The Joe Marcinek Band Set to Funk You Up at Wanee

joe joe

Who the heck is Joe Marcinek, and why is he playing at the Dunedin Brewery?

That’s what I wrote last October, when a show was announced featuring Joe Marcinek, man of mystery. To me only, apparently. As I discovered:

Turns out, Joe Marcinek is a magnet. He attracts incredible musicians from across the country to play with him. His website notes: “JMB is an ever-evolving mixture of original compositions and incredible musicians. Each show has a slightly different lineup and interpretation.”

Possibly the understatement of the century. Consider the following list, just a sample of musicians who have proudly called themselves members of the Joe Marcinek Band at one time or another (or a bunch of times): Mike Greenfield, Steve Molitz, Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick, Dr. Bernie Worrell, Joey Porter, Freekbass, Allie Kral and Fareed Haque. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! Except that, obviously, he is, and he has a knack for compiling legendary bands, for one show or a series. And Marcinek also plays keys for Terrapin Flyer and guitar for Fresh Hops.

Tony Hall
Tony Hall

That show in Dunedin in October featured a stellar lineup of local musicians, and it was a brilliant evening, more than I could have imagined.

Fast-forward to January, when Marcinek compiled another band for a three-date Florida run. For that brief tour, Marcinek found major-league players across the board: Jason Hann on drums (String Cheese Incident), Tony Hall on bass (Dumpstaphunk), Jim Wuest on keyboards (The Heavy Pets), and Juanjamon on tenor saxophone (The Juanjamon Band, CopE). And Dani Jaye (Come Back Alice) played the entire second set on violin. Whatever anybody’s expectations were, the band exceeded them by about a lightyear. It was interstellar.

Alvin Ford, Jr.
Alvin Ford, Jr.

And now Marcinek’s latest collaboration will play the Wanee Music Festival (April 13-16) at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. What wickedness does he have planned this time? Let’s take a look:

Tony Hall on bass and Alvin Ford, Jr., on drums are both from Dumpstafunk. Add to that most amazing of rhythm sections Holly Bowling on keys, Dani Jaye on violin, and Juanjamon (CopE, the Juanjamon Band) on tenor sax and EWI. Bowling is a great player who impressed at AURA on her set and sitting in with Displace. Jaye is the wonderful fiddler for swamp funksters Come Back Alice, and Meesta Juanjamon was a member of CopE, the band which played often at Wanee, and he now leads the superb funk quintet The Juanjamon Band.

Holly Bowling
Holly Bowling

And that’s just for starts, because Marcinek always has a few aces up his sleeve, and there is an overabundance of talent in the park that weekend.

To quote the man himself: “And you just never know who else might show up!”

Dani Jaye and Juanjamon
Dani Jaye and Juanjamon. Photo courtesy of Nymania Productions

Better put this one on your list of sets you dare not miss! Just sayin’…

If you cannot catch Joe and band at Wanee (April 14th), various iterations will play Atlanta, Tampa and Boca Raton!

Comments are closed.