Grooveland… with the emphasis on GROOVE!

Grooveland… with the emphasis on GROOVE!

Musicians, like athletes, spend a lot of time practicing. They are getting themselves read for The Show. They know, however, that they need some scrimmages, some live opportunities to further hone their craft before hitting the road.

That would perfectly describe Grooveland, a six-man collective centered in the Davenport/ Mt. Dora/ Clermont/ Groveland area of central Florida (and hence the band’s name). They scheduled a show for Saturday, October 24, at The Friar Tuck Pub in Clermont. It was the perfect opportunity to get their grooves together in front of a small but very appreciative crowd.

Who, exactly, ARE Grooveland? Vocalist Danny Joe let it slip immediately when he said, “This is Holey Miss Moley… er, Grooveland!” Turns out these six gentlemen are the core of Holey Miss Moley, minus horn section and female vocalist. Hence, Jacob Cox, guitar, vocals; Kenny Harvey, bass; Mikey Guzman, keyboards (and he should have a microphone!); Tony Morales, drums; and Vernon Suber, percussionist extraordinaire. And there would be special guests throughout the night.

We were greeted first by Rosemarie Camp, whose son plays reeds with HMM, and Rosemarie’s partner, George. We sat front and center with the best seats in the house.

Grooveland opened with a fine set of covers including several Meters’ tunes, a surprise deep soul tune from KC & Sunshine Band, and a great reggae instrumental by 10 Ft. Ganja Plant, with Guzman standing out on synths. Our first delightful surprise happened as Danny Joe invited to the stage the remarkable vocalist David Oliver Willis, whom we first heard when this group and he presented a superb Bill Withers special.

“Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” has rarely sounded this powerful or important as Willis’ rendition of the Marvin Gaye anthem. They went back to The Meters, then to a fine Bobby Womack version of “California Dreamin’.” Two more plaintive Withers tunes were included along with one of HMM’s favorite medleys, “I Wanna Do Something Freaky to You > Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang > Freaky reprise.” Set one closed with HMM’s full-on Afrobeat “Shake It with Me”; Suber’s percussion assault blew this sky-high!

They offered up a request (mine) to open the second set, with Willis again owning Withers on “Better Off Dead.” Next Morales introduced one of his drum students, Gabriel Melendez, who sat in for “Chain of Fools” (Willis), which morphed into “Unchain My Heart,” Danny Joe singing. Melendez knocked it out! An unexpected surprise was a request from the crowd for “Midnight Rider.” Jacob Cox is a brilliant guitarist, and he really showed out here. Another request followed, this one for Morales’ mother in the audience: “Be Thankful for What You Got.” There was some comment about that being the first time played for them; keep that one in rotation.

Cox stepped out again in his Robin Trower best with “Bridge of Sighs,” followed by Danny Joe digging deep for “Come On.” Then out poured a wonderful romp Danny Joe called “Keep Forgetting to Regulate on the Eminence Mothership,” which began with “I Keep Forgetting We’re Not in Love Anymore” (Willis) before morphing into the “Swing Down Sweet Chariot” (both singing) portion of “Give Up the Funk” and finally rolling into “Eminence Front” (Danny Joe). That was pure magic!

And now for something completely different: “Reading Rainbow / The End” (as created by Jimmy Fallon). Danny Joe had that vocal down for real! Willis offered two more Withers gems, “Sweet Wanomi” and “A Lovely Day.” Next was a moment I knew was coming, because it happens every time Cox crushes guitar on The Meters’ paragon “It Ain’t No Use.” He makes me cry in the most wonderful way.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Jamal “Music City” Wright was sitting and watching. When Holey Miss Moley is at full force, Wright is at kit with both Morales and Suber on percussion. Wright took over the drums, with Morales joining Suber on percussion as they were about to bust into HMM favorite “Devil Funk (Oh Yeah!),” but signals crossed as they played the lovely ballad “Bermuda Triangle” instead. They closed with another of the band’s funk rockers, “Big Bad Wolf,” and the night was complete. (Well, Wright played drums for a couple more minutes.)

That was a pretty dandy scrimmage for Grooveland, er, Holey Miss Moley light. Everybody was hitting on the one, a magnificent performance. Getting the band back together, they will be joined by vocalist Ms. Robyn Pack and by the Ryans, Christian (reeds, flute, vocals) and Jen (trumpet, vocals) for an appearance at Whippersnap Music & Arts Festival next February in Brooksville, and there is a rumor of a show where most everything started for the band — Dunedin Brewery — in December.

Our hearts are full to overflowing.

About The Friar Tuck: wonderful place, great stage setting, best-ever fish and chips, and a great breakfast menu (yes, we went back). Five stars

[SET ONE: Fire on the Bayou (Meters), I Get Lifted (KC & Sunshine Band), Hey Pocky A-Way (Meters), Hard Times (Jon Legend & The Roots), Blood Money (10 Ft. Ganja Plant), Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (Marvin Gaye), (The World is a Bit Under the Weather) Doodle-Oop (Meters), California Dreamin’ (Bobby Womack style), Lonely Town Lonely Street (Bill Withers), I Wanna Do Something Freaky to You (Leon Haywood) > Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang (Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg) > Freaky, The Same Love That Made Me Laugh (Withers), Shake It with Me (Holey Miss Moley); SET TWO: Better Off Dead (Withers), Chain of Fools (Aretha) > Unchain My Heart (Ray Charles), Midnight Rider (ABB), Be Thankful for What You Got (Wm. DeVaughn), Bridge of Sighs (Robin Trower), Come Down (Anderson .Paak), Keep Forgetting to Regulate on the Eminence Mothership*, Reading Rainbow/The End (The Doors), Sweet Wanomi (Withers), A Lovely Day (Withers), It Ain’t No Use (Meters), Bermuda Triangle (HMM), Big Bad Wolf (HMM)]