Born as a studio spinoff from the sprawling, funk-laden world of Snarky Pet, Ghost-Observe has was the band with 9 lives.
Whereas nonetheless constructed on the preternatural rhythm part tandem of drummer Robert “Sput” Searight and percussionist Nate Werth, the group arrives in Oakland for 2 exhibits at Yoshi’s Nov. 25-26 that includes a revamped eight-piece lineup.
That includes the smoldering soul pipes of Mackenzie Inexperienced, Ghost-Observe brings a brand new vocals-up-front sound and a current album, “Mustard n’Onions,” that’s no much less ferociously grooving than the venture’s two earlier releases. However listening to every of the three data one might simply suppose there are a number of bands known as Ghost-Observe on the live performance circuit.
“The simplest explanation is the evolution has been shocking in some ways,” Werth stated. “When you listen to the albums, they’re all very different. You have to remember that this started as a concept album for drums and percussion, to capture this unique brotherhood that Sput and I have.”
Searight was one thing of a studio legend by the point he joined Snarky Pet in 2006. He’d gained a Grammy for the 1997 album “God’s Property,” incomes the award within the “best gospel choir or chorus album” class with a Dallas ensemble based by his mom, Linda Ray Corridor-Searight. Whereas the album was co-produced by city gospel nice Kirk Franklin, “I never considered what I was doing in gospel,” Searight stated.
“Our music wasn’t accepted in the Black church. The pastors and elders were not having it, but youth organizations loved us and embraced us. There was no outlet to see us unless they came to secular venues.”
After a number of years of touring with God’s Property, Searight determined to attempt his luck in Los Angeles, the place “Terrace Martin was my liaison,” he stated, referring to the multi-instrumentalist and producer who toured with God’s Property earlier than working carefully with rap famous person Kendrick Lamar and saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
“I was a mentor to him, and as a return favor Terrace took care of me when I moved to L.A. My first job was with Snoop Dogg,” stated Searight, who went on to work as a drummer and producer with Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar and Timbaland.
He joined Snarky Pet as a keyboardist, however his lure set prowess quickly made it clear that Searight belonged behind a drum equipment. He and Werth spent greater than a decade touring and recording with the collective because it gained Grammys and have become a musical establishment with its personal label, GroundUP Music, and the GroundUP Music Competition in Miami.
By 2014, Searight and Werth’s rhythm part act had taken on a lifetime of its personal, as their extraordinary bandstand connection — “like fraternal twins,” Searight stated — took root. “What started happening was, instead of me taking drum solos by myself, they became percussion duos,” Searight stated. “We were playing the same cadences and doing the same things. Fans would go crazy over it.”
Spending weeks within the studio laying down percussion tracks they created 2015’s “Fortified,” an expansive jazz-meets-hip-hop soundscape that includes a handful of Snarky company. The album’s success led them to take the music on the highway, however fairly than going bankrupt transporting tons of percussion gear they teamed up with Werth’s older brother, drummer Nick Werth, who turned his midi mallet percussion rig right into a horn part, string quartet and percussionist battery through sampling.
With studio time booked for a second album, Ghost-Observe needed to scrap the working guide and develop a complete set of latest materials in two weeks when Nick Werth departed to pursue his personal venture. The end result was 2018’s “Swagism,” which like “Fortified” topped the iTunes jazz chart.
Joined within the studio by associates like guitarist Raja Kassis, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, and guitarist Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Ghost-Observe turned the periods right into a raucous occasion. The fabric they developed supplied a rubric for a brand new sound.
They toured till the pandemic shut down the music scene, and by the point they reassembled a band to get again on the highway within the spring of 2021, “We sounded like a cover band of ourselves,” Searight stated. Searching for a path again to their roots, Werth and Searight unleashed the vocal capabilities of their bandmates on a program of covers “or as we call them ‘blankets,’” Searight stated.
Songs like Graham Central Station’s “Hair,” Al Inexperienced’s “Take Me to the River,” Common White Band’s “I’m the One,” the Hole Band’s “Steppin’ (Out),” James Brown’s “The Payback” and a few Prince instrumentals nonetheless typically determine within the combine, however with “Mustard n’Onions” Ghost-Observe is specializing in mixing the funky previous substances into delectable new dishes.
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
GHOST-NOTE
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 25-26
The place: Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland
Tickets: $36-$69; yoshis.com
