Add Mr. Whiskers and The Nine Lives to your list of great funk & jam big bands

Add Mr. Whiskers and The Nine Lives to your list of great funk & jam big bands

Multi-instrumentalist Kyle Sareyani first surfaced for us in 2016 playing keyboards and flute with The Reality. Shortly after that he launched his Mr. Whiskers one-man band playing/looping every instrument on the fly. Creating a big band took shape in 2019 but had only a couple of shows before Covid squashed it. Several years later, at Clearwater Jazz Holiday, a conversation with the late great Shawn Martin (of Snarky Puppy fame) convinced Sareyani to start rebuilding the big band, finally on stage in March 2023.

This project has involved more than 30 members since the beginning. It is now a fully formed band, and they crushed their massive set at Fox Fam Jam April 12.

Mr. Whiskers & the Nine Lives are: Riley O’Brien, drums; Austin Divito, percussion; Johannes “Ice” Quilitz, bass; Adam Barnett, keyboards; Sam Barber, guitar; Tim Adger, auxiliary; Tony Mozz, baritone sax; Austen Eunice, tenor sax 1; Justin Rice, tenor sax 2; Jay Hickey, alto sax 1; Eduardo Marichales, alto sax 2; Jonny Baron, trombone 1; Malachi Elmore-Davis, trombone 2; Alex Savinon, trumpet; and Kyle “Mr. Whiskers” Sareyani, lead guitar & vocals.

There are several outstanding examples of big bands on the funk and jam scene, including Tedeschi Trucks Band, Cory Wong, and Snarky Puppy. You can add Mr. Whiskers & the Nine Lives to that list. The show was brilliant start to finish, superb compositions and playing disguised as a fabulous dance party. Most of the tunes are Sareyani’s, with some delightful covers injected throughout.

Every member of the band got a chance to step out, and there were so many superb solos throughout the set. Mr. Whiskers sings (on some of the songs) and shreds his guitar. After several originals, they blew up a great cover of “F.U.” (Pigeons Playing Ping Pong: “All I wanna do is F U… N K, F U!”). “Feelin’ Kuti” was a fine homage to the amazing Fela Kuti, and “Bad Guy” covered the Billie Eilish tune. We certainly enjoyed “F.A.F.O. (Funk Around and Find Out),” too.

Perhaps the highlight of the set was the huge dance contest with marvelous fox masks for male and female champs. The dance club mix of “You Should Be Dancing” was awesome, with the sax players doing Travolta arm movements and more shenanigans. Winners were finally declared.

You owe it to yourself to check Mr. Whiskers & the Nine Lives out any time you get the chance. You can thank us later!

[WHISKERS: Biggest Chicken In The Yard, Thiccest Peach, Junior Varsity, F.U., Preacher Man, Feelin’ Kuti, With Or Without You, Bad Guy*, F.A.F.O. (Funk Around and Find Out), Fill My Cup, You Should Be Dancing, Jackie, Genuine]

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1. […] Read our review here. […]