TRIBE

TRIBE

Yet another new musical direction has emerged from the Detroit rock scene in the Tribal Sinfonia. Combining basic rock with their soul and jazz experience, the Tribe has created an unquestionably powerful sound that impresses and antagonizes their listeners into a demand for more.

For eighteen months the Tribe served as a backup group to Rodney Knight. Known as the Soul Sextet, they became fixtures on the soul circuit of the Motor City, playing teen spots, young adult night clubs and with national r’n’b acts such as the Rascals. But the rhythm and blues approach was too limiting to their diversified talents and a split was inevitable. Thus, last winter, Rodney. Knight left the group.

Changing their name to Tribal Sinfonia the band began progressing in a manner suited to their individual tastes and talents. They’ve retained much that was good in their soul sound yet diversified it to include all of the other talents of the members. The sound now draws from the rock energies of Danny Okamotu, the soul experience of Danny Falzon, the big band jazz of Larry Nemzin, the avantgarde reed work of Armand Angeloni and the studio background of Jerry Hubbard.

The prime factor in the change was the liberty to write and perform their own material. “We’d gone as far as we could go”, explained bassist Falzon. “We’d reached a point where we couldn’t get anything out.” Falzon is aware of the difficulty in being creative in a soul group for that is the sound he came up in.

At a time when dozens of rock groups are beginning to experiment with horns, the Tribe has three horn men who are consistently inventive. Not content to rely on the big band, be-bop riffs of Blood Sweat and Tears or Chicago, the Tribe’s horn section uses post-Coltrane , influences

Such a large degree of the band’s sound comes from innovative use of horns that it is worthwhile to dwell on each hornplayer individually. They use only three — Armand Angeloni, reeds, Jerry Hubbard on trumpet and valve trombone and Larry Nemzin trumpet, flugelhorn and French Horn. Larry also , plays conga and arranges while Jerry does a fair share of the group’s vocal work.

This is Armand’s first rock group “if you want to call it that.” He joined the Sextet after an Army stint. Angeloni had been playing jazz since his high school days but now feels that “Rock can be used to express things that I previously felt only jazz could.” Besides his alto tenor and baritone sax work he also plays flute.

A tape of their original material, cut

at Detroit’s Pioneer Studios, has

received considerable airplay on Detroit

FM rock stations. The highlight of the

recording as well as the live show is

Maintain. „ ,. ,

Dave Marsh