Toledo & Ultralove : The King and Prince Of Harvelle's

 There is a genuine bromance going on between the front men of The Toledo Show and Ultralove - Toledo Diamond and Mike "Ultralove" Wagner respectively. I don't know who started it, but at some point in each of their shows (Toledo's on Sunday, Ultralove's on Monday) the other will make a guest appearance and bring a different kind of funk to the repertoire for a few minutes.

The video above is of The Toledo Show, but ironically Ultralove's drummer (Seth Murphy) and bassist (Mike Gunn) were the acting back line for The Toledo Show on that particular night. Ultralove stepped to the mic extra confidently and spit a cool 16 bars over Toledo's funky-as-shiz "Run Chicken Little" riff, which then evolved into an impromptu duet between the two with Toledo calling Ultralove his "hero" and Ultralove getting on his knees to perform the "i'm not worthy"gesture.

Ultralove Me Baby

Spring has just slipped the tip in, but in Santa Monica, it feels like summer.

The beaches are bustling, the promenade is perfect and even Mondays feel like it's still the weekend. Ultralove runs things on Monday and the night is geared for the ultralove-er in you*. If you haven't yet heard 'em throw down, you're in for a funky good time.

Ultralove employs a 6 piece ensemble which includes Doug Showalter (g), Seth Murphy (d), Mike Gunn (b), Adam Berg (keys) and singers Soul Star and Love Logiq. Note: this past week, Jon Piazza (aka Jon Swift) played keys. Strumming a black acoustic guitar - unless he's busting moves with the audience - Ultralove raps and sings with the ease of a man doing what he was born to do, making music with such ease and joy, it's not hard to see why the dance floor is consistently packed when the band plays.

Ultralove has a CD out "[revolution]" which is available at the gig or on [Amazon] and [iTunes™].

Big blog shout-out to Trisha, Lauralee, Dirty Birdy, Guy and *Shalamar!!

The UltraLove Definition : LOVE To The Extreme

What is Ultralove?

Let's break it down!

We all know what LOVE is!

There's many kinds of love.

So many, that I could write a daily blog about love and all the ways love manifests itself. Poems, songs, books, sculptures, paintings, relationships - so many are about love! LOVE LOVE LOVE! It's pretty well covered.

So let's move on to "ULTRA"!

The dictionary definition:

ultra- |ˈəltrə|

1 beyond; on the other side of 2 extreme; to an extreme degree

Ultralove is a band that plays at Harvelle's at the beginning of every week. Their nu-skool alt-R&B keeps it fresh enough to bring people out on a Monday night; the infectious hooks and silk smooth harmonies always leave their songs in my head long after the music has ended.

Tonight, triple threat Jon Swift (singing/ rapping/ keys) took 64 bars to plead his case to the responsive crowd. Swift is part of House Of Vibe/ Westside Tribe. He performs at Harvelle's every Wednesday!

Right before the end of the last song none other than Toledo Diamond of The Toledo Show took the stage for a smoke and an extended verse! Toledo brings you into his rough & tumble world from the first note out of his mouth. "T" always plays it cool!

Ultralove plays every Monday night.

The Ultralove CD "[rev-o-lu-tion]" is available : iTunes + Amazon