“Long A Favorite Among Musical Connoisseurs,
Mandrill’s Music Has Shaped Rock And Roll History.”
The Washington Afro-American,
“Mandrill: Musical Maestros” by Kenneth
Mallory
Clearly
one of the most important pioneers of World Music and one of Funk and
R&B’s most progressive bands, MANDRILL is one of the most sampled
groups of today. They have been introduced to a whole new generation
of younger fans who are appreciating, in live concerts and through
Internet access, the power and artistry of this band.
You can hear their signature sound on
Kanye West’s “Two Words” with Mos Def from Kanye’s Grammy Award-winning College
Dropout album as well as on Brandy’s single “Talk About Our
Love” featuring and produced by Kanye West from her Grammy-nominated Afrodisiac
album.
Other samples include Shawty Lo’s’ “Dey Know”, KRS One’s “For Example,”
Black Eyed Peas “Weekends,” Floetry’s “Have Faith,” Wyclef Jean’s “You
Say Keep It Gangsta,” Tweet and Missy Elliot’s “We Don’t Need No
Water,” Kindred’s “If I,” and Nas’ “U Gotta Love It.”
Their most recent project MANDRILL LIVE AT MONTREUX (DVD/CD)
includes
interviews, behind the scenes footage and a photo gallery, in
addition to the 90-minute concert recorded in Switzerland at the
prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Stravinsky Hall. MANDRILL LIVE AT MONTREUX is
the very first “live” presentation of the legendary
Funk/R&B/Latin/Jazz/Rock band and features a compendium of
MANDRILL’s greatest hits. The CD captures the raw magic for which
MANDRILL is known with 10 electrifying tracks, unmatched in power and
versatility, including classics “Fencewalk,” “House of Wood,” “Peace
and Love” and others. Viewers are treated to bonus musical surprises on
what is sure to become a collector’s item. The concert CD is one of
MANDRILL’s finest albums. Both the CD and DVD are available on the
official website at www.mandrillis.com
and in stores worldwide. The DVD is currently featured on BET J’s “Club
J Concerts” (a division of the Black Entertainment Television Network).
On
their soon-to-be released, “seventeenth” album, MANDRILL
continues to promote positive messages of peace, harmony and social
justice. This CD will reflect the full spectrum of MANDRILL, featuring
the Wilson Brothers, innovators and composers of “Mango Meat," “Ape Is
High,” “Git It All,” “Rollin’ On," et al. It will definitely contain
the booty shakin’ fun and funk to which fans have grown accustomed.
Additional collaborators include the great Gerald Albright and Chuck D
of Public Enemy among others.
Still
touring the U.S. and abroad, the Wilson Brothers remain the driving
force behind MANDRILL. The current band is fueled by a new generation
of multi-talented musicians including Marc Rey, Keith Barry, Michael
Beholden, Gemi Taylor, Stacey Lamont Sydnor and Eli Brueggemann.
The
Group recently completed a series of successful concerts at the TANJazz
Festival in Tangier, Morocco, at the famous Carter
Barron Amphitheatre in Washington, D.C. and the West Oak Lane Jazz
Festival in Philadelphia, PA. (click on links below to view a YouTube
video of the MANDRILL West Oak Lane Performance, the Moroccan TV(Medi 1 Sat)
interview
with the Wilson Bros., the feature article in
Au Fait (Moroccan daily newspaper), and the Washington Post Carter
Barron concert review).
West Oak Lane - Philadelphia, PA: http://...com/yzo6pb3
West Oak Lane - Philadelphia, PA: http://...com/yzo6pb3
TANJazz TV feature and interview: http://...com/yz5om7b
Au Fait
Maroc - Moroccan daily newspaper: http://...com/yk6y43l
Their
recent Washington, D.C. engagement celebrates musical history when the
group headlined the bill that packed RFK Stadium beyond capacity as
80,000 people came to see MANDRILL with special guests Parliament
Funkadelic, Rare Earth and the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1973, breaking the
previously long-held attendance record set by the Rolling Stones.
MANDRILL
performed at the Annual West Oak Lane Jazz Festival in Philadelphia, PA
last summer, where they were warmly received by over 20,000 fans during
the course of the three-day event. Thousands of music lovers from as
far away as Tokyo, Japan, Austin, Texas and Des Moines, Iowa were drawn
by the Festival’s growing reputation as the hottest summer ticket on
the east coast.
Last
September 2008 found the Group in Hollywood Beach, FL at the Seventh
Annual Clambake.
“Your
spirits and pure, beautiful and boundless energies touched all of us so
profoundly. Our Sunday was awash with comments and reflections of the
magical Mandrill Family's visitation and transformation of our beach
and festival into a joyous celebration much greater than we had ever
hoped to create. You all truly embody and are surely High Ambassadors
of the universal language of music, soul, love, peace (and funk!) and I
personally, along with many others, am certain, will never be the same.
Thank you doesn't even come close to what we'd like to send to you.
