For Type A's, hot band is just a timeout
It was the last Monday in June, one of the hottest days of the year, and the Type A! Band sweated under a white canopy at Seattle's Freeway Park.
Playing numbers like "You're Still a Young Man," a Tower of Power cover, Gwen Stefani's "Holla Back" and Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," the band of 11 instrumentalists and vocalists Julie Hill, Cynthia Boggs, Yvaes Diirell and Sonya Kaye energized the onlookers sitting on the grass around the park.
Before long, even guys in suits and ties were clapping and swaying along with people like the flag-dancing man, a wild-haired guy who weaves through crowds in a gold-sequined jacket and multicolored scarves.
"We love these outdoor venues," said vocalist Boggs. "It's the only time we get entertainment from the crowd."
Burney Hill, an environmental manager on his lunch hour, looked up from his paperwork and smiled.
"I'm really liking what they're doing," said Hill. "Their music is so right for a sunny afternoon. This our local version of Earth, Wind and Fire coming to us."
Faces flush, water bottles in hand, the band charged through a 90-minute set. At the end, breaking down the instruments, musician Dan Marcus said, "We survived, man. Hot gigs are tough."
"We play so many private gigs, summertime is where everyone can see us," said Mark Adams. "My mom is here, her neighbors."
Don't be fooled by the Dockers and sundresses, though. To perform, nearly all of the band members had to take the day off from jobs in fields that include banking, business and health care. This is their recreation, too.
"What we do together is so fun and exciting," said vocalist Hill, a registered nurse. "We want it to be special and fresh every time we gig."
Let's face it, it's a Type A world. These people work hard — and play hard.
"I remember someone telling me that I had a classic Type A personality," said Andy Bryant, the band's founder and the owner of a car dealership.
"It was the name we first considered for the band," he said. "Once we put the band together, it was obvious that was the perfect name. The individuals are Type A people. And that's why it has survived and become successful in such a short amount of time."
Bryant, who started selling cars in Philadelphia in the early 1980s, owns Smokey Point Pontiac Buick GMC, and his daytime world revolves around car financing, inventory, service, parts, a body shop and sales of new and used vehicles.
Born in Philadelphia, the 49-year-old took flute and guitar lessons as a child. Decades later, he relearned the guitar and in 2003 formed the Type A! Band. Log on to its Web site and what comes up first is a definition: Type A behavior, it says, is characterized by "obsessiveness, aggressiveness and competitiveness."
"We are always trying to add new material," Bryant said. "We're paid to make people dance, but we also like to play a variety of music that feeds our needs. We're always trying to look for that subtle balance between what we like to play and what people want to hear."
Of the band's 50 or so performances a year, the majority have been private or corporate, with clients ranging from Microsoft to Alaska Airlines. It already has been booked for New Year's at the Fairmount Hotel in Seattle. Other public gigs have included events like the Bite of Seattle and Taste of Tacoma.
From early rehearsals in Andy Bryant's Bothell home, the band members have graduated to sound engineer Mark Miller's production and recording facility, Kalara Studios, in the Fremont district of Seattle.
"They've really come together as a powerful team," said Miller.
And the Type A attention to detail is apt, he said.
"More than most bands, they put a lot of time into research for arrangements, development of the songs, choosing the right songs for the demographics, and just rehearsing and making sure it's fun and the house gets jumpin'," said Miller.
"They're all fantastic musicians; many are very successful musicians, and they've come together to play music at their leisure, and it's turned into a business powerhouse," he continued.
Asked to describe the band's sound, Miller called it "a heartfelt, get up on the dance floor and shake your booty" kind of sound. "We can really do a lot of the deep-rooted, heartthrob kind of stuff."
Such stuff includes numbers by The Gap Band, Earth, Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder as well as more current material from Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas and even rap.
Type A! added a Latin percussionist, Johnny Conga, because that sound has an important place in its genre, said Bryant. "We also do big band and swing, and the five horns are a big part of that. The repertoire is tailored to who's paying us. We may do an hour of four-piece jazz ensemble in tuxedos, then come back for a rousing half-hour round of Jewish hora, then another two hours of R&B and funk music. Some parties will request big band and swing in the first hour, then Grandma and Grandpa leave around 10 or so. People who are getting married nowadays are in their 20s. So we mix in music from this millennium."
Everybody has a responsibility besides the music, he said.
"My job is to book the band and write the checks, my wife is a singer in the band and manages the finances, our horn player arranges, someone takes care of the Web site, someone manages the set list, and someone else the transportation."
While keeping it organized, Bryant wants the band to stay free of businesslike pressures.
"I don't manage it like I manage my business," he said. "The band is supposed to be a release for the people who participate in it."
Then again, the name of the band is Type A!, "and when someone floats an idea, the next thing you know, it's handled," said Bryant. "We're a 21st-century band; we communicate via e-mail, and at the end of the day there may be 30 band e-mails going out." He said the band has exchanged more than 10,000 e-mails to date. "When someone floats an idea, everybody is privy to what's going on. It keeps everybody abreast. It operates like a team."
Typical of boomers, laptops stay open during rehearsals. Horn arranger Dan Marcus has all of his charts in a music software program. He can change and reprint a chart — an arrangement — on his laptop during a rehearsal.
"My goal as an arranger for a cover band like this is to start with the original record," said Marcus. "I want it to be exactly like it was, right down to the scratches on the original album, and then we develop it from there." Having five horns gives Marcus the flexibility to turn a tune almost into a big-band arrangement.
"We call the horn section the WBD: weapons of brass destruction," said Bryant.
In the run-up to summer, "There were times we rehearsed every week for close to two months," said Bryant. "Because we try to make the show different each summer, we have to get that act back together."
"The reason that we have been successful is because everyone has a professional attitude," Bryant added.
"We try to be family oriented, not just by involving our children, but you have to have 15 people that all get along. That gives you a pretty big cross section of society. There will be differences, but we have been very, very lucky; we all rely on each other."
Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com
What: The band is composed of Andy Bryant, Cynthia Boggs, Yvaes Diirell, Julie Hill, Sonya Kaye, Kurt Kolstad, Mark Adams, Jimmy Thomas, Johnny Conga, John Sakura, Randy Lintott, Dan Marcus, Scott Adams, Dan Wickham and Paul Richardson, with production provided by Mark Miller. It performs jazz, big band, soul, rhythm and blues, swing, Latin, Motown and funk in public and private venues around the region.
Where, when: The band's next Snohomish County concert is 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Aug. 12 at Canoes Cabaret at the Tulalip Casino, 10200 Quil Ceda Blvd.
Admission: No cover charge.
Information: www.typeaband.com or www.tulalipcasino.com.