If you were around the local music scene during the mid to late 1990s (think B-Side Players, Greyboy Allstars, Price of Dope), then you probably caught the funkified rhythms of Wise Monkey Orchestra. Mixing influences like disco, Santana, and Chaka Khan, they create a body moving-groove they describe as Kinetic Soul. Members also play with Superunloader and the Styletones.
Founded by singer Tim Pacheco (Sol Power, Psydecar, POD), the multi-influenced players cover everything from reggae to latin to funk. Wise Monkey has rotated sax and guitar players but has held on to the core group of Ali on vocals, Chad on bass, and Andy on trombone. The mixture of Ali’s sultry vocals and the propulsive rhythm section, with the horns riffing over the top, makes for an intoxicating aural experience.
In 2007, the band contributed music to the film Skid Marks, a Karl Kozak comedy about two ambulance companies