August 15 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Back to school with Old School Funk, R’n’B at Dock of Bay Fest

Walk or drive near Mare Island on Sept. 7 — and if the afternoon winds are just right — what likely will settle in your ears are “Pick Up the Pieces,” “Nightshift,” “You’re Still a Young Man” and “Always and Forever.”

They are, respectively, hit tunes by The Average White Band, The Commodores, Tower of Power, with Lenny Williams on lead vocals, and Heatwave.

And if you think those acts represent Old School Funk and memorable R&B, musical styles that put listeners, young and old, in a pleasant, laid-back groove, you may be ready to queue up for the 2024 Mare Island Dock of Bay Festival in Vallejo.

Staged by Frazier Trager Presents, the festival features lots of funk, a style of aggressive urban dance music driven by hard, syncopated bass lines and drumbeats, accented by a variety of instruments, especially horns. There also will be an array of food choices paired with regional wines, microbrews, and specialty cocktails. Add waterfront views of the Napa River along the entire festival grounds, too, said promoter Kevin Frazier.

The Average White Band, AWB for short and named for the Scottish group’s obsession with Black American music, formed in 1972. They gained attention opening for Eric Clapton during the British guitarist’s Rainbow Theatre comeback concert in 1973.

After a first recording, the band signed with the Atlantic label and released the “AWB” LP in 1974. It contained the No. 1 Billboard hit “Pick Up the Pieces,” “Person to Person,” “Work to Do,” ‘Keepin’ It to Myself” and “I Just Can’t Give You Up,” among others.

A second LP, “Cut the Cake,” released in 1975 and further showcasing their tight-as-a-hat-band rhythmic shuffle and horn attack, included, besides the title tune, “School Boy Crush” and “How Sweet Can You Get.”

By the mid-1980s, the band’s presence on the Billboard charts had largely ended, but several of their tunes are still heard in discos and nightclubs 50 years after being released.

The Grammy-winning Commodores, a soul group formed in 1968 by friends from the Tuskeegee Institute, became the most successful act of Motown’s later years after Stevie Wonder. They gained famed behind the vocals of Lionel Richie, who eventually started a solo career. The band’s best-known numbers include “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” “Too Hot to Trot,” and “Brick House.”

Solano County resident Lenny Williams is, of course, the legendary former lead singer for Tower of Power, the integrated Oakland-based R&B band that emerged from the Bay Area’s early 1970s club scene.

Known for their wall-of-sound horn section, their albums include “East Bay Grease,” released on the San Francisco Records label in 1971, followed by “Bump City” on the Warner Bros. label in 1972, which included the single “You’re Still a Young Man,” becoming one of the group’s signature songs.

The “Tower of Power” LP was released in 1973, when Williams, a Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native, joined the band. He continued singing on the “Back to Oakland” and “Urban Renewal” LPs, as the band reached a peak, releasing singles such as “So Very Hard to Go,” “What Is Hip?” and “Don’t Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream). Other hits include “Bump City” and “Down to the Nightclub.”

Heatwave is an original funk and soul band. Their hits include “Always and Forever,” “The Groove Line,” “Mind Blowing Decisions, and “Boogie Nights.”

Note: General admission attendees can bring portable seating or enjoy an upgraded experience in the VIP area with specialty drinks, culinary treats, access to inside restrooms, and waterfront seating near the stage. The premium VIPs have a chance to meet the Average White Band backstage and win a Gold Vinyl set of their greatest hits, Frazier noted.

Additionally, there will be tables and chairs in the food court area by the Unity Stage and along the waterfront for all to share. The Main Stage will have a large video wall, state-of-the-art lighting, he added in the preparted statement.

The festival will sell out, according to Frazier, who recommended buying tickets early.

The  festival is sponsored by Mare Island Company, Wente Vineyard, Suite Treatments, Larson Family Winery, Phillips 66, The Fireside, Touro University, Skyview Memorial, and Moreno Inc.

IF YOU GO

• What: Mare Island Dock of Bay Festival
• When: 1 to 9:30 p.m. Sept. 7 (Gates open at 12:30 p.m.)
• Where: Mare Island, 860 Nimitz Ave., Vallejo
• Tickets: $120 general admission; $187 VIP; $265 Premium VIP, and all include free parking
• Online: dockofbay.com

Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 4:58 p.m.