went over three Stylistics tracks to possibly perform: Children of the Night, You're as Right as Rain, and a third song I can't remember. Mike talked about choosing songs by vocalists within his comfort zone. He joked that the lead vocalist for the Stylistics was his father. Mike talked about the limited number of male vocalists within his comfort zone - Bobby Valentino, Donell Jones, John Legend, and Glenn Lewis. When Stomp criticized him for not going beyond his comfort zone, Mike talked about having sung high on boat, coke, having a cold, etc. Donnell said not to do Right as Rain because the Pointer Sisters version was more familiar and they have a female singer. Donnell said Halima sounds like Erykah Badu, someone who is 21 will know Erykah Badu, how old does someone have to be to know these (Stylistics) songs? They worked on the Bobby Valentino song Slow Down that everyone is covering right now (I recognized it as a song that EU has performed the last two Thursdays). Donnell said to go ahead, that everyone was covering John Legend's Ordinary People and that they did it too. Halima was there to work on the background vocals for this. Jacques suggested that they not do this in the pocket, Dwayne said, "Welcome to our side" (Donnell likes virtually everything to be in the pocket). At one point, Mike joked to Donnell that "If you go to hell, it will be Dwayne taking over your band."

One of DP's sons fell asleep in his chair and Stomp yelled, "Wake up!" Then he played the drum right next to him. Stomp talked about playing on Thursday with only one tom, playing as if there were three.

They talked about travel arrangements for the trip to Myrtle Beach. There was a discussion questioning various people's driving skills. They are planning to leave at 5:30 AM, because check-in time isn't until 3 PM. Stomp said, "I'm fat, we can eat as soon as we get there." Halima talked with Donnell about a song she sang for him - apparently over the phone. Stomp said, "Why don't you sing for me over the phone?" There was a great deal of woofing between Stomp, Donnell and Charlie over how many women they would have sex with at Myrtle Beach. Stomp said he would knock on Donnell's door to tell him when the show (him having sex) would start. Charlie said he was "The number one stunna", and Donnell said, "You mean the number one fronter." Donnell told a story about holding off on a girl 'cause Charlie said she was his girl, and then he asked her and she said she didn't even know Charlie.

I introduced myself to Lorenzo; he said he thought I was a musician, a percussionist. I said I play the same instrument as Nephew (who sat next to me) - in other words, nothing. Donnell said, "But he plays it better." I said, "If you got me a mic, I could say, 'What about the Fat Chicks' just as well." That line is Nephew's sole musical contribution to Rare Essence.

Saturday at the Little Benny Reunion at the CFE Events Center
CFE Events Center, 7758 Marlboro Pike, Forestville MD 20747


JuJu, Big Jim, Stan Da Man, Wardell (Cousin of GoGo Rob) (Soldierette is in front, with her back to the camera, to her right is Rockin' Ron aka "jroc96")


Gene, Big Jim, Stan Da Man, Sugar Bear, (JuJu played drums) (Soldierette is in front, with her back to the camera, behind her is Rockin' Ron aka "jroc96")


David Rudd, Kevin "Big Foot" Smith, Little Benny, Big Tony


David Rudd, Kevin "Big Foot" Smith, Little Benny, Big Tony, Lil Dyke
All pictures taken by and Copyright Jordan Rich

I arrived at 9:45 PM. A number of people stood by their cars. I wasn't sure if they were letting people in because of that and the flyer saying 10 PM. I finally walked over to the front door; say a sign that said no tennis shoes, no timberlands, no exceptions. Fortunately, I had brought a change of shoes and went back to my car and changed them. Some musicians stood to the right of the stage, but not much was set up on stage. Donnell walked in and said, "no matter which band it is, I am the first one there setting up." Then he sat down at the table with me. I asked him how many people he expected at FF's shows at Bike Week. He said there would be 200,000 people at Bike Week, but he had no idea how many people would be at the shows. He said as long as he got paid, he didn't care if there were four people at the shows, "I just like to play." I also asked when the live recording was going to be sold. He said Wednesday, that he wants to wait until it's in the stores, to get a beat on the bootleggers. When Big Tony came, I introduced myself to him, Little Benny came by and said hello to both of us. He later sat down with me, and told me that Trouble Funk would be back in a big way this summer. He said they were going to regroup more of the original members and that they were releasing a new album this year. Donnell asked me what the itinerary was - I was surprised Little Benny hadn't filled him in with the details. Benny probably just asked him to come and play - it's all good. He asked if Trouble Funk was playing, I said just a couple members, that it would be an all-star band. Godfather came by and put his keyboard under the seat next to me. Donnell and other all-stars went up on stage, until the DJ said, "Everyone but Spur of the Moment clear the stage." I was surprised they would open the event. Soldierette took pictures; she's friends with the members of Spur of the Moment. I recognized one of the band members as Big Jim, who I had met at Safari Steakhouse.

Spur of the Moment was really tight - as in organized and cohesive. However, I didn't like their song selection - they performed four familiar light jazz covers, the last one I recognized as George Benson's Masquerade. While they performed BJ came in and sat down at my table. However, all three of the guys from FF left at 11:45 to go to their show at Tradewinds. Sugar Bear and JuJu walked in and control of Spur of the Moment's performance. JuJu initially played congas before switching to drums. Sugar Bear said happy birthday to Donnell, who was no longer there. Spur of the Moment's performance with Sugar Bear and JuJu was the best musical performance of the evening.
1) Sly & the Family Stone's Family Affair
2) Nelly's Flap Your Wings
3) Snoop's Drop It Like It's Hot - very different from FF's cover
4) "Go JuJu Go"
5) Shake It Like a White Girl, "I Like Booty"
6) "Get Your Freak On"
7) Rare Essence's Body Moves
8) Da Butt
9) "Hey ay, Ho oh"
10) Rare Essence's One on One (Footz version)

This was Sugar Bear and JuJu's musical contribution for the night. During the break, I went up to Big Jim. He pointed out Pee Wee as a legendary dancer; Pee Wee danced even on one leg. He led line dancing.

Big Tony, Lil Dyke, and a number of other all stars performed in the second set - all Trouble Funk songs.
1) Lets Get Small
Little Benny joined in
2) Drop the Bomb / Trouble Funk Express
3) Pump Me Up
4) Hey Fellas
This was a pretty good performance. A guy who saw me with my camera asked me if I was taking GoGo pics.

Soldierette got on the mic, then Little Benny. Soldierette both preached against violence and talked about seeing so many "teddy bears and balloons not on Valentine's Day". MaddChuck from the TMOTT Board introduced himself to me.

