THE TOMMYIGOE GROOVE CONSPIRACY
You get the feeling that keeping a secret is not Tommy Igoe’s strong suit.
The tall, lanky drummer is the leader of the 12- piece Groove Conspiracy, and whenever and wherever the group finds a home, word quickly spreads. It might have something to do with the fact that the Conspiracy has a reputation of being a combustible band brimming with fiery improvisers and brash arrangers unfettered by jazz big band conventions.
The initial New York iteration of Igoe’s band sneaked into Birdland one week, and before he knew it, the ensemble was attracting standing room- only crowds on a weekly basis. When his wife landed a job at Google and they relocated to Marin three years ago, Igoe reconstituted the group with a Bay Area cast and found a niche at the Rrazz Room, infusing San Francisco’s top cabaret venue with his swaggering synthesis of jazz, funk, Latin and Brazilian rhythms.
When the Rrazz Room closed, Igoe quickly made the jump to Yoshi’s- San Francisco, where the band’s weekly residency became one of the ill- fated club’s most consistent draws. The Groove Conspiracy stayed at the venue during its shockingly brief incarnation as The Addition, and, when that closed, made the leap across the bay, launching a new weekly residency at Yoshi’s in Oakland that starts next month.
“It’s very important to know what you’re good at, and I realized it by accident in New York. In the jazz community I’m able to Drummer Tommy Igoe says he hopes to bring everyone in on the Groove Conspiracy, and he wants the group to be a “source of pride in the area.” When: 7 p. m. Thursday Where: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz Tickets: $ 20-$ 25; 831- 427- 5100, www. kuumbwajazz. org Also: 8 p. m. May 6 and 8 p. m. Thursdays starting May 28; Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero W., Oakland; $ 26-$ 75; 510- 238- 9200, http:// yoshis. com set up camp and generate a phenomenal product that people want to see again and again,” says Igoe, who brings the Groove Conspiracy to Kuumbwa on Thursday . The band plays Yoshi’s on May 6, then starts a regular Thursday night run on May 28.
The son of the revered jazz and studio drummer Sonny Igoe, who toured with the likes of Benny Goodman and Woody Herman, Tommy Igoe got his start on the road at age 18 with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Stints with Blood, Sweat & Tears, drummer Steve Jordan and pianist/ composer Dave Grusin honed his versatility, though he became an international force by creating the drum part for Disney’s hugely popular Broadway production of “The Lion King.”
During his New York days, Igoe contributed to hundreds of recordings as a first- call studio player while pouring his energy
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