Jazz Articles

Toph-E & The Pussycats: No Ordinary Day

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 27, 2010

Toph-E & The Pussycats is a contemporary band with old-school ideas. Its repertoire combines jazz, funk and R&B properties. For No Ordinary Day, those elements are augmented by hints of Brazilian and Latin rhythms. Part of the group's name comes from a variation of drummer Christopher Parker's nickname, “Toph." Collectively, the group's members bring a wealth of experience, including television credits and musical associations with a number of rock, pop, and jazz artists. Will Lee and ...

Toph-E & the Pussycats: Live in Detroit

by C. Michael Bailey
February 18, 2007

Jazz is a schizophrenic music: it desires performance on the concert stage to a quiet, polite tuxedo and evening dress audience; at the same time, it seeks out a rowdy, drunk bar or festival crowd. Jazz has largely been able to cater to both populations successfully, but has certainly tended to the former extreme (at least in recent years). Toph-E and the Pussycats is a funky quintet that plays an assertive brand of soul jazz injected with a contemporarily smooth ...

Toph-E & The Pussycats: Live In Detroit

by Michael P. Gladstone
July 19, 2006

This ensemble, which has been in business since 2000, consists of five well-respected musicians who have largely worked behind the scenes on scores of studio sessions, as well as the television bands of David Letterman (bassist Will Lee) and Saturday Night Live (drummer Chris Parker). In addition, it also features percussionist/composer Ralph MacDonald, who was immortalized for his stirring participation on George Benson's version of “On Broadway" decades ago (and acknowledged by Benson in the closing coda). Clifford Carter (piano ...

Toph-E & the Pussycats: Live in Detroit

by Mark F. Turner
July 13, 2006

Don't let this band's name fool you: Toph-E & The Pussycats are a group of veteran jazz musicians whose combined resumes include television gigs, Grammy awards, and musician credits from James Brown to Rachel Z. Led by drummer Chris Parker, the group also features bassist Will Lee, piano/keyboard player Clifford Carter, saxophonist David Mann, and percussionist/songwriter Ralph MacDonald.

The New York-based group, which was formed in 2000, performs compositions with a heady mix of jazz, R&B and rock music, basing ...