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New Breed - Old School

“It’s like someone thru a bunch of soulful standards in a blender
and whipped us up a musical smoothie.”

I had the extreme pleasure of going to hear New Breed atThea’s Blues & Jazz Club in downtown Winston-Salem. In case you haven’t been there, Thea’s has a dim, smooth, relaxing atmosphere that turned out to be the perfect venue for a band like New Breed.
The band kicked it off with two instrumentals, which was more like a smooth sound check, while they got their levels balanced. Keyboardist Tony Dove changed sounds and volume, without trying to upstage his band mates (as many musicians do). The entire band appeared to take their cues from Tony, which resulted in effective crescendos and seamless key transitions.
On their third song, “On Broadway”- they nailed it. Guitarist Brother Bill (Lynch) performed a killer guitar solo with vocal but didn’t steal any George Benson riffs or try to sound like him. He kept true to his own style. Very respectable. James Braxton proved to be smooth yet powerful, without being in-your-face with the vocals. James missed only one line of the song but it happened to be when the some dude was taking his picture, so let’s all blame him. Damn dude, sit down already. People started clapping before the song was over. How cool is that for a band?
Their version of Marvin Gaye’s "What’s Going On" was so good, Webster hasn’t come up with a word for it yet, so I’m gonna use this one - Damn! The performance was dead on.
When New Breed started in on the blues standard "Stormy Monday", James’ vocal performance was so powerful I felt the thunder and so emotional the rain swelled up in my eyes. By the time he went thru the week and got to Sunday, I was ready to run out on the floor and testify:
“Lord, I have seen a band. And I saith, they were good! Blessed be the 12 bar blues structure. Thank you for anointing these children with talent for the melodic word, for I have sat thru many a bad performance. But yea, as I walk thru the valley of musical mediocrity, I fear not, for I can log on to 2D Point.net and find where I can hear New Breed again. Blessed be the Lord! Amen.
Despite a few technical problems, (guitarists amp, volume spikes on the mics) the gig went off without a hitch. Singer James Braxton showed his musical versatility by trading off on guitar and keyboards. James is a self taught musician with a natural love and ability to produce music that we want to hear.
These guys don’t need any fancy hype or light show. Hell, I’d sit in the dark and listen to them! It’s like someone thru a bunch of soulful standards in a blender and whipped us up a musical smoothie.
Sax player Brandon Hayes loosened up a bit more on second set, stepping forward and wailing passionate solos. Bassist Lee Gordon kept a constant, steady pace all night (as it should be) occasionally doing a little “thumpin & tappin”. Yeah, I caught it.
Their rendition of "Let’s Get It On", was by far my favorite of the night. The entire band cut loose and tossed around emotion-filled musical phrases like horse shoes at a family picnic.
James and the boys stepped on the gas and ran me over with a version of "Mustang Sally". The squeal of the wheels by guitarist Brother Bill was followed by the roar of vocal engine, James Braxton. The keyboard dude, Tony Dove, took a solo and drummer William Murphy complimented Tony’s high notes with taps on the ride symbol. Nice touch, William. It was subtle but it didn’t go unnoticed.
The coolest thing about these guys is that no one showboats. They all pull together for the good of the band and it works! And we, the listeners, win.
I heard the buzz that Thea’s was getting ready to blow out an adjacent wall to increase their club, making room for 300 more people. They’re going to need the space if they keep booking talent like New Breed.