Little Benny performed Rare Essence covers with Soundproof Band backing him. It was terrible - they performed with no heart, it sounded like they were just going through the motions.
1) Rare Essence's Body Moves
2) "Hey ay, Ho oh"
3) Rare Essence's One on One (Footz version)
4) Rare Essence's Shoo Be Doo Wop
5) Rare Essence's Take Me Out to the Go-Go
6) EU's Um Bop Bop
SweetAngelmd27 was there, I said hello. She was looking for Kato, I said I hadn't seen him. (It turns out they wouldn't let him in because he didn't have formal enough shoes - something that's happened to me before).
7) Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon?
8) Freak A Deak All Night Long
9) 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
10) Rare Essence's Lock It
11) "? Love"
Then Soundproof Band performed without Little Benny. They covered Trillville's Some Cut - very different from FF's version. That they performed much better than the songs they performed with Benny. I saw Nena, and then I left early. I had to help my sister move the next day. I am bad at counting people - but the CFE was packed and it sure looked like a lot more people were there than at the Armory show.

Friday at Safari
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

Godfather was early again, playing his keyboard while waiting. We went outside for him to give me something, Halima arrived with Googie, she wore camouflage - I kidded her that Memorial Day is next weekend. She did a little karate move. She had retainers on; I talked with her about my experiences. Someone stepped on her prior one; she didn't want to wear it again. I talked with Halima inside; she said the first thing she noticed about me was being the lone white guy going to these shows. Sometimes I think about that line in Live and Let Die "it's like following a cue ball."

No Michael Muse tonight, just Halima singing

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Miles Davis' Tutu
2) Halima-led Alicia Keys' Diary - very nice performance
Smoke came in
3) Halima-led Faith Evan's Mesmerized
There was a long pause
4) Halima-led Jill Scott's Whatever
5) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
6) Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine

Halima and I had a discussion. She said she wanted to go to sleep, I told her go ahead - Stomp slept in the breaks last week, she said no, if she does her voice will go to sleep. I told her that Donnell leads more songs in the GoGo sets. She went to get something to eat.

Second Set
Donnell did a shout out to Frank White who was celebrating his birthday
Ras Lidj and 6'9 were there
1) Halima-led Jill Scott's Golden
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
3) Donnell-led Stevie Wonder's Superstition - first led by Donnell, then led by Bryant "Luther" Roberts
4) Halima-led Faith Evans' Again
5) Donnell-led Public Enemy's Welcome to the Terrordome (tease)
7) Donnell-led "Da na ah"
8) Donnell-led Brown & White / Ride Out / Northeast Groovers' The Water
9) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Uh Oh (Heads Up)
10) Donnell-led rap "In & out and up & down"
11) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda

Stacey, Michon, Ron "HOBO Moe" Moten, and Benjiy (he said, "Hey lightskin," to me) of GoGoSwings Magazine were there. Lisa and two of her friends complained about a rap missing from Brown & White, and not enough old school songs. BJ said it was like remembering a paragraph from a page in a book you wrote ten years ago.

Third Set
Donnell kept pushing his birthday balloons into Stomp's face throughout the set.
1) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) - Donnell said, "Did you call my name?" / Notorious BIG's Warning
Donnell called out "Yes, Yes"
2) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
3) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing
4) Donnell-led Rare Essence's What N*gga What?
Slim Goodie was there.
5) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Uh Oh (Heads Up)
6) Donnell-led Tupac's Hail Mary (tease)
Chi Ali was there.
7) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
8) Donnell-led "Ay oh oh oh uh"
9) Donnell-led "F*ck that n*gga, I'm that n*gga"
10) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Work the Walls / "Shake that ass, give up the cash"
11) Donnell-led Lisa Stansfield's All Around the World (tease)
12) Donnell-led Rick James' Mary Jane (tease)
13) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Work the Walls (reprise)
14) Donnell-led DIP
15) Donnell rap
Chi Ali sat in
16) Chi Ali-led "Put your hands up, everyone in the club" with guest conga player Marky Mark from Nu Styles Band
17) Donnell-led Prince's Take Me With You
18) Donnell-led Hold the Note / Stevie Wonder's Superstition bass line
19) Donnell-led Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
20) Donnell "If you have to believe in something, why not believe in me"

Donnell, Nina & Michelle's Birthday Celebration at Bud's
Bud's 501 Club, 501 Morse St NE, Washington, DC 20002

TMOTT Board group picture

Sitting on the curb from left to right: #02, TCBTony, Deezo, Ms. Minnie Me, Delano795, Whodat
Squatting behind them: Adia and BigRico
Back row: Black Heart, Diva, FunkmasterJ (Me), Asmoothepoet, Slim Goodie being held by Ytee, Nena, Blak, Lioness, Bobbiedoll, slt, Songbird, Nephew
Present this evening, but not in the picture: Kato, Teago, SweetAngelmd27, Igottapoop, Chellley (whom I know as Mama Chelle), Shorty Q, Sweet Tyra, D Ball, Ras Lidj, Demon Killa & wife, lil miss, pisces4real, and The AssMan (Michael Muse).

I met slt, Sweet Tyra (who is much more attractive than her picture on TMOTT), Diva and Songbird while eating at the bar. Demon Killa was there with his wife, whom Angel referred to as Mrs. Killa. Giant "cards" were on the wall for the birthdays of Donnell, Nena, and Michelle. I signed the first two - I don't know this Michelle.

Ras Lidj & Deep Band
When I went upstairs, Ras Lidj and Deep Band had already started: they were already performing Son of a One Night Stand. Julian, the singer, was not present tonight, but Ras Lidj made do just fine and there were a couple of guest vocalists (including Songbird), particularly during the performance of Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry. I believe I recognized one of Ras Lidj's promoters, dancing dressed like a devil in matching red hat, vest and slacks. This time, there was a real audience to see the nice performance - there were twenty plus people went I went up. I stood by the bar for a while as there weren't many seats available - some reserved for the birthday parties, some just filled. Packy did not set up the light show or sit in on percussion this night, probably because of his injury. I did not try to take down Ras' setlist this time, but it was similar to last weeks, but they did the beats from Rare Essence's Body Moves before Ras called Birthday girl Nena to the stage, he did pelvic thrusts on her, then pulled her with spread legs to him dancing - it was highly amusing.

When EU set up, there was a buzz when no one was playing, but Sugar Bear decided to go ahead and play through.
First Set
1) Donny Ray-led John Legend's Ordinary People
2) Junie-led Earth, Wind & Fire's Can't Hide Love
3) Junie-led "If you were me, you would know what I mean to say"
The crank started with:
4) Sugar Bear-led Freak A Deak / Funkadelic's Undisco Kidd (tease) - "The Girl is Bad" / Cops' Theme (changed to) "Bad Girls" / "Pop That Coochie" / Ludacris' Number One Spot (tease)
5) Donny Ray-led - 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease) / OutKast's The Way You Move (tease)
6) "Ride with Me - Funk Style"
7) "Show you what love is supposed to be"

Yannie was there like last week. JuJu said hello and Sugar Bear. I said happy birthday to Nena. There were so many TMOTT members I met that it just easier to list them above.

