Boston Horns. Courtesy of Tom Uellner
Henley Douglas Jr. and Garret Savluk have been playing together for the better part of two decades, from the early days with The Blues Meanies, which had them backing the Del Fuegos, among others, to the years as the conceptually outrageous Heavy Metal Horns, which put them on the road with then-charttoppers Extreme, to their work over the past ten years as the Boston Horns — a busy decade which finds the Horns comfortable and confident, opening for monster funk acts like Tower of Power and bringing the band, and its powerhouse sound, to a headlining tour in Japan.
But when they look back again — say, in another decade — Douglas and Savluk might have to put the upcoming tenth anniversary bash as one of the band’s Top Ten moments because it’s going to be a monster: The seven-piece funk band will perform at Knights of Columbus Hall in Salem with special guest vocalist Brenda Williams, a singer who has shared the stage with everybody from Ray Charles to the Beach Boys to Lee Greenwood. Opening acts will be Follow Hymn Gospel Choir and Eric Reardon’s All Star Blues Review.
And if that’s not enough Horns for you (an absurd concept, getting “enough” of this band) they’ll be taking the party on the road the next day to Johnny D’s, where, by all accounts, Williams just killed earlier this year, when the Indiana-based singer sat in with the band. ”She blew the place away,” says Douglas. “Bringing her into the mix for the tenth anniversary shows was a natural.” The Johnny D’s show will kick off with with a performance by the Nat Simpkins/Henley Douglas Jr. Soul Saxophone Quintet, pairing Douglas with Simpkins, a musician who found a musical home on the North Shore after leaving his home in New Orleans after Katrina.
They’ll also be riffing on the anniversary theme on Sunday, when Douglas and Williams turn up at In a Pig’s Eye with the Cool Time Quartet.
North Shore Art Throb recently asked Douglas and Savluk to look back at the past decade and give us their Top Ten moments. Here’s what they had to say:
GARRET SAVLUK’S TOP 10
10. Henley and I playing at the 2004 New Orleans jazz festival with the Brotherhood of Groove, just before Hurricane Katrina.
9. The time New Orleans trombone powerhouse “Big” Sammie Williams, leader of Dirty Dozen Brass Band, sat in with the band at Johnny D’s - before running off to his other gig across town!
8. Working in the studio with Dan Tarlow on our first four CDs. He helped us form our sound!
7. Opening up for Tower of Power at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom — a couple times.
6. Hiring guitar legend Melvin Sparks to record and perform with the band.
5. Working in the studio with Anthony Resta and Karyadi Sutedja. Those recordings helped to “launch our success” in Japan.
4. Recording and arranging for Grammy Award-winning artist Shawn Mullins.
3. Hearing Karl Denson for the first time was the inception of the band.
2. Ataining a licencing deal with P-Vine records in Japan thanks to Sam Kinninger (who told us about them) and Kevin Canning (who handed them a CD in Japan).
1. Touring Japan after our first CD sold over 5,000 copies in 6 months.
HENLEY DOUGLAS JR.’S TOP TEN
10. Playing with some of the best musicians around: Ben Zecker, keyboards; Peter Maclain, drums; Jeffrey Buckridge, guitar; Dave Walker, bass; and Yahuba , percussion.
9. Addition of Squantch on trombone to continue to change and grow the sound of the Boston Horns.
8. Opening for Tower of Power at the Casino at Hampton Beach - a soldout show.
7. Recording and performing with Melvin Sparks, playing the White Mountain Boogie & Blues music festival.
6. Playing the Block Party for the Discover Jazz Festival in Burlington, Vermont.
5. Opening for Little Feat at the Albany River Festival- in front 8,500 people - in 2005.
4. Playing the Beantown Jazz Festival 2006.
3. Recording Shibuya Gumbo, featuring Barrence Whitfield on vocals.
2. Being picked up by P-Vine Records in Japan. Recording 3 cd’s and having “Pink Polyester” become one of the top radio plays in Japan.
1. Boston Horns Jazz Funk Expo tour of Japan. We played in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to sold out shows.
