Brett Forman (bandleader, guitar) /
John Wriggle (musical director, trombone) /
Fred Fiedler (trumpet) /
Charles Lee (alto sax, tenor sax, flute) /
Pete Santilli (organ, electric piano, clavinet) /
Rich Chapple (bass) /
Seth Goldberg (drums) /
Michael Lengyel (bongos, congas, percussion) /
Andrew Rosenblum (literary historian)
Influences
James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Shirley Scott, Reuben Wilson, Lou Donaldson, Lee Morgan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Kahn, Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Shuggie Otis, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock, Sir Roland Hanna, Earth Wind and Fire, Les McCann, Rev. Al Green, Rev. James Cleveland, The Clark Sisters, The Hawkins Family, Shirley Caesar, Sergio Mendes, Prince, Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, George Benson, Idris Muhammad, Bobby Timmons, Lonnie Liston Smith, The Muppet Show, Chuck D, Dr. John, Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Barry White, The Blues Brothers, Bob Dylan, Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, Poncho Sanchez
Sounds Like
Bue Note Rare Groove, Old School R&B, Old School Funk, Parliament/Funkadelic, Soul Jazz, Jazz Funk, you know, the good stuff. The way barbecue smells.
The Ex Caminos are a nine-piece band that blends soul jazz and jazz funk from the 1960s and 1970s with soul music and R&B from the same period. The band focuses on original compositions while covering such artists as Lou Donaldson, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Smith, The Isley Brothers, Lonnie Smith, Bill Withers, Jack McDuff, Stevie Wonder, and many others. The Ex Caminos have been a New York City institution for 15 years.
The Ex Caminos have performed at virtually all of New York’s clubs over the years, including more than 50 shows at the The Knitting Factory. The band recently performed at Mercury Lounge, and it performs once a month at Groove, a Greenwich Village nightclub. The Ex Caminos have performed at such legendary NY Clubs as Tramps, Wetlands, The Greatest Bar on Earth, and many others. The band has played at several CMJ Music Marathons, Vassar College, Skidmore College, Columbia University, Wesleyan, and many other colleges and college music festivals, where the band opened for such artists as Sonic Youth, Busta Rhymes, Lisa Loeb, and Ani DiFranco. In clubs, The Ex Caminos have opened for many other well-known artists, including Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Steve Bernstein’s Sex Mob, Galactic, The Larry Goldings Quartet, Ulu, Topaz, and Soulive.
For more information, photos, or recordings, go to www.excaminos.com, www.myspace.com/excaminos, or contact Brett Forman at 917-359-9076 or at brettforman@hotmail.com.
The Ex Caminos are: Brett Forman (bandleader, guitar), John Wriggle (musical director, trombone), Rich Chapple (bass), Fred Fiedler (trumpet), Charles Lee (saxophones, flute), Seth Goldberg (drums), Pete Santilli (keyboards) and Dennis McCumber (guitar). The band features guest vocalists and
percussionists frequently.
“Street-smart soul-funk.”
—Bass Player
“Sax solos that go somewhere, funk that's actually funky.”
—Village Voice
“The Ex Caminos’ disc is better than anything heard on the last fifty albums
this reviewer has
covered. The future of jazz funk is in good hands.”
—Dave McElfresh, Cadence
“Catchy, complex, and utterly unique.”
—Shout Magazine
“I think this band is a blast. It's truly original and it has an absence of
boundaries.”
—Orrin Keepnews
