Captain Coconut

Fresh funk with old-school sensibilities, Captain Coconut is well-conceived contemporary groove music with deep roots in classic funk and soul. After five years on the New York City scene, Captain Coconut has made a name for itself by simply playing good music. The seven-piece band has performed at some of New York's legendary venues, including The Knitting Factory, The Bitter End, CBGB, and two gigs at Gracie Mansion for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Winner of Going.com's NYC Band Showcase an...

Fresh funk with old-school sensibilities, Captain Coconut is well-conceived contemporary groove music with deep roots in classic funk and soul. After five years on the New York City scene, Captain Coconut has made a name for itself by simply playing good music. The seven-piece band has performed at some of New York's legendary venues, including The Knitting Factory, The Bitter End, CBGB, and two gigs at Gracie Mansion for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Winner of Going.com's NYC Band Showcase and NYU's 2008 Battle of The Bands, Captain Coconut was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2007 Musicians & Emerging Artists NY Festival and was a finalist for Bambu Rolling Paper's Band of The Year. They have played numerous colleges, including Wesleyan, Vassar, and New York University, and private events at venues including The Museum of Modern Art and B.B. King Blues Club. They've also opened for Bill Summers at the Blue Nile in New Orleans during JazzFest '06 and Marc Stone at Rotolo's in '07. Produced and recorded by guitarist/bandleader Daniel Knobler and mixed by Alan Evans of Soulive, Captain Coconut's second record, Everybody's Business, offers 11 tracks of feel-good music. From the honking baritone sax opening the record on "166 & 9th" to the otherworldly sounds of "Oscar," from the slow jam of the title track to the Eddie Harris-style fusion of "Atop an Underground," Everybody's Business delivers tight, sophisticated tunes with inventive arrangements and a deep pocket. Guest vocalists Jon Seale and Eva Imber showcase the band's finesse in a pop context. Everybody's Business harnesses the power of the band's contagiously energetic live show and builds on it with studio savvy and supreme musicianship. In New Orleans' offBeat magazine, contributing editor John Swenson wrote "[Captain Coconut’s debut CD] Shoop! lives up to the promise of the live shows with a terse, snappy neo-funk sound that particularly showcases the instrumental prowess of the horn section. The two most impressive things about the album are the exceptionally good songwriting, especially guitarist Dan Knobler's numbers, and the airtight, stop-and-go-on-a-dime arrangements." On Everybody's Business the grooves are deeper, the songs catchier, the band tighter, and the sound sleeker. Captain Coconut has done it again -- and this time it’s even funkier.