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| Old-School Bebop and R&B/Soul Tunes Fire to Life in Fire & Ice Fire & Ice at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino will host two energetic show bands this month beginning on Saturday, December 12 with bebop, beach-party band Eugene Pitt & The Jive Five, followed on Saturday, December 26 by jazzy/rock-and-roll/doowop group Kenny Vance & The Planotones. The groups will each perform two shows at 9:15 and 11:15 p.m. with their own blend of doowop, funky disco, melodic oldies and R&B/soul. Eugene Pitt & The Jive Five will perform harmonizing doowop hits along with a blend of up-tempo beach music featured on Pitt's new release, Steppin' Out in Front, I Love Beach Music (2009 Hourihan Productions II). The new release features Pitt's interpretations of old-school tunes and new favorites like "There Ain't Nothing Like Shagging, " "I Love Beach Music, " "Too Much Foolin' Around, " "Carolina Girls, " "Soothe You, " "Sweet Soul Music, " and "Trapped by a Thing Called Love." Pitt's versatility stretches with jazz elements in "When We Met, " a new song he wrote and arranged, and ragtime songs like "Gonna Move Across the River" and "Just Don't Care." This eclectic mix suits Pitt and Jive Five, who have undergone several transformations in genres, performers and band names. They have toured with Tom Jones, The Shirelles, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and Chubby Checker and sang background on recordings with George Jackson of The Plants, Gary U.S. Bonds and on their most famous contribution for Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974). Today, the Jive Five are made up of three Pitt brothers, Eugene singing lead, Herbert singing bass, and Frank Pitt singing top tenor, in addition to baritone Beatrice Best, and second tenor Casey Spencer. Kenny Vance formed the successful group Jay and The Americans, where he remained throughout their entire 11-year career. The group recorded 15 albums, toured extensively and opened for both The Beatles' and Rolling Stones' first U.S. appearances. Vance went on to compose, supervise and produce a long list of scores and soundtracks for feature films and TV including "American Hot Wax." The Planotones were formed for that film and gave their first onscreen performance. Vance's material is influenced by jazzy, doowop, rock-and-roll of the '50s and '60s and has infused a classicist style to create his own cool and sultry musical approach. He composed the themes for Saturday Night Live, and produced for and performed with artists Phoebe Snow, Peter Allen, Don McLean, John Cafferty, Tracy Ullman, The Beaver Brown Band and others. Kenny Vance and The Planotones' new release is titled Oceans of Time and features 15 tracks including "Mi Amore, " "Oldies But Goodies, " "Cara Mia, " "Please Be My Love Tonight, " "Zoom Zoom Zoom" and "Oceans of Time." write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |