Students' destiny is to manifest the groove
WWW serves up world of poor taste
Students' destiny is to manifest the groove
by Katy Davidson
Sophomore Devon Detweiler calls Groove Manifesto's sound "funk/jazz rock with soul." During shows, most of the band's followers forget the labels and just full-on groove.
The band Groove Manifesto sprung last year out of an official Lewis & Clark jazz band. Senior Thomas Smith said the jazz band would practice every Monday and Wednesday, then a subgroup of interested students would get together on Fridays to "jam."
The members of this group eventually began to fuse together like the nature of their music, a combination of funk and jazz. After a little initiation, the Friday jammers became the bumping and swinging ever-presence of Groove Manifesto.
The current line-up has Smith on saxophone, Detweiler on keyboard and vocals, Andrew Field on guitar, Jonathan Davis on the bass, and recent graduate Evan Louden on drums.
Detweiler says she sings in about half of the songs and the rest are instrumental. "[Singing] just kind of happened … It's my favorite thing to do!" she said.
Groove Manifesto's original line-up showed a somewhat different face. "Our band has changed so much since last year," Detweiler said. "We started with eight people."
The only three that remain from the original eight are Detweiler, Smith, and Field.
"Some of the changes have been for the better, but it was a blow when we lost our original bass player, Pete Brendler," Smith said. "Pete sort of put the band together," Detweiler said.
Last summer, the members of Groove Manifesto specifically stuck around Portland to "work on the music." They booked a show at the Dublin Pub and played another gig with friends from the band Eye of the Gnoodle at Mt. Tabor Pub in Southeast Portland.
"My favorite show was at the Mt. Tabor Pub in July. I played my personal best," Smith said.
Detweiler says her own favorite was last Thursday's show at the Dublin Pub. The performance was supposed to be bassist Davis' last show with the band, but after playing, he decided to stick around.
"Everyone was dancing. Even when we messed up, it didn't really matter. We clicked. It felt so good," Detweiler said.
"We really played as a band," Smith agreed.
Smith says the group is taking November off to work on some new material. Right now, Groove Manifesto plays about 50% original songs and 50% covers. The band practices two or three times a week; sometimes more when they are preparing for a show.
"Most of the time, practice feels just like a jam," Detweiler said. "You leave feeling good."
Groove Manifesto granted one exception to their November performance hiatus: it agreed to play a KLC benefit show in the Plattform on Saturday, Nov. 8, with various other campus bands.
As for Groove's future, Detweiler seems hopeful. Both Smith and Davis will graduate this year and Louden is already out, but Detweiler says she hopes to continue playing with Groove Manifesto at least through next summer.
After the KLC show, Groove Manifesto will take the stage next in Pioneer Courthouse Square on Dec. 3 in support of cerebral palsy, LC basketball, and a Buick dealership that is working in conjunction with an LC economics class.
"We get better every show," Detweiler said.
Smith says his favorite part of each show is "interacting with other people."
