NOW WITH IMAGES! The winner of the 2012 The Battle of the Bands, watch a special performance and meet the soulful sounds of the San Francisco Bay Area band.
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Video Content:
Shot and edited by SIDEWALKS, The Bob Claire Orchestra (BCO) performs the classic Rose Royce hit song, “Car Wash,” at Crab Cove, an annual summer event in Alameda, CA.
The Bob Claire Orchestra (BCO)
Since 2001, the San Francisco Bay Area band is making a name for itself in the local music scene. Known for R&B, motown, rock, soul and jazz, the 13-member band calls themselves The Bob Claire Orchestra or BCO for short.
The lineup of BCO has evolved over the years, but some of the core members have been consistent. Central to the group is the vocal talents of Darlene Langston. Other members of BCO are vocalist Marvin Hollis, guitarist Michael Stearns, trumpeters Jeff Oster and Drake McCarthy, bassist Rocky Laber, keyboardist Ron Tague, trombonists Colin Johnston and Danny Noe, drummer Dean Thomas, percussionist Justin Langston*, and saxophonists Michael Bush and Jeff Taboloff.
While the group uses the moniker, The Bob Claire Orchestra, there is no Mr. Claire in the lineup. As an inside joke, the name came from a much loved friend, patron and bon vivant, who has been a supporter of the group.
Part of the formation of BCO came together when Ms. Langston met guitarist Stearns on a commuter ferry boat traveling from San Francisco to Alameda, CA. Trumpeter Oster then discovered an end-of-the-month party for commuters, which was hosted by the aforementioned Bob Claire and his wife Penny. Bassist Laber knew Stearns through their kids and was invited to sit in with the group around May of ’99. From there, the band started to perform jam sessions away from the boat performances.
The members brought in keyboardist Tague, as well as Johnston and Bush, who joined Oster to form a horn section. Following that, trumpeter McCarthy and trombonist Noe became bandmates, which were followed by the final members of the rhythm section, Mr. Langston (a nephew of Miss Langston) and drummer Thomas. Last by not least, vocalist Hollis and saxophonist Taboloff were the final puzzle pieces of the BCO group.
BCO has performed at a variety of events around Northern California, including the landmarked Fox Theatre in Oakland. In 2012, the group won “The Battle of the Bands,” an event that saw BCO competing against Rene Escovedo and the Jim Parodi band.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVUuCgmksRk’] [youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O3ujnXEvqs’]Special Thanks to:
Recorded July 12, 2013
Photographer and Editor: Richard R. Lee
Special Thanks To: BCO, Michael K. McDonough and the staff of the Crab Cove event
* [Editor Note: Justin Langston is a member of the Sidewalks Entertainment staff]