Second Set
1) Sugar Bear-led "Gimme that beat" - to another birthday girl he said, "You may be small, but you have dirty drawers", "Pick up on this" / 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease) / "We ready go y'all get down"
2) Snoop's Drop It Like Its Hot - a lot of improving
3) Sugar Bear-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease) / "Go low and push up"
4) Donny Ray-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down
5) Juvenile's Slow Motion (tease)
6) Stephanie rapped / Amerie's 1 Thing / 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease) / Donnie Ray had a response rap
7) "I Like It Like That" / Devo's Whip It (tease)
8) Sugar Bear-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease) - "Go Donnell, it's your birthday"
9) ?
10) Donny Ray-led - something about Southeast
11) "I know you hear me on the radio"
12) Um Bop Bop
13) Sugar Bear-led "I Want to play, I ain't tired yet"
Sugar Bear said, "Is Donnell in a wheelchair yet?"

Stacey was there.

Familiar Faces
Jacques was the second percussionist, not Charlie like last week
1) Happy Birthday - I think Yannie sat in
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know - nice solos
Kay Kay was there
3) Mike-led John Legend's Ordinary People
The crank started with:
4) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
5) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Superstition
6) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
7) Halima-led Faith Evans' (either Again or Mesmerized)
Donnell shouted "Where you at Kay Kay?"
8) Yannie-led Erykah Badu's Danger - Halima was on backup vocals / Kay Kay rapping
Donnell called them "The three meanest women in DC" (last week it was baddest)
9) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
10) Stinky Dink-led One Track Mind
11) Donnell-led Public Enemy's Welcome to the Terrordome (tease)
12) Donnell-led Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love (tease)
I greeted Little Benny as he walked in - I could tell it was raining as they had buckets catching rain water that was leaking through the roof.
13) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon?
14) Little Benny-led then Mike-led Lisa Stansfield's All Around the World
15) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's Roll Call - Ras Lidj danced onstage with them
16) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot - E rapped
17) E rapped "Bounce to the flow, Uh Oh Uh Uh Oh"
18) Donnell-led "Hold It" / Alternating Trillville's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
Adia walked in
19) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing

I missed the very end, as Bobbie called me downstairs to participate in the group TMOTT picture above. After that I waited outside, but sheltered from the rain to get a ticket from Little Benny for his reunion show on Saturday. The one birthday girl Michelle asked me where I am from, I told her Bethesda and her friend asked why I drove all the way here from there. I said, "Why not?" She said that wasn't a good answer. I gave Benny a ride to his car. He sold me a ticket and told me to bring my camera.

Donnell's Birthday Celebration at Takoma Station

Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012


Jacques, Mike, Doc, Stomp, Halima, Donnell, Godfather
Picture taken by and Copyright Jordan Rich

Donnell celebrated his 41st birthday. Mike said our co-worker Shirley Thompson is celebrating her promotion. I didn't realize that Mike also works at Verizon along with Donnell and DP. Donnell said, "Is she in management now? We don't like managers."

Packy had been in an accident - cut off on his motorcycle. His left arm was in a sling. I told him it could be worse; my friend Paul had one of his testicles internalized in a similar motorcycle accident. Probably because of Packy's injury, they didn't have their light show set up for this evening.

Angie complained that despite being a regular, Jauhar wouldn't let her go out and in to pick up Robin. Tracy ended up picking up Robin later.

Stacey talked with me about using my photos for a newsletter.

Donnell did shout outs to guests in the audience - Big G, Andre, Go-Go Mickey, and DeeDee.

Mike Smith was there, he asked a girl when Charlie played with FF; she didn't know who Charlie was, so I told him Saturdays and Thursdays. Because of his birthday, the three tables on the left side of the stage were reserved for Donnell's guests. There were very few stools behind the railing separating the dance floor from the bar. I ended up standing the whole night.

I asked Tamara about the first song she sang last week, she said it was Jill Scott's: that she calls it the Woo Me song, but its real title is E Flat something. Jay Floyd came in said he was going to steal a seat among the reserved seats, I pointed out to him that since it was for guests of Donnell, it was cool for him to sit there anyway.

I asked Tim (LJ) if he was going to the Little Benny reunion, he said no, Wednesday is his night out; otherwise he's a family man. Tom Goldfogle was there.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Instrumental
2) Alternting Mike-led Bernard Ighner's Everything Must Change / Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine
3) Mike-led John Legend's Ordinary People
4) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
5) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
Jay said Halima has really grown more comfortable with the band; she was tentative when she first joined. Sixx and Sugar Bear were there. Halima talked with me a little and then to her stylist.

Donnell emphasized that "what goes on in Miami stays in Miami." Mike repeated "I am in room 666 (at Myrtle Beach) come if you dare". Donnell said, "no one laughed either time you said that." 6'9 was there, he said hi. Donnell joked about people's nicknames - Sugar Bear, Gregory Elliott, Rah Rah, Christopher, Sixx, James, Stomp, Larry Atwater, Smoke, Sammy Dews. Benjiy - editor of GoGoSwings magazine was there. Grady was there.
Second Set
1) Donnell chanted "Sweet Chelle, My Belle"
RE Angie was there.
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva / bass line from Stevie Wonder's Superstition
3) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
4) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
5) Halima-led Faith Evans' Again
6) Donnell-led Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love (tease)
Little Benny sat in
7) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon?
8) Donnell-led Lisa Stansfield's All Around the World (tease) - the crowd sang along
9) Donnell-led Vinnie D's $55 Motel (tease)
10) Donnell-led Rick James' Mary Jane (tease)
11) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Roll Call - "Oh my God!"
12) Sugar Bear-led medley
13) Go-Go Mickey percussion solo
14) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - Donnell chanted "Wait a Minute" / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (Tupac's Hail Mary is part of this medley)
15) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing - the new way they rehearsed on Tuesday
16) Donnell-led Lap Dance - a very long version, Donnell chanted, "Swing your body"
17) Donnell-led Prince's Take Me With You
Supa Dan came in
18) Donnell-led Hold the Note
19) Donnell-led Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
20) Donnell-led "Got to believe in something, Why not believe in me"
21) Donnell-led DIP
22) Donnell-led Miss Keta Will You Dance for Me - she was there, "Od ba ba ba"

Rah was there. Benny and Dwayne talked with Tom Goldfogle about Benny's single.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location

Familiar Faces
This was Donnell's actual 41st birthday. I asked him if Sunday's show at Fur was really going to be a documentary. He said as far as he knew. Donnell played the live recording that they are going to sell.

They rehearsed Faith Evans' Again (Charlie joked to Halima that she should change the one line to reflect the fact that she was busted with an ounce of weed) and Mesmerized.

