Live in Burlington, VT
December 6, 2014 • Higher Ground

By Mitchell Parrish

“Dude! They sound like the prodigy love-child of George Clinton and David Byrne!” Unfortunately, that was not my quote. But my buddy Ted was spot on. When I walked into Higher Ground on Saturday night, I was ready for some funk. But I wasn’t ready for a nearly two-hour set of non-stop grooves by a band that is seriously taking funk to the next level. Look, I’ve seen countless jam-funk acts, from Lettuce to Soulive to Galactic, and their shows are always great. But there’s something about this new group Turkuaz that had me roaring with energy all night. I read on their biography that they are “part freight train, part tyrannosaurus rex” and they aren’t kidding around. First of all, they never stopped playing. There was one pause after the fourth or fifth song that lasted all of about 15 seconds. But the entire night was pedal to the metal, don’t stop, won’t stop, can’t stop funk. Each song seamlessly transitioned into the next, the sign of a very tight, very talented group.

I was also impressed with the musical variety of the group. The front man Dave Brandwein holds down the lead vocals and plays a powerful rhythm guitar. Next to him stand two beautiful female vocalists, Sammi Garett and Shira Elias who dance in sync and accompany the front man throughout the show. The rhythm section is about as tight as any group I’ve heard– the bassist really seems to be the unsung hero of this power funk group, leading most of the members through the key changes and stops. The horn section consists of a trumpet, a baritone sax and a tenor sax. The trumpet player also switches to keyboards for certain songs, which expands the sonic reach of the groups’ grooves. The keys also sync up beautifully with the driving bass sound, much like something out of the Talking Heads’ playbook.

After the show, I talked with a few friends of mine who had seen Turkuaz before. Turns out, these guys have been playing Burlington for years (which makes sense as Burlington is a funk-loving town). While living in Brooklyn, these guys played numerous shows at Nectar’s where they learned to hone their distinctive funk sound playing with other up-and-coming funk acts. Over the past year, these guys have exploded on the jam-funk scene and when they returned to Burlington this past Saturday, the town greeted them with a sold out show. Turkuaz is a tour de force. Go see them as soon as you can !

Upcoming Dates

• DEC 12

  FRI
  Port City Music Hall

  Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
  Portland, ME
• DEC 13

  SAT
  The Ballroom at The Outer Space

  Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
  Hamden, CT
• DEC 18

  THU
  Rex Theatre

  Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
  Pittsburgh, PA
• DEC 19

  FRI
  The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company

  Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
  Harrisburg, PA
• DEC 20

  SAT
  Gypsy Sally’s

  Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
  Washington, DC
• DEC 31

  WED
  Rock N Roll Resort & Turkuaz Present: The Ball Drop!

  Consider the Source

  Spiritual Rez

  The Primate fiasco

  Danny Pease & The Regulators

  Mister F

  Tauk
  Kerhonkson, NY