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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Tonight / Classic The Family Stone... Minus Sly

Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 9:58 AM

(Jazz Alley) There's something sad when phenomenal old groups try to carry on decades past their prime with only a fraction of their original membership. Tours by these acts typically bring to mind thoughts of financial desperation, diminishing skills, and concern about the players not involved. With the Family Stone, one can't help thinking of leader Sly's awful downward spiral. Of course, he's not participating in this venture. However, original trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, and saxophonist Jerry Martini are in the lineup, and all had a role in some of the most dynamic, exciting, funky, and soulful songs ever conceived—an ultimate black/white/male/female explosion of pop. The Family Stone's other four members may not be household names, but the strength of the catalog guarantees hot fun in the wintertime, even without his Slyness.

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Good to know, Jeff. Sly & the Family Stone fans should read his book, too.

Posted by Dave Segal on December 15, 2012 at 6:01 PM

In brief, this Family Stone spin-off is the best I've heard so far. Larry Graham and his own Central Station reincarnation delivered some Sly hits at Yoshi's-Oakland last week, but the group which toured to your area is truer to the original, in instrumentation, arrangement, and spirit. ---- Jeff Kaliss, author, I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone (the only authorized biography to date, published by Backbeat Books in 2008).

Posted by jefkal