If you’re a fan of Chicago, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and much more – you might enjoy checking out Louisville Brass & Electric this Friday night at Impellizzeri’s downtown.
The eight member cover band, which includes a horn section (trumpet, saxophone and trumpet) along with electric guitars, bass and keyboards, plays a wide range of music from the 60’s, 70’s and the early 80’s. You’ll hear some of your favorite songs from groups like Steely Dan, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder and even the Blues Brothers.
Art Kestler, who plays trumpet with LB&E, says they work hard to arrange their songs to sound as close to the originals as possible. And they play a lot of music you don’t normally hear from other cover bands.
“We play music that a lot of other bands can’t play because we have five lead singers, and we have a horn section, and one of the guys in the group has a master’s degree in music. The arrangements we put together, most of the time, sound like the original recording.”
Louisville Brass & Electric has been around for about three years but the group only began using the LB&E name about a year ago. All are seasoned musicians, and most played with other popular Louisville-based bands in the 60’s and 70’s with top ten hit records in the Kentuckiana region. For example, Kestler played with Tom Dooley and the Lovelights. You may recall their 1968 hit song, “My Groovy Baby.” Bassist and vocalist Duke Freeman played with Us Four and sang their hit, “Alligator.” Guitarist and vocalist George Shields played with Copperfield, a group noted for their 1970s hit records “Eleanor Rigby” and “Lady Pleaser.”
Kestler says LB&E got together, initially, just for fun for a high school reunion, but as they’ve improved as a group and started getting more gigs, they have become quite serious about the whole endeavor. They currently play in Louisville and other areas around Kentucky. Kestler says, so far, “Every place we’ve played – we’ve have had great audience responses. We’ve gotten numerous repeat bookings.”
At a recent LAMP Awards concert held in New Albany, an event popular with local musicians, the group received a standing ovation.
You can catch Louisville Brass & Electric at Impellizzeri’s at 110 West Main Street (across from the KFC Yum Center) from 9 pm to 12:00 am Friday, November 30th.
Photo: Courtesy of Louisville Brass & Electric
