Just walking down the driveway, there is an indicator of the creativity present in this house. A shotgun treehouse with stairs, a roof, pulley and a huge spray painted mural on one side towers behind the carport.
“One of my coworkers actually sleeps up there,” explains John Daniel, who plays keys, drums and sax for The Winslow Family Band. “I just throw a tennis ball up there and wake him up when it’s time for work.”
Somehow that statement pretty much describes the vibe around here.
The Winslow Family Band makes music and resides here. Spawned from spontaneous jam sessions, WFB combines members of funk-jam masters The Go Show and spacey Espaso (Portuguese for space) for a highly experimental, non-lyrical musical explosion. There hasn’t been a combination of space and jam this excellent since Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan joined forces.
Cartoons and treehouses aside, the Winslows have converted the living room into a practice area, and musical instruments leave little space for walking. Eggshell mattresses line the ceiling and a disassembled drum set sits in a corner. Amps and speakers line the walls around a keyboard, pedal steel guitar, hand drums and other percussive instruments.
These instruments are the ingredients for whatever concoction the Winslow Family Band dreams up. Through an unconventional approach, the Winslows are collaborating on their latest recipe, The Color Album.
For The Color Album creation, each of the seven members was assigned a color found in the rainbow: Roy G. Biv. Next, each person-inspired by his color-composed a song and brought it to the group.
Red starts out with a dreamlike, mysterious intro that progressively smoothes out throughout the song. Orange brings the straight rock while yellow, inspired by illusion of grandeur, has a royal sound fit for a king. The oceanic, Caribbean blue leads into a funky indigo that finishes in a dark, minor-chorded violet.
“The Winslow Family Band is good for everyone involved,” explains bass/keys/trombone player Phil Buck. “It gives the opportunity for you to have six other people to work on one person’s idea.”
And do that seven times. It’s no easy task considering band members must work with unfamiliar instruments when writing the pieces.
“We’re more about sounding good together than focusing on each person’s talent,” said guitar/bass/keyboard player Tim Santos. “It’s an exercise in both restraint and expression.”
And it’s not just about the music either.
“The Winslows are all about appreciating all the arts,” says percussion coordinator Matt in the Hat. For instance, Mr. in the Hat describes people painting during live shows. And the creativity doesn’t stop with music and painting. It’s the treehouse. It’s the fleet of bicycles in the carport. It’s the rope swing and the “kick stick bottle ball” court at the house.
It’s collaborating on an album with Roy G. Biv.
The Players
Red: Tim Santos?
guitar, bass, keys
Orange: Dave Benedict?trumpet, bass, drums.
Yellow: Stanley K.?bass, guitar, keys
Green: Phil Buck?bass, keys, trombone.
Blue: C-Note?guitar, pedal steel, didgeridoo
Indigo: Matt in the Hat?Percussion
Violet: John Daniel?keys, drums, saxophone
The Winslow Family Band debuts The Color Album at Wall Street on July 12.
