Ultralove's Monday : My World And Welcome To It

Venice resident Mike "Ultralove" Wagner spends his days as a mild mannered folk singer, appearing at lounges and happenings around his 'hood. His blend of modern singer/songwriter sensibilities infused with hip-hop hooks, both sung and rapped by the Philly native have created a bit of a buzz down here. And on Monday nights, Ultralove takes the stage at Harvelle's with his group, which is stacked with players who augment his songs with crack-shot arrangements and righteous in-the-pocket grooves.

 Ultralove, Seth Murphy, Doug Showalter

 Other members of the band are Mike Gunn on bass, John Piazza (aka John Swift) on keys and rapping, and DJ Paper on turntables. If you haven't experienced Ultralove live, you should; the band truly delivers! Here's a video from this past week's show. The song "Rich and Famous" has a killer hook and in this extended jam version special guests Jon Swift, Joe Con, Sebastien Leger on trumpet and DJ Paper bring their "A" game! Bless Ultralove, he does what he does and makes the world a better place.

Ultralove : See Me Feel Me Touch Me Heal Me

Tonight - it's Ultralove!

Mike "Ultralove" Wagner is the up&comer to see.
Ultralove (the band) play every Monday night at Harvelle's and very quietly, it has become the best party night of the week. Ultralove's (the band) sound is hip-hop influenced - but in the hands of a skilled singer/songwriter like Ultralove (the man) and the crack-shot ballistics of Ultralove (the band) - the sound is new and fresh and - ok, i'll say it - it's "baby making music".

That's right.

How this skinny kid from Philly is able to transcend the genres and somehow create a hybrid between Stax style soul, eighties pop hooks, sexy Pendergrass/Prince style eroticism - all with the style and energy of a laid-back funkateer strumming an acoustic guitar - is a beautiful mystery for all of us to enjoy.

Kudos to the band : Doug Showalter (g) Adam Berg (k), Jon Swift (k and rap), Mike Gunn (bassist extrordinaire) and heavy hitter Seth Murphy (d).

Shout out to Chelsea, Shaunte, Sebastian, Lauralee, Brew, Guy and Greg Raymond.

I Got The Munchies For Your Ultralove

Ultralove is the man.

His Monday nights at Harvelle's are becoming the party place to be. Ultralove celebrates the beginning of each new work week by giving back to the community with his righteous grooves and ridiculously talented band. Every week they seem to play harder and engage the crowd more and more.

Doug Showalter on dynamite guitar, plays with flash and verve, not to mention his re-interpretation of funk as it fits the unique Ultralove model.

Jon Piazza (aka Jon Swift) sat in on keys - on loan from Wednesday's mid-week massive House Of Vibe All Stars - and threw down in a way he doesn't generally - that is showcasing his considerable keyboard chops!! 

Bassist Mike Gunn is having so much fun on stage it's truly joyful to watch (and hear) him dominate his 5-stringed beauty. The contrast in personalities with the lead singer creates a sort of dynamic duo; a Richards/Jagger or Page/Plant kinda vibe.

This week, singers Love Logiq and Soul Star were absent, so the sound was much more focused on the band's playing which is skin-tight and pocket deep due in large part to accomplished drummer Seth Murphy. He keeps the rhythm going - his hits per pound pack a wallop. I'm sure he's practicing in-between Mondays cuz he's making the songs "groove"-ier and with more rhythmic depth every time I see 'em.

Special guests like Toledo (of the Toledo Show) and the very rock-star haired rapper Joe Con understand the appeal of Ultralove's vibe and shared the stage adding flava, to make it that much better!

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!!

HOV : The Tony Tarasco Roast

You're big - you bad - you brag - you boast—

but tonight we get-in' that azz—

Cuz it's the Tony Tarasco Roast!!

So began the first annual Tony Tarasco Roast.

Who is Tony Tarasco and why would he be roasted?

On the eve of his 40th birthday, Tony was roundly insulted and goofed-on by friends and family in attendance. Roastmaster Brew (aka Anthony Brewster) kept the insults flowing and the barbs flying before leading his group House Of Vibe All-Stars through a set of wicked funk with some soul and reggae thrown in there.

House Of Vibe has a new CD out.

House Of Vibe play every Wednesday night at Harvelle's.

Tony Tarasco & Anthony Brewster

Rapper Deploi

Drummer Fish

Bassist Colin Wolfe

Tony's choice of attire for the evening's events was this pimped out Hugh Hefner smoking robe and an emperor's crown. Look like he just tasted some Parkay or sumthin'.

Cyrus

These are the shoes Tarasco chose to wear.

Did he have these in his closet?

Thaaaaat's Brewster!!!

Tony Tarasco - no wig and robe

Freewill

Jon Swift blurs as Deploi spits

T-Smidi and Jon Swift

Deploi takes it to the next level

Guitarist Kris Hawkins

Tony endured the roast for close to an hour but his mic was unexpectedly cut off when he tried to have the last word. Apologies to the roasters whose names i was not able to get at the time of this posting.

House Of Vibe : A Westside Story

With a few of the group in Canada on tour with Chali 2na, the House Of Vibe All Stars didn't miss a step. Photos below shot with the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone.

Fish

T-Smidi

Kris Hawkins

iTimothy

Amy Lou

Fish and Jon Swift

Smidi, iTimothy and Shaunte

(not pictured - Colin, Boissy, Ijeoma, Seabass, Greg Raymond and Anon - I think that's everyone. Apologies to anyone I missed or can't recall.)

A big "Chea!" to Brew and the Chali 2na crew.

Location:4th St,Santa Monica,United States

Housin' and Vibin' @ Harvelle's!!

House Of Vibe is the Wednesday night house band at Harvelle's. Their combination of hip-hop, jazz, r&b, soul, rock and funk is as original as it is infectious. Tonight (as noted in the last entry) is Bif Chitlin's birthday. It is also Michael Bolger's, who sat in on trumpet!!

Besides being a birthday party, it was also a homecoming of sorts - band leader Brew has been on the road with De La Soul (and recently backed Talib Kweli on the Jimmy Kimmel Show) - and that's always cause for celebration.

Brew is thankful for what he gots

Deploi

Amy Lou

Jon Swift

Ijeoma Njaka

Kris Hawkins

Greg Raymond

Fish

Michael Bolger

T-Smidi

- Posted live from Harvelle's using BlogPress & the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone

Location:4th St,Santa Monica,United States