Primer: Dazz Band

By Casey Jarman

Formed: 1976 in Cleveland

Members: Jerry Bell, Raymond Calhoun, Bobby Harris, Kevin Kendrick, Marlon McClain

Latest release: Time Traveler (2001), a surprisingly era-appropriate collection of low-key jams that combine modern R&B flavor with Dazz's marquee throwback funk.

Why you care: Though the Dazz Band went through a handful of personnel changes in the '80s (one of which brought Portland funk legend Marlon McClain into the fold), it continues to be a source of sonic inspiration that touches modern R&B, funk and hip-hop. Best known for the oft-licensed single "Let It Whip," Dazz Band's catalog is packed with dance-floor killers that perfectly distill both the pioneering spirit and cheesy technology of the '80s. With Kanye West rocking a rat tail and Chromeo basically copying the Dazz blueprint, this seems about the perfect way to enter a new decade. Hopefully, the band is still rocking a few instruments from its early-'80s heyday, since the biggest mistake old-school funk groups make is to attempt a full-on update.

Sounds like: A soundtrack for snorting lines on a spaceship bound for Planet Funk.

For fans of: Chromeo, Parliament Funkadelic, Zapp & Roger, Snoop Dogg

SEE IT: The Dazz Band plays Thursday, Dec. 31, at the Crystal Ballroom, with Sugarfoot's Ohio Players, Barkays, Slave, Liv Warfield, and Linda Hornbuckle. 10 pm. $45. 25+ (we don't get it either).

WWeek 2015

Casey Jarman

Casey Jarman

Casey Jarman is a freelance editor and writer based in East Portland, Oregon. He has served as Music Editor at Willamette Week and Managing Editor at The Believer magazine, where he remains a contributing editor. He is currently working on his first book. It's about death.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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