Subject
Funk (Music)--United States
Orlando (Fla.)
Music--United States
Musicians--Southern States
Concerts--United States
Rock (Music)--United States
Blues (Music)--Florida
Jazz--United States
Rhythm and blues music--United States
R&B (Music)
Description
funkUs performing live at the 7th Annual Spring Jambando at The Plaza Theater, located at 425 North Bumby Avenue in Orlando, Florida, on April 28, 2012. The first photograph features Brian Burgess on bass guitar, and the second photograph features Burgess on bass guitar with Dave Mann on electric guitar.
Formed in Orlando in 1998, funkUs earned a reputation as a band with a unique blend of eclectic musical genres, following in the footsteps of jam bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, and Phish, by combining elements of rock, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and funk. The band’s live performances incorporate an improvisational structure with groove-heavy rhythms. Their albums include flavor (2001); strobe light (2002); free (2005), which features Tom Constanten, a former keyboard player for the Grateful Dead; got problems (2009); funkUs meets the Curious Circus (2009); and coconut monkey (2012). Regularly performing throughout Florida, the band has appeared at premier music festivals, including the Purple Hatter's Ball in 2013, Bear Creek Music Festival in 2009 and 2011, Orange Blossom Jamboree in 2010 and 2011, Jambando in the Park in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and many others. They have shared stages with notable bands such as Galactic, Soulive, Dumpstaphunk, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Victor Wooten, Steve Kimock Band, Zach Deputy, and Consider the Source. The lineup is ever-changing, based around its core members: Adam Freeman on drums and percussion, Alex Ceserani on bass and vocals, Bill Bairley on keyboard and vocals, and Dave Mann on guitar and vocals.
A leading figure in the Orlando music scene, the band is also responsible for organizing Jambando, a musical concert series designed to showcase and stimulate Orlando's burgeoning jam band scene. Beginning in 2003 as an idea for the Orlando Fringe Festival, the concept was further developed through an ongoing concert series at Hard Rock Live, and has since made its current homes at The Plaza Theatre in Downtown Orlando's Milk District and The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak. Each concert is created through a collective of musicians and volunteers in a united and conscious effort to establish a musical brand for multi-genre Central Florida music.