It was a true Night of Champlins as the legendary group Sons of Champlin came to Santa Barbara not only with their own mix of rock, funk and jazz, but the SON of the Sons of Champlin took the baton from the older generation to pass on the tradition of good vibes and sounds.
Fresh off from being a finalist on The Voice, Will Champlin opened the show with a snappy quartet on Alan Hertz/dr, Jonah Sykes/g and Patrick Taylor/b for an impressive collection of original tunes that were clever, concise and cohesive. Champlin’s voice is a force to be reckoned with, as it is both crystal clear and able to reach penetrating highs and anguished lows without tripping hurdle. On keyboards, he delivered uptempo and peppy tunes such as “Last Man Standing” and No Fair Game” before switching to banjo for a thoughtful “Surgical CCC” and doing a jig of a piece with the stomping “Borrowed Trouble.” The tight rhythm section created some dramatic moments while Champlin delivered penetrating lyrics on “Heat of Passion” and was reassuring and comforting on the closing “Carry On.” If this is the future of modern pop, there looks like some hope. The combination of thoughtful lyrics and creative tunes is a rare feature during this day of cut and paste pop.
Speaking of “the day,” once upon a time there WAS no labels or genres. Groups like The Sons of Champlin took in the flavors and rhythms of everything that the radio had to offer, and created their own curry of cooking music. This night Bill Champlin switched between the grooving B3 and swaggering six strings as he and long time buddies Geoff Palmer/key-vib, Tim Cain/ts, Carman Grillo/g and Dick Mithun/b funkified along with vocalist Tamara Champlin, Jeff Lewis/tp and double dutied Hertz for 2 hours of soulful stew and heavenly harmonies.
Sandwiched between the two romping versions of “Freedom,” the band mixed upbeat and optimistically catchy tunes such as “Rooftop” and “For Joy.” The swinging horns provided by Cain and Lewis created steamy sounds as well as jazzy solos during tunes such as “Without Love” and when Palmer went over to the vibes, a spacey and mellow (when was the last time you heard THOSE words) atmosphere was still able to bop along on “Time Will Bring You Love.” Getting funkier “than a 3 day old band-aid” as Champlin joked, the band got down and dirty on “I Like to Feel Good/No Mo’” while Tamara growled like Janis Joplin on “Backstreets of Paradise” and a rousing “Lightning in This Bottle.” The horns had more punctuations than a Shakespeare novella, with the horn ricocheting like a shootout at OK Corral. Champlin then brought the mood back to the REAL basics of rock, delivering up a gospel-themed “Love Can Take Me Now” and testifying before the congregation on a glorious “Saved By The Grace.” All throughout, Champlin was in earthy and earnest voice, with all of the team members out to prove that “60s Rockers” can mean many different things.
Upcoming show at The Lobero include David Lindley Jan 16 and Bill Frisell Jan 26.