Everyone in the band was present, plus Duane Face, Nephew, Donte Floyd, Lorenzo (a keyboard player), Charlie, Derek Jr., Darrell and I believe another son of DP's. Derek Jr. played on the drums, trying to play a pocket. His (I think brother) asked if that was his signature beat.

I told Donte how Lee Majors no longer works at the Cluck U in College Park.

Doc joked about Halima's sun brewed tea from Jacksonville, Florida - she corrected him - Fort Lauderdale. So many people were there, they had us non-band members quickly leave the room so that they could make sure there was enough room for them.

Jauhar came in and told Donnell that Adia sat in with Y2K the night before.

Donnell had them go over Amerie's 1 Thing in a new way - with the horn punch (normally done at the end of the third verse) at the beginning.

Stomp teased Donnell about his mustard yellow pants. When walking out, I asked Stomp why it said Larry not Stomp on his driver's shirt. He said no one at work calls him Larry. I asked him what his mother calls him (a reference to Coming to America) - he said she calls him Atwater.

Unfortunately, since I am writing this a week later, I've forgotten most of the rehearsal.

Saturday at Tradewinds
Tradewinds Night Club, 5859 Allentown Way, Camp Springs, MD 20748

I talked with Halima before the first set. We talked about Miami, and I asked her why she moved here. She said it has a better music scene. She was a wedding singer down there. Stomp's female guest sat next to him as he played. I found a seat at a table- I don't like standing in my formal shoes. Charlie was there already. He and James performed throughout.

Familiar Faces
First Set
The house turned off almost all the lights - very different from last week
Donnell gave a shout out to the "Dearly departed Tito"
Donnell said, "The Wizards' good season is over. We are not speaking to Miami Heat fans."
Donnell announced it was Nesha's (spelling) birthday
1) Mike-led Glenn Lewis' Don't You Forget It - Smoke and Charlie played some nice percussion
Donnell said, "E from the LA Times" was there
They started the smoke machine
2) Halima-led Jill Scott's Golden - nice solos by her
3) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
4) Doc-led Snoop's Drop It Like It's Hot - Donnell introduces this song by saying, "Stomp give me the snare", Doc rapped
Mike Smith from Rare Essence was there.
5) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Body Moves
6) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
7) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda (tease - in a literal sense)

The dance floor pretty much cleared out after they went to break. Slim Goodie was there. I talked with BJ about how I understood when they talked in rehearsal about how they can't see Donnell's signals at the Tradewinds. He said it's so dark; all you can see is a silhouette. He also said FF's lights are too bright. The DJ music suddenly shifted from contemporary music to oldies with The Staple Singers' I'll Take You There. Mike danced when the DJ played some James Brown. I asked him if he would do the splits (like James Brown) he said no.

Angie and Tracy arrived. They had watched the Winky Wright vs. Felix Trinidad fight. Angie was surprised that Trinidad lost. I asked Halima how she liked DC. She said, "I love it!"

Second Set
1) Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't You
2) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
Donnell did a shout out to Elmo
3) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
Donnell said Don & Mike are here
FF's strobe light went on
4) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - "Wait a Minute" chant / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
DJ Kool sat in
5) DJ Kool-led his Music Ain't Loud Enuff - he vocally imitated the horn effects from Let Me Clear My Throat
6) DJ Kool-led "Is DC in the house? If You're Ready and You Know It..."
He finished by saying "I just wanted to clear my throat, now back to Familiar Faces".
7) Alternating Donnell-led Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) / "Wait a minute" chant
8) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing
I went and talked to DJ Kool
9) Mike-led Lap Dance - Mike added some interesting Spanish terms, it ended with a percussion solo, first with Stomp, Smoke and Charlie, then just Stomp, Donnell did his "Swing Your Body Girl chant", while Mike echoed the word "Swing" (I assumed it was Halima because it was so high pitched, but subsequent performances show it was Mike)
Donnell announced DJ Mix was there
They stopped performing, but Donnell said they would do one more song.
10) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
02 Was there - he said hello.

Nita was there, I said, "I haven't seen you in a while". She said, "Yeah, I've been chilling".

I asked Packy Charlie's middle name, he said he didn't know, but let's call him Charles Monroe Allen.

Donnell teased someone about his brother's baby momma. Donnell said, "If you haven't gotten the number yet, it's too late" - then he aimed this at James, who said, "I guess you haven't been watching me."

Outside in the parking lot, Godfather talked with Halima about producing a solo album for her.

Friday at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

I talked with Godfather out in the parking lot before I went in. Godfather set up and played his keyboard before the other band members arrived.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Mike-led Kool & the Gang's Summer Madness
2) Halima-led Alicia Keys' Diary - she did a nice solo
Donnell joked that Halima needed a DC name: "Shaniqua, Keisha, Nee Nee, Aquarius, Aquarium".
3) Mike-led O'Bryan's Lady I Love You
4) James-led Jill Scott's Not Like Crazy
5) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
I joked to Halima that James' voice is as high as yours. She said he sang very well.
6) Mike-led John Legend's Ordinary People

At the break, I talked with Angie and Tracy. Tracy was feeling Doc's shoes that had the same kind of wood as BMWs. Angie wanted to learn how to play pool, but not at Safari. I asked her what she did, she's a purchasing agent. Stomp slept during the break.

Second Set
Donnell went over the announcements for their Bike Week trip and the Miami video shoot. He said of the Bike Week: "We'll be available for parties at the Radisson. Fellas, Halima will be in room 442. But at Bike Week, you may want to find faster paced girls". Mike responded, with a voice like a possessed Linda Blair in the Exorcist: "My room is 666, come if you dare!" Donnell then joked about the Miami trip: "If you can't afford the flight, Godfather is arranging a bus trip. We have chartered a 747 with Michael Muse's colors painted on the tail fin."
Kato was there and CrankinDrumma. I asked and he said he's done with school.
1) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
Kelvin Robinson, assistant manager of Y2K was there and said hello
3) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Superstition
4) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
5) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington and Darrin "X" Frazier arrived. I introduced myself to Darrin X, as I had spoken with him and emailed him, but not met him in person before. Donnell did a shout out to them.
6) Donnell-led "___ Is in the house"
7) Donnell-led Holla at Your Boy
Charlie and RE Angie arrived
8) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
9) Donnell-led Rare Essence's I'm Getting Ready
10) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda

Dollar Bill Mason of Y2K said hello.

Blue Eye, Darrin X, Mike and Donnell cracked stories during the break. I asked Donnell about the story about Mike and Funk he started to tell on Wednesday. Blue Eye said, "Funk beat up Mike on the stage, in front of the stage, next to the stage." At one point, after one of Blue Eye's stories, Donnell mimed shoveling sh*t. Charlie called Packy Arthur - his middle name which he hates. Packy then said to Charlie, "do you know you are sitting next to?" (Me. I guess Packy forgot that I already knew his middle name. Donnell joked about Rare Essence being the "Ickedest Band Alive".

