Foot Patrol

Bamako Airlines-“If you close your eyes, you’d never know!” exclaimed members of Kenyan band Sauti Sol, commenting on the contrast between the authentic sounds of the Afrocentric band and their deceiving appearance. Bamako Airlines is composed of eight veteran musicians with backgrounds in a variety of genres, who are all drawn to the polyrhythmic, electric nature of Afropop.Meera Chandy is a trained vocalist in Indian classical music, and grasps the trills and pentatonic scales of Afropop with ease. She was initially introduced to the genre over a decade ago, where she, along with trumpeter and arranger Brian Carr, joined an Afropop ensemble at The University of Texas at Austin. Guitarist Chris Vestre, of Torch fame, also leads his own critically lauded jazz ensemble, and is a founding member of the White Horse Orchestra. Bill Anderson, an Austin Music Hall of Fame guitarist, brings his Blues/Rock background to the stage, while also plugging in with Churchwood. Doug Marcis is an accomplished drummer, who played with Austin’s Ivory Ghost, as well as The Hello Lollies. Latin influences also permeate Bamako Airlines through Greg Goodman, veteran bassist of Sexto Sol and Kiko Villamizar. Hailing from Conakry, Guinea, master percussionist Aboubacar Sylla attacks the polyrhythms of Afropop with a constant grin. Together, the unique group strive to bring the authentic sounds of music from various regions of Africa to Central Texas.http://bamakoairlines.comFoot Patrol-Foot Patrol smellebrates the wonders of the foot. Yes, we're talking dogs, gunboats, call them what you will; those sometimes smelly appendages are the subject of Foot Patrol's amorous attentions. TJ Wade, the band’s blind singer and keyboard virtuoso happens to have a strong attraction to feet and if you are inclined to find that odd, consider this:"In August 2006, AOL released a database of the search terms submitted by their subscribers. In ranking only those phrases that included the word 'fetish' it was found that the most common search was for feet." -WikipediaBut Foot Patrol goes far beyond just feet as a subject matter. It’s also all about making you move to highly original and robust grooves that combine 1980’s Minneapolis funk with Hip-Hop, James Brown, New Wave, Funkadelic, video game music and many more influences in an absurdist postmodern smellabration.Producer and bassist Hung Nguyen began his musical collaborations with TJ while the latter was a student at the Texas School for the Blind. After graduation, TJ went on to work with such artists as Dwayne Wiggins, Keyshia Cole, Alicia Keys and Krucial Keys. Unfortunately, the experience left TJ largely dissatisfied with the mainstream music industry and he eventually resumed his collaborations with Mr. Nguyen.In 2006 they recorded the first Foot Patrol album Toetry in Motion and performed live as a duo. The next year the band was expanded to include guitarist Austin Schell, drummer Jeff Hoskins, and a dance duo led by dancer/choreographer Mari Akita. By the end of 2007 a three piece horn section was added and the Foot Patrol experience was complete.During this time Foot Patrol quickly became a must see act in the Austin music scene. Their live shows feature dramatic lighting, police/courtroom costumes and skits, irresistible grooves and outrageous choreography from the androgynous dancing duo, Officer Johnson and the quixotic Candy Corns. The band’s combination of showmanship, humor and accomplished musical skills help to transcend the gimmicky trappings of other themed ensembles. In their short existence they have self-released three full length albums and two EPs: 'Toetry in Motion,' 'Smellabration,' 'Chrissy,' 'Foot Worship Queens' and 'No Small Feat.'Their newest effort entitled 'Pussyfooting' will be released on May 3rd, 2011 and includes a dozen or so fresh tracks that further enhance the band’s musical vision and funk beyond the fetish. Recording and editing (at the home studio of Jeff Hoskins) was done digitally but the final mix was completed on tape using analog outboard gear. Production on the album was led by Nguyen and mixed by Grammy Award winning Adrian Quesada (Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, Ocote Soul Sounds). Three of the songs were salvaged from an abandoned funk opera entitled Toah’s Ark with the rest written over a two year period of pure, old fashioned sole.https://www.facebook.com/footpatrol/Catastica-https://www.facebook.com/catasticadotcom/