Two drummers; two very different tribute projects, each paying homage to two very different styles of music. And yet, where there are tributes, there are also tributaries.
Kofi Baker is the son of drummer Ginger Baker (1939-2019), the firebrand who drove the short-lived 1960s British blues-rock trio Cream with vocalist/guitarist Eric Clapton and vocalist/bassist Jack Bruce (1943-2014). Singing drummer Baker’s tribute act is The Music of Cream (www.musicofcream.com), which also includes Clapton’s nephew Will Johns (guitar/vocals), son of producer and recording engineer Andy Johns (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones). Its lineup will be rounded out by Kris Lohn (bass/vocals), and Stephen Ball (keyboards/guitar).
Jonathan Mover is an American drummer/vocalist who’s worked with progressive rock acts Marillion, Joe Satriani, and GTR (also featuring iconic prog-rock singing guitarists Steve Hackett, formerly of Genesis, and Steve Howe, from Yes). Following a last-minute 2019 stint as a replacement drummer for Canadian Genesis tribute act The Musical Box, Mover used the inspiration to form ProgJect (www.progject.com), his self-described “homage band” to artists like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Bill Bruford, Rush, Jethro Tull, U.K., Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and more.
ProgJect also features singing keyboardist, bassist and percussionist Michael Sadler (from Saga), guitarist/vocalist Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Satriani), keyboardist/vocalist Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard), and bassist/keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Matt Dorsey (Beth Hart).
Cue the tributaries. Most of the ProgJect personnel came from post-1970s North American prog-rock acts, which were influenced by the predominantly British forerunners listed above. Progressive rock is, after all, primarily a blend of classical, jazz and rock influences that largely detours around standard rock’s blues-based forms.
Yet Cream was a different rarity. The trio was certainly blues-based, borrowing heavily from American roots music veterans like Robert Johnson for epic covers like “Crossroads,” but the three ingrained on-the-fly improvisation into their live performances that echoed American jazz. Listen to the 1970 album Live Cream for proof, even if the trio’s studio recordings were simplified by comparison. Influential to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jeff Beck Group, and Led Zeppelin, Cream was a one-of-a-kind progressive rock band without the European classical undertones in spite of the three Brits’ heritage.
Like his father, Baker is no shrinking violet (both father and son appeared in the 2012 documentary about the Cream drummer, Beware of Mr. Baker), having toured and recorded with Bruce, Vinnie Moore, Glenn Hughes, Jonas Hellborg, and Shawn Lane. Speaking by phone from his home in Hobart, Ind., the 52-year-old starts out with questions about why American drivers fail to use their turn signals before the conversation turns toward music, and the long shadow of his father.
“He was really influential at first,” Baker says, “and he’s actually a huge influence now that he’s gone. In addition to Cream and Blind Faith, I’ve since gone back and listened to his work with Ginger Baker’s Air Force band; stuff I hadn’t heard before. He set a whole lot of things in motion that changed drumming forever, like bring double kick drums into rock music. But I’ve also been influenced by drummers like Steve Gadd, Jon Hiseman [from the band Colosseum], and Frank Zappa’s great drummers. Particularly Terry Bozzio [who also played with U.K.] and Vinnie Colaiuta, who’ve influenced me even more than my dad. I’m really more of a jazz/fusion and progressive rock drummer.”
The seeds for Baker’s tribute act were sown in 2017, when he and Johns participated in a Cream 50th anniversary tour.
“Our lineup back then was with Malcolm Bruce, Jack’s son, who’s no longer with the band,” Baker says. “We were jamming more then; doing more improvisation. It was more of a fusion act, because I’m like my dad on steroids and Malcolm is like Jack on steroids. We may have gone a little too far outside the box for our audiences. And for Will, who’s more of a lead singer and blues guy, and into Clapton’s post-Cream solo material, which we perform during our second sets. Having played with all three Cream members, I learned that Eric was the most down-to-earth. And Cream was, after all, a conscious effort by my dad, Jack and Eric to be more commercial.”
Disraeli Gears, Cream’s second studio album from 1967, epitomized that effort. “Strange Brew” and “Sunshine of Your Love” became two of the band’s classic radio singles, with the stirring album cuts “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “SWLABR” as B-sides.