Donnell said, "Let's roll," over the mic a few times and Stomp was still in the lounge. Donnell walked in the lounge and literally grabbed Stomp by the arm and dragged him to the stage.

A regular who said, "You're here every Friday!" gave me money to buy myself a drink, which I did.

Third Set
1) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
A woman sitting on Charlie's lap said Halima was the best female singer GoGo's ever had
2) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - "Wait a Minute" chant / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
3) Donnell-led "Put Your Hands Up"
Ras Lidj and Julian from the Deep Band arrived and said hello
4) Donnell-led Prince's Take Me With You (tease)
5) Donnell-led Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love / Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon? medley
6) Donnell-led Hold the Note
7) Donnell-led "Hey ay, ho oh"
8) Donnell-led DIP
9) Donnell "35, can I get 40, girls want to shake that ass" / Rare Essence's Work the Walls (tease)
10) Donnell-led Vinnie D's $55 Motel
11) Donnell yelled "Wait a minute" - percussion solo
12) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Hey Tamika
13) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Work the Walls
14) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing - a very long performance with extra solos by Halima
Stacey was there
Donnell said, "I like that sh*t".
He thanked the people from TMOTT for coming out, and Rico who was also there Wednesday. He said, "James is on a roll". He said, "Rest in peace Chuck, Footz, Little Footz, Heavy One, Fre, Ms. Mack and Len Bias." He also thanked, "Fatz and Black" and asked them to "stop hiding." He compared RE Angie and "FF" Angie, "the old and the new". Donnell asked Slim Goodie's friend if she sang at the funeral. She said, "No."

I said, "What's up Gilbert Arenas" to Supa Dan, he laughed.

A guy busted on the Os (I wore an Orioles jacket) and my khakis to me in the parking lot.

Thursday at Bud's
Bud's 501 Club, 501 Morse St NE, Washington, DC 20002

As I walked in, a woman behind me yelled, "hey FunkmasterJ" - I met Nena in person for the first time. I sat and ate at the bar with some women from the TMOTT Board. I asked Ras Lidj when he would be going on then went upstairs. Packy was setting up FF's lights at the same time the Deep Band was setting up.

Ras Lidj & Deep Band
Only ten customers were there when Ras Lidj & the Deep Band started. They performed an eighty to ninety minute set. This was my first time seeing his whole band - it is two vocalists (Ras Lidj & Julian), a guitarist, two keyboard players, and a percussionist (congas and later roto-toms and timbales). The soundman went over the mics one by one. The bass was quite booming where I sat. Bud asked me if I was enjoying myself. She asked me if it was the first I was at Bud's I told her, "No, I was here for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday"
1) Son of a One Night Stand
2) Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry - Ras Lidj added a rap
3) ?
4) I believe this was Tour Bus, Packy joined them on cowbell and later other percussion as well
5) ?
Ras is quite a showman; he jumps around a lot and even stands on one leg
6) "She Want Money"
7) ?
Ras Lidj said, "Now for some culture & diversity".
8) "Ganja Weed"
9) "I used to take you for granted"
10-18) To be honest, given that the material is unfamiliar to me and the transitions are so smooth, it is difficult to figure out how many songs there are.
The manager asked for one more song, which they did. It was a very nice performance, which is why it was a shame that there were so few people watching it.

Chocoltchp from the TMOTT board introduced herself to me. During the break between Deep Band and EU, one of the songs the DJ played was Chuck Brown's single Fiesta that he performed at the DC Armory.

EU
The line up was: Sugar Bear on vocals and bass, two male singers (Donny Ray, and lead vocalist Junie), a female singer - Stephanie (wearing a pink outfit with a miniskirt and the word Diva on the back of her top), a guitarist, a keyboard player - Scooter, JuJu on drums and Derek (spelling?) on percussion
Also at this time, a guy set up for GoGo pics
First Set
1) Earth Wind & Fire's Can't Hide Love
2) "If you were me, you would know what I mean to say"
Sugar Bear asked if the Wizards had won yet, the crowd shouted "they lost!"
3) Shuggie Otis' Strawberry Letter 23
4) "I'll take you out tonight" - Junie went out on the dance floor
5) "The secret of you, can't recall"
I noticed Packy played cowbell for them
6) Sugar Bear-led "Do you want some more, freaks on the floor"
Kato said hello
7) Stephanie-led "You're my nephew" rap
8) Sugar Bear-led "Melissa, hold up, wait a minute" / Freak A Deak All Night Long

Sugar Bear announced they were going into break and pointed out Yannie from L!ssen was there. He asked her if she want to sing with them. He said you have ten minutes to decide.

JuJu asked me if I was having a good time - of course.

#02 from the TMOTT board said hello. I told him I'd check them (Submission Band) out next week. He said he reads my blog.

A couple of women next to me debated the merits of Derek vs. Mighty Moe on congas for EU. The crowd grew larger.

Second Set
1) Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
2) Sugar Bear-led Slick Rick's La Di Da Di "Don't you hurt nobody"
3) Sugar Bear-led Freak a Deak All Night Long
4) Sugar Bear-led Funkadelic's Undisco Kidd (tease) - "The girl is bad" / Cops' Theme (changed to) Bad Girls (tease) / "Pop the Coochie"
5) Sugar Bear-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
6) Sugar Bear-led OutKast's The Way You Move (tease)
7) Sugar Bear-led Hues Corporation's Rock the Boat (tease)
8) "Do go pop?"
9) Bobby Valentino's Slow Down
10) Stephanie-led Amerie's 1 Thing - she went on the dance floor, percussion solo at the end
11) "Get your freak on" - nice guitar solo
This performance was also about ninety minutes. This was the most crankin' EU performance I've been to.

All three bands had their own sound men. Donnell and Charlie arrived during EU's performance.

