MEGATRON: I Believe In A Thing Called Soul. Volume 1
This "Heavy Soul" Trio of B-3 Organ, Trumpet and Drums, create an explosion of funky riffs, massive basslines, and relentless grooves.
Influences
Herbie Hancock __ Stevie Wonder __ Sly Stone __ Lou Donaldson __ Grant Green __ Roy Ayers __ Freddie Hubbard __ Soulive __ MMW __ Fela Kuti __ Jimi Hendrix __ Ohio Players__ Wayne Shorter__ Jackson Five__ Jimmy Smith __ Miles Davis __ George Clinton __ The Meters __ Eddie Harris __ Cannonball Adderley __ Don Cherry _ Isaac Hayes __ Curtis Mayfield__ Donnie Hathaway__ Earth Wind & Fire __ James Brown __ Creed Taylor __ Quincy Jones __ Aretha Franklin__ Dionne Warwick __The O'Jays__ Rahsaan Roland Kirk __ Fred Westley__ Lee Dorsey __ Greyboy __ Billy Cobham__ Gary Bartz __ Gene Harris __ Booker T & The MG's __ Marvin Gaye __ Chaka Khan __ War __ Thelonious Monk __ John Coltrane __ Ray Charles __ Lonnie Liston Smith __ Headhunters __ Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra __ Ramsey Lewis __ Sugarman Three __ Breakestra __ Art Blakey
Sounds Like
Heavy-Soul Funk Explosion
NEW PRESS STUFF
WE'VE BEEN BLOGGED!
go check out THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE June 2008 click here!
Feature in the Take Five from the Bellingham Herald click here!
CD Review by Roger Mills in Entertainment News Northwest click here!
Check This Out!... Man I had a great night out on the town last weekend. My boyfriend
wanted to go see this band called MEGATRON over at the Rogue Hero. It sounded
like heavy metal so I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it turns
out it's this cool funky jazz. The sound really drew me in, I was
hooked right away. So I'm getting into it, losing myself in the music. The
keyboard player is putting down this bass line that has my chair
rhythmically vibrating. A good thing! So I'm feeling pretty groovy and the
trumpet is hitting notes that touch me in certain places, hitting me down
deep and making me high, too. I'm pretty blissed at this point and I
open my eyes and look at the stage and the trumpet player is sitting down
with his eyes closed and he is keeping time with his hips. Wow. For a
brief moment I can see his bare skin in my mind and I picture a
different situation in which I may see a man making such sweet pelvic thrusts.
Damn! This is precisely why people used to burn rock and roll records.
Back at his apartment my boyfriend had quite a ride that night. Thank
you. -anonymous email received on 5/21/06
MEGATRON with The Budos Band 6/28 @ The Commodore Ballroom click here!
MEGATRON opening for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings 12/10 @ The Nightlight click here!
MEGATRON'S summer jam 7/28 @ The Rogue Hero click here!
MEGATRON'S CD Release Party II 5/19 @ Nectar Lounge click here!
MEGATRON'S CD Release Party I 5/13 @ The Nightlight click here!
Live Show Review taken from What'sUp! Magazine (November 2005)
Of all the musical experiments that tumble down the broken staircase of the Bellingham music scene, Megatron is by far one of the most enjoyable, entertaining, and oddly accessible. Led by veteran trumpeter Paul Chandler and flanked by warhorse Julian MacDonough on drums, and newcomer Delvon Dumas on Hammond B-3 Organ, this little trio produces the sound equivalent of a bar fight between Duke Ellingtons Big Band, Twisted Sister, and Parliament Funkadelic.
Tucked back into a corner of the Nightlight Lounge on a Monday night, the trio effortlessly spanned across genres of music, focusing mainly on revamped groovy jazz tunes from the 60s and 70slike Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon"- mashed up with the melody from the Eddie Harris classic "Freedom Jazz Dance". In addition to more funk tunes from Freddie Hubbard and Nigerian Afrobeat from Fela Kuti, the trio slipped easily into the theme from Sesame Street, and even some original tunes by Paul and Delvon.
More than the vintage and quality of the music Megatron produces is the feeling of ease, comfort, and intensity each musician expresses with one another. Julian, a human octopus when he gets behind the drums, triggers the right brain of Delvon which tells his left hand to lay a thick B-3 bass line, triggering his right hand to comp some tasty chords on his old beat-up Clavinova, all the while, Paul squeezes from his horn a fat juicy long sustained note to rival that of any rock gods guitar solo.
People talk and people dance, but there are brief magical moments where everything stops and everyone holds their breath and watches and listens and waits for the releasethe musical punch line. When it arrives everybody knows it, and somewhere deep down inside we all feel lucky to be there and witness it, to be a part of it.