“‘World of Pain’ and ‘Dance the Night Away’ are great songs too,” Baker says. “People ask me what my favorite Cream song is, and I really can’t say, because I like all of it. And before the pandemic shut everything down, we were selling out shows and really taking off. So I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”
For the Massachusetts-born, Los Angeles-based Mover and his ProgJect, COVID-19 likewise became a curse — yet one that has also proven timely for 2022. Okumoto was the first name mentioned during skull sessions toward the idea in the spring of 2019, and as fate would have it, the keyboardist was standing directly in front of Mover that same night as they entered a Brand X concert at The Rose in Pasadena. Their conversation formed the nucleus; a call to Dorsey made ProgJect a trio, and Sadler then quickly signed on to make it a quartet.
Keneally was first-call, but had to initially decline because of other commitments. Jason Bieler became the primary guitarist as the band captured promotional video, launched its website, and prepared for its first tour in September and October of 2020. The pandemic shut that down, of course, but in the subsequent 18 months, that first-call guitarist became available to answer the call. And Keneally’s limitless capabilities, including on keyboards, are already opening new doors.
“I have an amazing Brand X medley on the back burner for the next tour,” the 58-year-old Mover says by phone from his home in L.A. “Keneally is a beast, and we’ll also be utilizing his keyboard skills in the near future. You have to be a serious musician to tackle Zappa material, and Mike played with him. There aren’t many people you can say that about. So we’ll also do some Zappa in the next tour, along with some Dixie Dregs and others. With Keneally, all things music are possible.”
That last phrase is practically the mantra of ProgJect, given the broad range of challenging material the quintet will cover. Not to mention the musicianship of stalwarts like vocalists Peter Gabriel, Jon Anderson, John Wetton, Greg Lake, and Ian Anderson; guitarists Robert Fripp, Martin Barre, David Gilmour, Adrian Belew, and Allan Holdsworth; bassists Mike Rutheford, Tony Levin, Chris Squier, and Geddy Lee; keyboardists Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Rick Wright, and Dave Stewart; and drummers Bruford, Bozzio, Phil Collins, Carl Palmer, and Neil Peart.
“Sadler is singing like he’s 20 years old again on this material,” Mover says. “Ryo is an absolute beast, too. There’s nothing I can throw at him that he can’t come back and play a week later. Same thing with Matt. Every time I ask something of him, he’s playing a different instrument, bass, guitar, a double-neck, keys, pedals; he’s singing lead on one track, and background on everything else. He’s the Swiss Army knife of ProgJect.”
Mover also covers the drummer-and-percussionist roles of the likes of Rush’s Peart and Yes, U.K., and King Crimson’s Bruford via additives like tubular bells, crotales, cowbells and woodblocks. He says the band has enough material for three-hour shows, especially given the length of some of these artists’ epic soundscapes, but had to reduce it to meet the demands of venues.
“We’re paying tribute to a genre, not dressing up like anybody else,” he says. “That’s why I call us an homage band. Our foundation is the prog giants like Genesis, Yes, Crimson, and ELP. After that are the branches like Gentle Giant, Rush, Tull, U.K., and Peter Gabriel. And others, of course. Our shows will run from two hours to two hours and 15 minutes, and with so much material, we’ll probably start swapping out certain artists and cuts on the second and third legs of this tour.”
The drummer won’t let on exactly what songs to expect, although the ProgJect website offers teases of “Squonk” by Genesis, “Roundabout” by Yes, “Lark’s Tongues in Aspic, Part II” by King Crimson, “Karn Evil 9” by ELP, and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd. What he stresses, primarily, is that the band can’t wait to debut the shows it’s had to put on hold for two-and-a-half years.
“Everyone is so excited for this gig,” Mover says. “Rehearsals are going great. We’ve become better, tighter, and are getting to know each others’ musical personalities, and personalities in general. We can anticipate what each other is going to do now. So the chemistry is great, but we’re just yearning to play in front of audiences, and can’t wait to finally do this tour.”
If You Go
The Music of Cream’s Disraeli Gears Tour stops in at Wells Hall at the Parker Playhouse, 707 N.E. 8th St., Fort Lauderdale
When: 8 p.m. April 7
Tickets: $37.50-$57.50
Info: 954-462-0222, parkerplayhouse.com
ProgJect performs at the Funky Biscuit, 303 S.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton
When: 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. April 29
Tickets: $40-$60
Info: 561-395-2929, funkybiscuit.com