Familiar Faces
DP was not present tonight. At the start of the set - Dwayne Lee and BJ were not there, they were returning from a gig with a singer named Ebony in Philadelphia. There was a guy with a trumpet case on his back - I guess he was supposed to be a replacement trumpeter, but after he talked with Donnell, FF went without a trumpet. They had the lights and smoke machine for their performance. Preston Blue was there and said hello.
1) Mike-led O'Bryan's Lady I Love You
Dwayne Lee arrived and apparently BJ (I didn't actually see BJ until the performance was over)
2) Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine - Donnell touched her hair during the appropriate part of the lyrics
Stacey was there
Ytee fanned the smoke with his Nationals cap
They started the crank with the third song
3) Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't You
Kay Kay went on stage
4) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
Donnell said, "Where you at Adia?" I assume he meant Yannie. Then he yelled "I'm Getting Ready"
Yannie sat in
5) Yannie-led Erykah Badu's Danger / Kay Kay rapped
Donnell said, "These are the three baddest women in DC."
6) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
7) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - Doc rapped / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) / Donnell yelled, "Wait a minute"
8) Donnell-led Tupac's Hail Mary (tease)
9) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
10) Donnell-led Prince's Take Me With You (tease)
Slim Goodie from TMOTT introduced herself to me. I couldn't hear her the first time she told me over the music. But after Ytee chased her, she sat down next to me and I asked her what she said. I'd seen her before at Safari, but didn't know who she was.
11) Donnell-led Hold the Note
12) Donnell-led Miss Shaquita Will You Dance for Me - "Od ba ba ba"
13) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda
Donnell said, "Can we get a socket for the birthday girl?"
14) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
Mike said, "Don't worry about Ytee screaming, he's just excited."
15) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As - then an acapella repeat
Donnell said, "What did you do to her, she's rubbing herself." Now all she needs to do is go down in that drawer. You ladies don't need us anymore do you." One woman shouted she kept it (her vibrator) in the freezer."

Donnell was joking about people having born on dates like beers. Mike went with Shaquita to the bar and bought her a drink. Donnell teased him: "Mike's down four. Oh, he lost by two, missed the last shot. Don't worry Mike; it's a seven game series." Mike responded, "I'll quit before I lose." Donnell then joking called Shaquita "Shaq". Mike said, "I bought her a drink, I want my eight dollars back." Mike then said, "Look he's (me) writing all this down." Donnell said, "Alice Keys has been to Bojangles too many times, she's putting it on."

Wednesday at Takoma
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

I met Linda Wills, who arrived with Halima. She said she brought Doug E. Fresh to Tradewinds on Saturday.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Blueprint - instrumental
Donnell introduced Dwayne Lee. He said, "We call him Malcolm X."
2) Halima-led ?
Donnell invited Tamara up to sing. He said, "We haven't done that enough recently".
3) Tamara-led Jill Scott's He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat) - Halima was on backup vocals
Donnell asked her to sing another song, "That man-hating song". Tim (LJ) came up. Donnell said, "We don't need any managers here."
4) Tamara-led Vivian Green's Emotional Roller Coaster
Little Benny arrived, then Go-Go Mickey shortly afterward
5) Mike-led The Stylistics' People Make the World (Go Round)
Little Benny hung out with a woman (named Amy?) - Mike asked her, "Should I tell them?" She said no, but he said anyway, "She was my girlfriend when I was six years old, back in 1971". He later revealed it was her birthday tonight. The smoke machine came on for
6) Mike-led Javier's How Beautiful You Are
7) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
8) Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine
The crowd gave a very appreciative response. Donnell said, "Any more of this and I'm getting jealous."
9) Halima-led Jill Scott's Golden
Ras Lidj walked in as I walked outside with Dwayne and Doc. I told Dwayne that I had forwarded him the link to MVP's page on the Washington Post website. He said another of his prior bands, 3LG was on there too. He said he was going to perform behind an artist named Ebony in Philadelphia. Ebony had opened for Vivian Green here. He is performing with Pooh and BJ. It will be at 9 PM, so he is worried about getting back in time for tomorrow's performance. He let Donnell know.

Roosevelt Littlejohn was there. He said that Trouble Funk was performing at Club Levels on the 22nd. I told him that Big Tony will be performing with Little Benny on the 21st at the CFE.
Saturday May 21st @ CFE Event Center
7758 Marlboro Pike Forestville, MD. 20747
Lil Benny Performing old school hitz
Also Performing "Big Tony & Dyke" - Trouble Funk "Chuck Brown" ALSO "Suga Bear & JuJu" - EU W/ Spur of the moment's Rhythm section Invite Guests......... GoGo Mickey, Walker Redds,Jungle Boogie,Funky Ned DJ Sounds by MC Chill & DJ Phase
INDOOR & OUTDOOR Party Settings 28& older... Dress 2 Impress Tix 20.00 in advance
CFE-301-568-5708 Beverly- 240-461-4943 Coop-202-438-2760 Pumpkin- 703-898-4074

He said he looked for me at the Armory show to have me come on stage with Trouble Funk, but he couldn't find me. I was already in the crowd. Doc's friend Tanya was there.

Second Set
1) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
3) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
4) Donnell-led Tom Tom Club's Genius of love / Little Benny came up to sit in - Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon (Medley)
5) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's Roll Call (Go-Go Mickey sat in. Ras Lidj was on stage with a Tambourine during this song only)
6) Little Benny-led "Get your Hands up, Wait a Minute, Say What, good to you"
7) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's Take Me Out to the Go-Go
8) Little Benny-led Rare Essence's One on One (Footz version)
9) Little Benny-led rap "Rattlesnakes"
Little Benny and Go-Go Mickey finished sitting in
10) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
11) Alternating Donnell-led Trillvile's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
12) Donnell-led Tupac's Hail Mary (tease)
13) Guest female rapped
14) Mike-led Prince's Take Me With You
15) Donnell-led Hold the Note
16) Donnell-led DIP
17) Donnell rapped
18) Mike-led Prince's Purple Rain - nice guitar solo by Dwayne Lee
At first that was going to be the closing song, Donnell said no overtime, but the crowd demanded one more song.
19) Mike-led Lap Dance - a long version, Donnell chanted "Swing your body" repeatedly

Some of the band was already packing up before Lap Dance. Donnell joked that Stomp would be given power to fire band members who don't keep playing. If you get a call from Stomp that means you're fired. I talked with Little Benny about his upcoming show, he said it was a bunch of his friends, that if they didn't show up, they "Should get the f*ck out!"

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location

Familiar Faces
When I arrived, again everyone was in the parking lot - Donnell, Doc (sitting on his bass case), Jacques, Mike, Duane Face, and Smoke (I think). Donnell played the CD of Saturday's performance - playing the parts where Doug E. Fresh performed. He said that Doug E Fresh meant to sit back and chill. "I prostituted myself to get him to perform. I acted as if he is my baby daddy." Halima walked up with her tea in a jar. Mike said, "That's a concoction." She said it was a miracle whip jar that she put the tea bag with water in the jar and let it sit in the sun. Donnell started to tell a story about how James Funk invited Mike to dance at his house. Mike stopped him, saying "Everyone's heard that story, Funk cracked on everyone except" he named a few names, one of them Mark Lawson, who arrived immediately after Mike said his name. BJ then arrived and then Nephew and Dwayne. Then DP arrived with his sons and we went inside - they woke up Stomp who was sleeping in his car.

They talked about Sunday's performance as we walked in. They were impressed with Publicity's vocal harmony. Doc especially said their transitions were perfect. They were impressed enough that James was there - I've never seen him a rehearsal before.

