An evening with The Average White Band
Sat Jan 19, 8:00 PM - Sat Jan 19, 11:00 PM

One of the top Soul, R & B, and Jazz-Funk groups alive. First known for the timeless instrumental hit Pick Up the Pieces, the band's future would lie in its diverse songwriting and unique approach, defying strict adherence to any one facet of rhythm & blues. Stretching across several gold & platinum albums and triple Grammy nominations with the legendary Atlantic label, they were the first Brits to simultaneously top the US Top 100 Singles, Albums and R&B charts, before gathering similar UK and international honours.

While a good number of tracks, Cut The Cake, Queen Of My Soul, Atlantic Avenue and Let's Go Round Again attracted major chart action as further singles, many album cuts, like Schoolboy Crush, Love Your Life and I'm The One were sampled and spun as deep grooves. AWB's contribution to Hip-Hop, Rap, and modern R&B is thus endorsed by the hundreds of samples dating from the Erik B & Rakim days, through Ice-T, Tribe Called Quest, P-Diddy, Mark Ronson et al - right up to Rick Ross (Rich is Gangsta) today. Conversely, ballads such as Cloudy, A Love Of Your Own and If I Ever Lose This Heaven stand as some of the finest soul tracks ever recorded.