Right time to stay Kool

(From left) Dennis Thomas, George Brown, Robert 'Kool' Bell and Khalis Bayyan.

Big names are on the bill for a series of concerts in KL beginning next week. SHUIB TAIB gets the rap on a long-time favourite.

SO many big names are part of the Live and Loud KL concerts that even Kool & The Gang are impressed by the illustrious company they will be keeping.

"What? Whitney Houston is going to sing there too? Good God! Wish we could extend our stay but we have commitments planned months before. Still, it's good to know that we're a part of this big music event," said Robert "Kool" Bell in a telephone interview recently.

Famous for hits like Get Down On It, Ladies Night, Celebration and Jungle Boogie, Kool & The Gang will be one of the many international stars at Live and Loud KL's concerts from Nov 23 until Dec 2.

The group is scheduled to perform at Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, alongside James Ingram and Malaysia's Hazami on Nov 27.
Kool & The Gang have performed in Kuala Lumpur before.

"That's right. But that was so many years ago and after all these years, we're looking forward to coming back to Malaysia again. Unfortunately, we won't have that much time to check out interesting places in Kuala Lumpur," said Kool, adding that the band would stop in Jakarta first before coming to Kuala Lumpur, and would continue with performances in Germany and a host of cities in the United States.

Next year, however, the band plans to hold concerts in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong "and all the areas around there".

The band has been around for more than four decades, but only four original members are left: Robert "Kool" Bell, his brother Khalis Bayyan (formerly known as Ronald Bell), their longtime friends Dennis "DT" Thomas and George "Funky" Brown.

Kool attributes good communication between members, including being one with one another, as the reasons the four have stuck together.

"In this business, it's easy to get distracted by all kinds of things but as long as you remain true and loyal to your pals, everything will be all right," said Kool.

The band's brand of music is best described as a mix of jazz, R&B, funk and pop.

Kool & The Gang's story started in the housing projects of Jersey City, New Jersey. They were teenagers, who, aside from listening to Miles Davis albums and James Brown singles for inspiration, also held jamming sessions in basements.

In 1969 they made their first record. Still teenagers and full of confidence, they named that first record after themselves. Their creativity produced a string of loose-but-tight, "fun" records, culminating in the pop chart smash Jungle Boogie.

Kool & The Gang didn't need a singer then: the horns were the lead voice and the fans chanted along. Their songs were featured in films like Rocky and Saturday Night Fever.

Thanks largely to songs like Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness and Open Sesame, they've earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums.

Kool & The Gang has performed continuously for the past 35 years, longer than any R&B group in history.

With the explosion of hip-hop in the '90s, Kool & the Gang's incredible catalogue of grooves made them DJ favourites, and they were second only to R&B icon James Brown as sources of rap-music samples.

In 2004, the album The Hits Reloaded found the band collaborating with such "new" acts like Lil' Kim, Sean Paul, Ashanti, and Blackstreet, among others. Last year, the band re-entered the Billboard R&B chart with Steppin' Into Love.

What kind of performance can Malaysians expect? "Well, we're going to sing some new stuff but more of the old songs. Basically, we're going to have a party!" said Kool.