Ben Darwish Forms New Funk/Afro-Beat Group

Ben Darwish is one busy dude. In between hitting the black and whites on his keyboard and composing original music, he organizes nifty events around town. This week, he's put together a bill of jolly green hip-hop, funk and afro-beat giants to jam at Holocene: Commotion, C4 Influenz, Madgestiq, Chaucer Barnes (from Copacrescent) and Nicoluminous.

There's rumors of a live, afro-beat version of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" among other re-mashed recipes.

Here's a smattering of information from his press release:

COMMOTION performs original music ranging from funk, dance, afrobeat, while incorporating impressive improvisation. Led by Ben Darwish, the group features some of the most in demand musicians in the northwest. You may have heard them battle Ohmega Watts or playing late nights at the Goodfoot. This show will feature the "Young Guns" horn section which features John Nastos and 15 year-old trumpet phenom, Tree Palmedo! Also, we've added a auxillary percussionist too! Watch the link below for a brief tutorial of the band: youtube.com/watch?v=j7xQB6rEUI4

COMMOTION is:
Ben Darwish on keyboard
Chris Mosley on guitar
Sam Howard on bass
Russ Kleiner on drums

Plus:
Tree Palmedo on trumpet
John Nastos on sax
Devin Riley on trombone
Chaz Hastings percussion

Devin is 18-years-old, John Nastos is 22 and Tree Palmedo is only 15-years-old!! Once again, this is our unveiling of the 8-piece band, Commotion. You can't go wrong with funk and afrobeat!

Links:
CommotionSpace
C4 InfluenzSpace
MadgesdiqSpace
Chaucer BarneSpace
NicoluminouSpace

The bands all get live 9 pm, Thursday, January 8th at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St. 239-7639. $5. 21+.