However, before everyone could set up, Donnell called them into a meeting. I waited around for a bit. Scotty Beats came by to drop off the CD of the live recording. After Dwayne and BJ walked out of the meeting, I left.

Saturday at Tradewinds
Tradewinds Night Club, 5859 Allentown Way, Camp Springs, MD 20748

I talked with Doc in the parking lot. He said hey had played at a private gig earlier, they all came together from it to the Tradewinds.

The stage has a diagonal setting on the dance floor. Pooh played drums for the night. Britney and Jay Floyd were there.

Familiar Faces
First Set
Donnell did a shout out to Doug E. Fresh who was there. Donnell chanted "I'm Getting Ready"
1) Halima-led Jill Scott's Golden
2) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
3) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
4) Donnell-led "Can we do it for the ladies/fellas, Oh my God!"
5) Mike-led Toto's Georgy Porgy
6) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
7) Doc-led Snoop's Drop It Like It's Hot
8) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Body Moves
Donnell talked about going back to "1986 at the Metro Club"
9) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Lock-It (tease)
Doug E. Fresh came out and performed with them
10) Rare Essence's I'm Getting Ready
11) Doug E. Fresh-led D.E.F.
12) Doug E. Fresh-led "Giving all you got, dancing, I'm over romancing, closer to the top"
13) Doug E. Fresh-led Slick Rick's La Di Da Di
14) Doug E. Fresh-led Rare Essence's Must Be Like That
Donnell referred to the Trinidad Crew, the Wickedest Band Alive. They stayed up until 4 AM writing that. Linda Wills introduced him to Doug E. Fresh in 1983, and now Halima.

Tracy and Angie were there.

Second Set
Donnell said he wanted "Doug E. Fresh's little sister Halima to sing something."
1) Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine
2) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
3) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
4) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot - percussion solo
5) Mike-led Prince's Take Me With You
6) Donnell-led Hold the Note
7) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
Donnell said. "Come to see Rah Da da?"
11) Halima-led Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby (tease)
12) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing
13) Donnell-led "Tired yet, Ready to quit?"
14) Mike-led Rare Essence's Lock It
15) Mike-led Lap Dance
16) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
I finally noticed Charlie playing percussion
17) Maceo & the Macks' Soul Power '74 (tease) - instrumental (sampled in Jennifer Lopez's Get Right)
18) Donnell-acapella Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
I asked Doc who played congas with them on Friday, he said Mighty Moe of EU. I asked Charlie if he played percussion both sets or just the second, since I could not see the percussion section from where I stood until I moved late in the second half. He said both, but he was late for the first set.

As I walked out, a man and woman were ahead of me. The man said, "Nice seeing you, you should go out more often." She replied, "I am a married. How often should a married woman go out?" He replied, "As much as she wants!" Tracy honked as I walked to my car; she hadn't seen me earlier tonight.

Mambo Sauce's first gig!
Club Daedalus, 1010 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005


When I arrived, the cover taker said this was a private party. I said "Mambo Sauce", she said yes, and let me in even though I wasn't on the guest list. The club was downstairs from the entrance. The stage was below the regular bar level - like an orchestra pit. I went down and asked when they would be performing; a guy named Sean said the first set would be at 1 AM. Since it was only a little after 11 PM, I went up to sit down and wait. Smoke was sitting on a couch and said hello. He said if he had known they would have been starting so late, he would have played the first set at Safari with Familiar Faces. I asked him how long he had been rehearsing with them (Mambo Sauce), he said he started rehearsing with them before he joined Familiar Faces. I asked how often they would be performing, he said not often, they would have to schedule around his playing with FF and the other people's other bands as well.

I went over and introduced myself to Red - his nickname was obviously due to his red hair. He said they had originally planned to do one set opening for other bands, but this two set opportunity popped up. He said they wouldn't be performing weekly, or if so at different clubs partly because of Smoke's commitment to FF and the keyboard player Lil' Chris Wright's commitment to Suttle Thoughts. The other reason is that if they perform on a weekly basis, they would have to do covers. He said they would be doing three covers tonight, but they are Black Boo's songs. Black Boo likes them so much with Mambo Sauce; he wants to re-record them with them. Red kidded that he wanted to pull rank on Smoke to play with Mambo Sauce over Familiar Faces since "He was in my band first." He said he wasn't concerned when I said that the club's website said tonight was "Hip Hop Night". He said he hadn't heavily promoted it since this is their first show. He didn't like how the performance area was below the audience level. He told me they were late with their sound check, they wanted to do it at 9:30 PM, but the sound men arrived at 8 PM, and the club wasn't open until 9 PM.

They did their sound check for about fifteen minutes starting at 11:30 PM - they started with Stevie Wonder's Superstition. The sound was nice; you could hear/feel the bass very well. After the sound check, Red said they were leaving but will be back for the first set. The whole band left the club.

There was a DJ playing pre-recorded Hip Hop. At 1 AM, interestingly they played two Rare Essence songs; then the band walked in.

There was a guy affiliated with the band taking digital photos. Even though this is not a regular GoGo venue, there were GoGo pics being taken. A few people wore the T-shirts that RedC Records sells.


All of the band members' bios are listed here. Alfred "Black Boo" Duncan - vocals, Thi Lai Simpson - vocals, Samuel "Smoke" Dews - congas & timbales, Khari Pratt - bass, Barrington "Barry" Talbert - drums, Andrew "Drew" White - guitar, and Christian "Lil Chris" Wright - keyboards.

First Set
1) Instrumental
2) Sweet Baby - Black Boo introduced this as being written for all the Single Moms out there
3) Things Will Get Better - Black Boo introduced this as being about struggles
4) A love song, a slow ballad intro, then refrain "They say two wrongs don't make a right"
5) Refrain - "I'm not a pimp, I'm not a player"
I noticed Boo's signal to end the song for the first time - a closed fist
6) Fairweather, the song they have streaming on the website
Black Boo showed another signal - his hand held in a C - this told the band members to close the set

They had obviously spent a lot of time rehearsing. I assume the setlist (including order) was pre-determined. They have a really nice sound, but I wish they had a cowbell. Smoke asked me how they sounded, I said, "Good, but I wish you had a cowbell player, he said, "Yeah."

The stage lights were turned off for the second set.

Second Set
1) Instrumental
Black Boo did band intros, the he said stop, time to bring to the stage - Antoine (a singer)
2) Refrain "You're the best thing, I just have to get to know you" (Black lights came on in the stage area during the song)
3) Refrain "Do that sh*t"
Black Boo thanked Antoine (who had walked off the stage after the song), and introduced by title (the only song he did this for) -
4) Cool Points, it had a nice Smoke Roto-tom solo
I noticed Black Boo looked down at this point and later at a sheet that was either a lyric sheet or a setlist. It didn't affect the music; it was just something I noticed him doing.
5) Heavy guitar and Drew did the Jimi Hendrix maneuver of playing with his teeth, this song was really crankin' - It had the refrain "No I'm not" (it was hard to tell because of the loudness of the instruments and the mic being held close to the singers mouths)
A girl standing to my left yelled, "We love you", Black Boo responded, "We love you too."
6) Another crankin' song with the refrain "Crank" - a nice percussion (drums & congas) solo at the end
After the set was over, a girl shouted, "Thanks for coming motherf*ckers!

