Mama's Boomshack

The seven-piece local band will get the crowd out of their seats at a CD release show in Portland Saturday.

Wow. July. Hello! If you haven’t had your fill of fireworks, then I’ve got just the ticket: a night of funky soul music courtesy of Mama’s Boomshack, who will be celebrating the release of their debut CD, “Speed of Soul,” at One Longfellow Square on Saturday.

It’s typically a seated venue, but they may have to rethink that when Mama’s Boomshack hits the stage, because I for one can’t imagine sitting for this show. Thankfully, their chairs stack up and can be stored in the corner, which is far from where you’ll be if you hit this show. Chances are better than average that you’ll leave this show sweaty and satisfied and you’ll be hearing horns in your head for a few days after.

First off, Mama’s Boomshack is the best band name I’ve heard in some time. But there’s so much more to love about the band than just the name. It’s a seven-piece outfit with four horn players, male and female lead vocalists and a mighty fine rhythm section. The band formed in 2011 and has been funking out ever since, playing the local club scene regularly.

Vocalist and baritone sax player Todd Regoulinsky fell in love with music as a kid via his dad’s record collection and saxophone lessons. His love of blues, jazz and soul was off and running and he’ll likely never slow down.

Vocalist and alto sax player Lisa Brundage has a jazz performance degree from the University of Southern Maine and has played her heart out all over the place; from nightclubs to weddings, blues festivals and beyond.

Alex Cardamone, James Hebert, Sam Berce and John Berce all picked up their instruments at an early age and will knock your socks off. Drummer Nick Groat is the newest member and he studied at the Midcoast School of Music. Point being, this band means business, as evidenced by its polished, dynamic, lively and funky album.

My current favorite on the nine-song collection of original tunes is “Love Somebody.” With electric guitar, a mess of horns and awesome backup vocals from Brundage, the song gets it done both musically and lyrically. Regoulinsky will have you singing along before the song is over. “You gotta love somebody/You gotta love somebody/You gotta love somebody if we all want to get along.”

I also dig the slower groove “Nothing More to Say” with the sensational Brundage on lead vocals over a bed of horns: “Walking ’round lonely streets while the sun goes down/comfort in the silence of this dead-end town.”

“Speed of Soul” will have you hopping on the soul train and “Back to School” is a funky romp.

Truth be told, I wish we heard the electrifying Brundage sing lead on a few more songs, but I still give the album high marks.

Share in the celebration by lacing or zipping up your favorite boogie shoes and strutting your stuff into One Longfellow Square. Say it with me: Boom! - Maine Today

The first thing that’s really cool about Portland ensemble Mama’s Boomshack’s new album “Speed of Soul” is that you know this band has got to be one hell of a live band; a seven-piece soul and funk outfit comprised of hungry young musicians and seasoned professionals? This requires a dance floor and a cocktail in hand to be properly appreciated. The second thing that’s cool is that these are all original songs; nary a cover or retread to be found, and recorded with the inestimable producer Jonathan Wyman. The dual lead singer attack of sax players Todd Regoulinsky and Lisa Brundage brings to mind another Portland big band; the Fogcutters, of which Boomshack trombonist James Hebert is also a member. But where the Fogcutters are expansive and lean more towards the jazz side of things, Mama’s Boomshack is straight up, tightly wound funk, as on the irresistible “The Other Woman” or the brash “Back to School,” driven by guitarist Sam Berce. This is sexy, elegant funk and soul, meant for fans of bands like Tower of Power or Earth Wind & Fire; fun for all ages and expertly played. - Bangor Daily News

Portland has more than its fair share of horn players gigging out on a regular basis. Sax player Ryan Zoidis might be the town's most high-profile ambassador, with his work in Soulive and Lettuce, but trumpeter Mark Tipton, executive director of the Portland Conservatory of Music, has a resume that would probably surprise you (and you might want to hit SPACE on August 7 to hear his score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). The Fogcutters, Sly-Chi, Rustic Overtones, Model Airplane, Kenya Hall Band. We still miss ya Shufflin' Tremble.

And, okay, some of those bands have the same horn players, but you get the idea.

People probably underestimate how hard it is to play the brass and woodwinds (saxophone=woodwind). They ain’t harmonicas. Breath control and omberture? They take practice.

Maybe that’s why an arrangement of alto and baritone sax, trombone, and trumpet combining to front a band like Mama’s Boomshack grabs your attention so completely. There just aren’t many bands doing that.

Boomshack have been working their set for a few years now, but Speed of Soul is their debut record, nine original tunes that throw back to the early days of soul—whether Sam and Dave as backed by Booker T and the MG’s or Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers—while peppering in everything from disco to contemporary jam.

As with many of those old soul acts, singers Todd Regoulinsky and Lisa Brundage (also the bari and alto sax players, respectively) spend a lot of time exhorting listeners to move their feet and listen to the music and whatnot. Sam and Dave’s biggest hit is “Hold On! I’m Coming!”, after all.

Essentially, if you’re coming for the lyrics, you’ll be disappointed. In the opening “Back to School,” there is talk of “getting funky like a monkey.” Also: “It ain’t no junk / We’re bringing it back with some old-school funk.” In the title track, we are encouraged to “get it on down / All over this town.”

If you’re coming, like Daft Punk, to lose yourself to dance, though, you’ll probably be generally satisfied. Like the band the Blues Brothers pulled together, this seven-piece could play just about anything and be welcome if you’ve got a crowd of friends and some available drinks.

Guitarist Sam Berce can lay out a jam, and does so in that opening tune and on songs like “Truly Sweetly,” where he’s a little bit Stevie Ray Vaughan, and “The Danger,” where he’s a little bit Santana when he’s not doing a really fast wicka-wicka . He really locks in, too, on “Sho’ Nuff” (it’s unclear who actually talks like that) with a repeating riff mimicked tightly by John Berce on the bass. The latter Berce is most notable in the steady eighth-note walk that drives the melody of “Speed Sound.” - The Portland Phoenix