When I first heard Dr.Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band in 1976 I felt that I was being tricked into liking my parents or maybe even their parent’s music. This strange mixture Forties big-band sounds with the disco flavors of the time confused many young DJs who didn’t know if they should like it or give it to their grandparents as a Christmas present. (Tuxedo Junction, Manhattan Transfer and others would later ” Trick” me as well.) The album would become a Gold Selling record the single ” Sunshower” would be sampled by a variety of artists. His band would catapult vocalist Cory Daye into the Disco limelight, and this unique sound would open the door to other artists who would explore this era and interpret it in their own Disco way.
August Darnell whose real name was Thomas August Darnell Browder would undergo a variety of incarnations eventually reinventing himself and scoring big as Kid Creole and the Coconuts in the early 80s which would combine all his previous styles as well as infusing some Caribbean rhythms. Co-founded by Darnell and his Savannah Band mate vibraphone player Andy Hernandez.Darnell presently lives in Sweden and occasionally tours with original members.
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