Note: This would be the only gig with this line-up. Khari was replaced by Candra "Candy" Newkirk for the next 2 gigs and Smoke left the band and was permanently replaced by Jermaine "Lil Pep" Cole.

Here's another review from Solace from the TMOTT Board:

?When I saw the guitar player start playing guitar with his mouth, I knew I came to see the right band??

?Most people know that I divorced go-go back in ?98... After hearing Mambo Sauce, I?m thinking about reconciling?

-Solace.

What can I say? I think back to that night when I called my wife on the phone as I was driving home from the Mambo Sauce show to find an answer to that question. All I kept telling her was ?These kats ROCK!!!? It felt like a mantra. I just kept saying it over and over again as if each time made it more valid than the last.

These are some of the most humble performers I?ve ever come across, and I?ve played with many to include famous gospel singers. This band has what I call ?quiet confidence? and I DIG IT!!! Even with seasoned vets like Smoke and Khari, there is NOT even a hint of arrogance or overconfidence in this group. The best part about it is that it shows in their playing.

They started off the night with a nice jazzy intro as the singers made their entrance on stage. I?ll be honest and say, the musical depth on their intro impressed me more than most full songs I?ve heard from other bands/musicians as of late. Mambo came out of the blocks a tad slow in the beginning, but once they got warm, they lit the place on fire.

The entire first set to my knowledge was composed of original songs written by the band. All the songs varied from good to ?fire?. NOTHING that I heard during the show could be labeled as whack by my standards. Smoke is a serious asset to this band with his ability to push conga beats over non-standard go-go songs. Smoke has an uncanny ability to conform what he is playing to any song. During one point of the show, he caught me imitating him as I was mimicking his beat on the speaker I was standing next to. He laughed at me as he continued playing effortlessly. That?s not to leave out the rest of the music section. Khari, Barry(drummer), Drew(guitar), and Chris(keys) HOLD IT DOWN.

On the front line, you have Thi Lai and Black Boo. These two bring something to the band that is very rare nowadays. Both sing well and Boo can actually rap. Most of you that know me know I am very unforgiving with emcees, but Boo can actually hold it down and fits very well with this band?s sound.

Without giving away all their songs, I?ll say that the second set is what sold me on Mambo Sauce. They hit everything from neo-soul to hard rock. When the guitar player started playing the guitar with his mouth, I knew I came to see the right band. There were two songs in particular during the second set which made me a believer in Mambo Sauce. One was a song that transitioned from a hard socket beat into a roto-tom/timbale breakdown, and the other was the rock & roll song that they hit.

This band is versatile and plays/mixes several styles of music together very well. They definitely get my vote and my stamp of approval. I told Smoke and Black Boo after the show that watching them made me miss playing/rapping.

Some things I think the band should sustain are their chemistry, their sound, their humility, versatility and their hunger for good music. If I had to give some advice on things to improve, it would be to practice the transitions between songs, and to develop a strong stage presence on the front line. The back line is EXTREMELY fun to watch. The frontline, while also EXTREMELY talented, just needs to work on their techniques to better connect with their audience. They have it, they just need more time playing together to let it truly come out.

Bottom Line: My hat is off to you fellas/lady and to Malachai for pushing the vision of the label and the band. This is a band that came out for their first show already showing more power and presence than bands that have been doing it for years. Something I truly respect about this band is that 98% of the songs that they played were original tunes. Not only that, but the entire club was partying from start to finish even though this was their first time hearing any of these songs. The next time I put out information about this band playing somewhere, do yourself a favor and do NOT miss the show. You will not be disappointed.

Overall Grade: A-

_________________ Maaaaan for real.. They was hookin like it was no tomorrow. Knockin on dudes car windows and moving like they was some old special forces hooker team joe

-Solace

Stomp's Birthday at Takoma
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

I talked with Doc - he said he heard they lost a lot of money at the DC Armory show, he said that wasn't the proper venue, they should have gone to the 9:30 Club. DP had his flugelhorn. GoGo Mickey was there - I introduced myself, told him about my project, have seen him perform with them and also went to the DC Armory show - he gave a thumbs down, said they (the promoters) lost a lot of money.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Grover Washington Jr.'s Lock It in the Pocket
Donnell said it was Stomp's birthday, the whole right side of the dining area was people for his birthday, he joked that he's 17 (actually 26)
Stomp's mother screamed out, Donnell repeated: "That's my baby!"
2) Mike-led Bernard Ighner's Everything Must Change / Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine
3) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
Donnell introduced Tom Ellis, author of a book of poetry, Maverick Room, including poetry on GoGo. Mike added that he is a Dunbar graduate.
4) Mike-led John Legend's Ordinary People
5) Mike-led Lap Dance - Go-Go Mickey played congas for most of the song
Adia came up and sang as a special request for Stomp:
6) Adia-led Jill Scott's Not Like Crazy

RE Angie, Michon, Ray, Robin, Tracy and Angie were there. I talked with Tom Sayers Ellis about his book, we will talk more later.

Second Set
Donnell said that Adia is also celebrating her birthday, Peaches, Tyree, and Mike's is Friday
1) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
3) Donnell-led "Hay ay, Ho oh"
6'9 was there, he said hello
4) Halima-led Amerie's 1 Thing
5) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
6) Adia-led Erykah Badu's Danger
7) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
8) Mike-led Rare Essence's Take Me Out to the Go-Go
9) Mike-led Rare Essence's Roll Call
10) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot
11) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
12) Donnell-led DIP
13) Mike-led Michael Jackson's I Can't Help It
14) Donnell-led Prince's Purple Rain - mostly instrumental
15) Donnell & Stomp instrumental Maceo & the Macks' Soul Power '74 (tease) - instrumental (sampled in Jennifer Lopez' Get Right)

Godfather said to me, "That's the man (pointing) do you know who that is?" Since his white cap (with red shirt) was blocking my view of his face, I said no. Godfather said Rah Rah. He took me over, talked about my project and introduced me to him.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location

Familiar Faces
There was no actual rehearsal tonight. Donnell was at Night Flight Studio working on the editing of the live recording from last week. I talked with Godfather, Stomp, Charlie, Jacques, and BJ in the rehearsal parking lot while we waited for DP to unlock the door. Jacques was playing a Whop-N-Em recording. When DP arrived, everyone went in. Everyone signed agreements regarding the live recording, received their pay and left. Mike Muse walked in as I left.