Features

Summer Stars: Kung Fu

Here is another of our “Summer Stars,” emerging acts featured in the 2011 Relix Festival Guide who will be making the rounds this summer…

When a serendipitous jam session brought together keyboardist Todd Stoops and bassist Dave Livolsi—Connecticut’s Kung Fu —it “wasn’t a very serious thing.” Stoops recalls its debut show, an informal Monday night residency at a friend’s New Haven, Conn. bar: “The first week, maybe like 70 people came.” But, much to the band’s surprise, he adds, “From the third week on, we were sold out! We ended up doing 14 weeks, and it was sold out almost every week!”

And so it’s been for the band composed of seasoned live music veterans, Stoops (RAQ) and Livolsi (Scofield/Jazz is Dead), with Rob Somerville (Deep Banana Blackout), Tim Palmieri and Adrian Tramantono (The Breakfast). In just 15 short months, its brand of “kick you in the teeth fusion” has garnered national attention with well-received performances at numerous festivals including The Big Up, Camp Barefoot and Gathering of the Vibes. And though its originals “run the gamut of styles” from up-tempo funk to odd-meter jazz—with reinvented covers of classics from Jeff Beck to Herbie Hancock—Kung Fu’s mission at live shows remains simple: “We come as a group of commandos.” Stoops quietly elaborates. “We come to blow up the bridge.”

Appearing at: Gathering of the Vibes, The Big Up, Strange Creek Campout, A Bear’s Picnic, Jam at the Grove and more.