Love, blessings and well wishes from our beach to your hearts with
hopes for your continued success and many more musical and spiritual
adventures ahead. May Mandrill's road some day soon lead back to South
Florida”. Holly Spillane, Producer.
MANDRILL’s
reputation
as a “World Music Group” and “Champions for Peace” began
with their self-titled debut album, which contained the epic
composition titled “Peace and Love.” This amazing suite was performed
to a Standing Room Only audience at Philharmonic Hall in New York City
more than three decades ago. At that time, the Group was accompanied
by Symphony of the New World, an 80-piece orchestra, and a 200-voice
chorus. Renowned musical conductor Coleridge Taylor Perkinson directed
the performance.
Hailing
from the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York by way of
Panama, MANDRILL has been heralded as "one of the world's greatest
musical treasures." Formed by the Wilson Brothers Lou, Ric "Doc" and
Carlos they were later joined by brother Wilfredo and the sons of Lou
and Carlos, The One Sun Lion Ra and Jadiem, respectively. A family of
multi-instrumentalists, whose background is a melting pot of Caribbean
culture blended with the sound and heart of urban America, MANDRILL
were pioneers of the unique musical combination of Funk, Rock, Latin,
R&B and the Jazz fusion movement of the time. Their first three
albums were recorded at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios in New
York's Greenwich Village. During the recording of their first album in
1970 they often shared the facility with Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix
and other notable artists. Plans to perform with Jimi Hendrix were
thwarted by his untimely death.
On two occasions MANDRILL appeared before sold out audiences
at
Carnegie Hall and their versatility is demonstrated by the fact that
they have shared the stage with artists of all genres. MANDRILL
performed with James Brown at Madison Square Garden and the Apollo in
New York City, with Duke Ellington at Philharmonic Hall, and with Miles
Davis at Bill Graham's Fillmore West. Other artists with whom the stage
has been shared include Herbie Hancock, Davie Bowie, Patti LaBelle,
Earth Wind & Fire, Tito Puente and The Fania All Stars, Frank
Zappa, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Mott The Hoople, Jim Croce, and War,
just to name a few.
MANDRILL
performed on Don Kirshner's In Concert, and Rock Concert television
series. On numerous occasions they appeared on Soul Train with Don
Cornelius and Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack. They were also
featured on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television program
Soul! created and hosted by Ellis Haizlip.
Always
socially conscious, MANDRILL was a participant with Aretha Franklin and
other musicians in the creation of a platinum album for the United
Nations that raised funds for children and international refugees. The
Group is actively involved in a campaign that focuses on the
preservation of our rain forests and the plight of its namesake, the
mandrill (West African baboon) that is critically endangered due to
habitat encroachment and poaching.
Over
the years MANDRILL has contributed to multiple film projects. Recently
they created an eclectic film score for the feature film Civil Brand, a
Lions Gate Entertainment Production. The Civil Brand score stands along
with MANDRILL's movie soundtracks for "The Greatest" (Columbia Pictures
biopic of Muhammad Ali) featuring their song, "Ali Bombaye", Paramount
Pictures cult classic The Warriors as well as their 2008 contribution
to Afro Ninja, starring Mark Hicks, Marla Gibbs and Jim Kelly.
MANDRILL
is
mentioned in the new documentary "ELECTRIC PURGATORY - The Fate Of
The Black Rocker," as well as "Rolling Stone's Encyclopedia of Rock and
Roll" and you can read about the life and times of MANDRILL in the book
by Jim McCarthy and Ron Sansoe titled "Voices of Latin Rock: the People
and Events That Created This Sound" (foreword by Carlos Santana)
published by the Hal Leonard Corporation.
The
second generation of Wilson Bros Records artists known as The Drill
Collective (TDC), features The One Sun
Lion Ra (son of Lou) and Jadiem
(son of Carlos), and other phenomenal musicians and performers whose
presentations span the spectrum from spoken word/rap to pop/rock. The
debut CD by The One Sun Lion Ra is titled Fire In The Sky and
includes the crowd-pleasers “Keeping’ It Live” and “Black Woman” which
was featured in the score of the Lions Gate movie, Civil Brand. The One
Sun Lion Ra regularly tours with Mandrill and consistently rocks the
house. He recently shared the stage with griots, The Last Poets and
Gil Scott-Heron at the Carter Barron in Washington, DC. Jadiem provides
the
rap intro for one of MANDRILL’s new songs, “Who Got Da Funk” and is
currently putting the finishing touches on what promises to be a great
album with strong West Coast influences. Angelica Star rounds out
the presentation with her guitar and perfect pitch vocals. Look for the
release of her CD in 2009.
Acknowledgment
must be given to former members Claude "Coffee" Cave, Omar Mesa,
Charlie Padro, Bundie Cenac, Fudgie "Kae" Solomon, Neftali Santiago,
Dougie Rodriguez, Joaquin Jessup, Andre Locke, Tommy Trujillo, Eddie
Summers, and Brian Allsop, for their outstanding contributions.
MANDRILL gives special
thanks to their loyal fans for their love and continued support.