Kung Fu Kongress brings the funk
By Michael Beall
Published: Friday, March 25, 2011
Updated: Friday, March 25, 2011 02:03
Kevin Van Dort sings with the rest of Kung Fu Kongress during their set at the Wilma Theatre Wednesday evening.
The March sun falls behind the Wilma Theatre. Inside, New Orleans funk band Galactic runs through their sound check for Wednesday night's show. Bass notes and horns pulse through the venue's walls to the parking lot below.
In the parking lot, local group Kung Fu Kongress prepares for their opening set. Drummer Campbell Youngblood-Petersen, discusses time signatures in 44/16 and 22/16 with trumpet player Tully Olson. Youngblood-Petersen taps his thigh and snaps his fingers in unison with Olson's hummed melodies, trying to kick their nerves.
Only a year into their young music careers, the eight-piece funk band is thrilled for a rare opportunity that few local groups are granted — playing before one of their biggest influences at one of the largest venues in town.
"Words can't even describe how I feel right now," Olson said, minutes before sound check.
Kung Fu Kongress is composed of eight core members: two guitarists, a bassist, two saxophones, a trumpet, a keyboard and percussion. All are jazz and classical music majors at The University of Montana's Music School, except guitarist and vocalist Kevin Van Dort and keyboardist Josh Farmer.
Galactic was brought to town by the national music promotion The Knitting Factory, and Kung Fu Kongress was the first local northwestern band to work with them.
"I shook their hands. Now I can't wash mine," a member in the group outside said after speaking with Galactic. "They asked me if we were touring, and all I could say was, ‘uh … no.'"
Logan Foret, Kong Fu Kongress' 22-year-old booking agent and manager, is also a member of the Bassface Artist Cooperative, a collection of DJs, painters and break dancers around Missoula. Foret's experience and relationships in the Missoula music scene helped their chances to land high-profile performances such as Wednesday night's opening slot.
"We already had relationships with a lot of venue owners," Foret said. "So getting it going wasn't too difficult. It was really about setting themselves apart from other funk bands around the state like Reverend Slanky and Cure for the Common."
Kung Fu Kongress got their start performing in basements and house parties around Missoula, playing classic funk covers with musicians who could find time away from school and other side projects.
The outfit performed their first venue show at The Palace last April. Their progression from house parties to selling out shows at The Top Hat and other downtown venues has been swift, but the band hit a roadblock when their original vocalist Cove Jasman moved to Portland.
"From there it was kind of a stopping point," Foret said. "We took a couple months off for hiatus last school year to see what kind of direction we were going to go with a vocalist."
That's when 39-year-old local blues musician Kevin Van Dort approached Kung Fu Kongress with an interest in filling their void.
"A lot of these guys knew Kevin from doing some jazz shows out in the Missoula Winery, where Kevin plays a lot of music," Foret said. "Kevin has a good stage presence. He has a really powerful voice, and we need someone who's a charismatic front man."
Van Dort joined Kung Fu Kongress in December, and the group performed New Year's Eve at The Top Hat. Van Dort became a full-time member of the band, helping them stray from strictly covering songs to composing their own tunes.
"It's cool to see the next generation of guys who are still in school," Van Dort said. "Just to have the University here and draw music majors is really fun. It's an interesting process. They keep me real, and I try to get them dirty."
Kung Fu Kongress is looking into recording an album and playing shows across the state this summer. Currently, they're focusing their time writing and composing original songs, which has only been in progress for the past two months.
"All of us are very creative in our musicality, so you have to find a lot of wiggle room," Olson said, outside in the Wilma parking lot. "You have to learn to work with other people. The style of music that we play is definitely complex and takes a lot of thinking to play."
"Yo, Campbell," Olson shouts. "Do you remember what meter ‘Playing Hard to Get With Your Girlfriend' is in?"
"Should we say it in a way that sounds most impressive?" Campbell replied.
Campbell leans into his car and starts tapping out the rhythm.
By the time the 15-minute warning for the band's 8 p.m. set rolled around, the talk of the next night's headlining show at The Palace and future travel plans ended. They lowered their voices and talked strategies. The horns and sax players sang melodies to Campbell's practice drum, and Foret got them organized.
The band followed Foret up the spiral staircase and onto the stage, where he took the mic and introduced Kung Fu Kongress. With a bass line from Trebor Riddle, the group kicked in to high gear.
The seven-song, 45-minute set ended in a standing ovation from the Wilma crowd. Kung Fu Kongress packed up their gear, and soaked in sweat with full grins across their faces.
"It went really well," Olson said after the set. "We got to hang out with Galactic. The sound was so good, and the energy from the crowd really helped us out."
A half-hour later, the Wilma continued to fill as Galactic hit the stage for their headlining performance. But even if they didn't fill the hall, it was time well spent.
"Tonight brought the band closer together," Van Dort said. "I'm glad we got the opportunity."
Reply With Quote