I’ve been looking forward to sharing this one. Cool Vibe is an instrumental horn section feature, composed by UpTones' trumpet player Scott Jensen. This was a favorite in our live set at the time, and here it is as recorded live, at the Rheem Theater in Moraga, California in November of 1986.
Like many of the tunes in this live set, Cool Vibe never saw a public release in any format, back in the day. This was not long before the group disbanded, only to reunite in 1989 for our Gilman Street blowout, and again in 2002, in our long strange ska trip.
Did I say “ska?” Yes, I did, because that’s what we were known for! But indeed, as with many of our songs, this piece betrays our ska influence only slightly. If I had to choose a primary genre for Cool Vibe, I’m not sure what it would be. It’s a kind of jazz-funk East Bay-meets-New Orleans rave-up shuffle! In any case it was a blast to play live and it kept the dance floor grooving.
Available on Bandcamp today, and then on select streaming services one week from today, on Berkeley Cat Records.
One more single release from this concert a’comin’ soon, and then we’re gonna release the whole show. For this fine Caturday we invite you to enjoy - the mighty horn section of Scott “Ska-T” Jensen, Adam Beach and Dave Ellis leading the UpTones, with John Mader, Ben Eastwood, Charles Stella, Paul Jackson and yours truly backing them up.
Instrumentally Up,
Eric Roy Dinwiddie