Local Legends #6

Venue : The Whistler
City : Chicago
Line Up : The Imperial Boxmen

I’m new to The Whistler but I’d certainly count myself as their most recent repeat customer. The venue outside is incredibly nonchalant and I had to make sure I was in the right spot but as soon as I walked into the door, I knew. The entrance houses a large calendar of upcoming events and leads down a short hallway, opening up to an intimate place that oozes with cool. The stage is boxed-in and deep which does well in containing the sound and presenting it to the room nicely. You can tell when a stage was an afterthought or an addition to an established venue but I’d be very surprised if this stage wasn’t the plan from the start.

Now, it might surprise you to know that I wasn’t there to check out short hallways and deep stages but actually to see the Imperial Boxmen. They’re a group that I recently discovered through sheer luck, looking online for local shows, but immediately became wrapped up in their tones. They released their self-titled album “Imperial Boxmen” in July of 2022 and the venue’s ad for the evening linked right to it. They describe themselves as “jazz for hip hop and deep house heads” but if those words don’t mean much to you I’d tell you to think of popular 90s/2000s cartoon “Hey Arnold!”, jazz with modern personality. Sans anything cartoon.

Wherever you listen to music, pull up their track “Garbage Pail Kids” and listen to the keyboard and bass together before the flute melody and you’ll hear what I mean about modern personality. Or, check out “Imperial 7” and let yourself cascade down a smooth Rick Wakemen-esque river cruise utilizing funky synths like a clavichord with wah or those Frank Zappa style thin synths for flavor. The band does an excellent job of using relevant sounds and equipment while staying true to their jazz foundation, at times even simply adding synth sound effects from the keys or pitch bending digital congas in the percussion section.

Speaking of the percussion section, I really enjoyed Danjuma Gaskins (filling in tonight for Jonathan Marks) set up and overall personality. With two large floor bongos, a digital percussive track pad, and a floor pedal, this man was unstoppable in the groove. Left foot cowbell on the downbeat, track pad tambourine on the upbeat, and a bongo solo in the middle, I’m surprised he wasn’t also singing and bartending at the same time. He didn’t shy away from how much fun he was having either, I had to purposefully look around the stage because I can’t help but love a musician who’s really having a good time and didn’t want to stare.

Kevin on keyboards, and leading the band, was an octopus of attention the likes I haven’t seen since Cory Henry (of Snarky Puppy / solo fame) did an artist residency in my college days. If you know what you’re looking for you could catch him guiding the group with a look, playing support on his left hand and soloing with his right. Whenever he was focused on anything singularly, however, he would really shine. Check out their song “Reducxion” and pay attention to the electric piano to hear what I mean.

Now if those two are personalities, then Alex on bass is their glue. Whether he’s backing the band, soloing, or doing that cool jazz thing where the bass duplicates another instruments solo at the same time, he’s never wrong. He’s jazzy for certain but I really think he houses a lot of the funk sound for the group. Check out “Strawberry Feels” and listen to him jump and dance all over the track. Even when his part is busy it’s never in the way because when Alex starts playing, he is the way.

Finally there were apparently two guests on stage tonight but they could easily have been static band members. Justin on drums was King Pocket all night and I was really surprised to see him use a combination of jazz techniques and matched-grip sticking. I won’t go too deep in the paint but seeing that raised left hand for the quieter bouncy ghost notes with that stick configuration was cool. Kyle (of the Kyle Madsen Trio) joined them on saxophone for what’s probably my favorite track of theirs, “Type B”. He flew his instrument all over the song and effortlessly went from screaming solo to controlled rhythm section. The track itself reminds me of Brian Jacques work on Powerstar Golf for Xbox One; another surprising area to find some insane jazz fusion groove.

In all, the night was a smash. I hope to catch them all over the place soon and will certainly be hitting more Relax, Attack, Jazz! nights at The Whistler. Anything to catch more “Crusty Kevin” (don’t ask, I’m not allowed to tell).