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Music ::
The Bo Keys
PERFORMING: 7th Ponderosa Stomp, April 29-30, 2008
 The Bo Keys
The Bo-Keys don't simply replay the Memphis instrumental tradition –they deliver a hard-hitting and authentic take on the city's original soul-stew sound. A devotee of Stax instrumental groups like theMar-Keys and Booker T. & the MGs, bandleader and bassist Scott Bomarformed the Bo-Keys as an homage to the quintessential Memphis sound –yet he has both feet firmly planted in the 21st Century.
Their story goes back to 1998, when Bomar was asked to put together aband to back Stax sensation Sir Mack Rice. The idea for a soul-jazz combo was born, but it took Bomar a few more years to assemble the perfect line-up for the Bo-Keys.
A chance meeting between Bomar and guitarist Charles 'Skip' Pitts – at Memphis' Stax Music Academy, where both were teaching at-risk youth –led to the current incarnation of the Bo-Keys. Isaac Hayes' right handman (that's Skip's wah-wah you hear on the intro to "Theme From Shaft"), Pitts also lent his unforgettable grooves to Rufus Thomas'"Do The Funky Chicken", the Soul Children's "I'll Be the Other Woman", The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing" and Gene Chandler's "Rainbow'65."
Trumpeter and vocalist Ben Cauley is truly a soul legend. Ben is afounding member of the original Bar-Kays and the only surviving memberof the fatal crash in Madison, WI which took the lives of his bandmates and Otis Redding. Ben has played on many sessions in Memphisand Muscle Shoals with everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to The DoobieBrothers.
Keyboardist Archie "Hubie" Turner is a member of the highly esteemed Hi Rhythm Section. As a session player at Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio, "Hubie" has played on countless classics by Al Green, Ann Peebles and Syl Johnson. Archie is also a member of many groups whose rare Memphis 45's are sought after by soul/funk DJ such as The Pac-Keys, The Martinis and Black Rock.
Trumpeter Marc Franklin, tenor sax man Jim Spake and baritone saxplayer Kirk Smothers are, like Bomar, young players on the Memphis scene. But over the last decade, these men have anchored some mighty horn sections, recording and performing live with such legends as Rufus Thomas, Ike Turner, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Al Green. With an energy and raw talent that's reminiscent of the Memphis Horns, Franklin, Smothers and Spake are living proof that Memphis music is alive and well.
Drummer George Sluppick is the newest addition to the group. Originally from Memphis, George has played his funky and distinctive Memphis meets New Orleans with a twist of Boogaloo beat in the studioand on the road with Albert King, Robert Walker's 20th Congress, Melvin Sparks and most recently JJ Grey and MOFRO.
Bomar's concept was for an updated version of the incendiary Memphis sound embodied by players like Skip Pitts and Ben Cauley. Not only did he capture that sound, he recruited the original musicians who inspired him in the beginning. And now Bomar's vision was fulfilled: in spring 2003, the Bo-Keys headed into Willie Mitchell's Royal Studioto record their debut album. The group also performed the score forthe Academy Award winning film, Hustle and Flow and was will befeatured on camera in the upcoming film, Soul Men, staring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mack.
It's the sound of Memphis now– familiar, fresh, and unquestionably fantastic, with The Royal Sessions, the Bo-Keys have finally arrived.
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