*THE DAZZ BAND* Once they hit their stride, the nine member Dazz Bands were known as the life of the party for catchy jams, such as "Let It Whip" and "Joystick". Ironically their pre-recording roots were in jazz-fusion, once they started making records their single releases were mainly ballads. Welcome to "The Duality of Dazz" - the career of the Cleveland-formed Dazz Band, founded by saxophonist, Bobby Harris, which became a Grammy Award Winning act selling Gold for Motown Records in the 80's. After 13 years, the newly constructed Dazz Band is back with a new CD, Time Traveler on Major Hits Records. Time Traveler proves that the Dazz Band has not lost their touch in the music industry as real musicians. Talent is God's gift. Longevity is God's gift. Good health is God's gift. Put them together and you withstand the test of time, "Harris says about the new CD. With original members Skip Martin (lead vocals' & trumpet), Kenny Pettus (lead & background vocals), along with the additions of Marlon L. McClain on guitar, Nathaniel Phillips on bass and Terry Stanton on lead vocals - The Dazz Band brings you a fresh string of hits. " You Are My Starship" a remake of Michael Henderson and Norman Connor's 1976 classic - they keep this timeless piece in a class of it's own. It gives off a jazzy feel, but ends up edgy and funky. " I am feeling the overall vibe of our latest CD, especially the song "Love Don't Make No Sense". Terry sings the song with so much conviction, you feel the heartfelt confusion of love and hate" McClain says. I also dig Bobby and George Clinton having fun singing on "Do Poppa Do". That's exactly what you'll have - Fun - while listening to Time Traveler. It soothes you, but also let's you know that the funk is not far behind. Two years ago the Dazz band, began touring with the United We Funk All-Stars across the country, funking it up everywhere they appeared. They shared the stage with past rivals like Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band, ConFunkShun, The SOS Band and the Bar-Kays. This union of funk under one banner was a lot of fun for everyone and was documented on a live double cd."Tom Joyner presents: The United We Funk All-Stars" The Dazz Band performs some of their classic hits on this live CD. In 1974, Cleveland, Ohio native, Harris founded - what we would later know as the Dazz Band - the R&B band, Bell Telefunk. Harris soon discovered that there were some accomplished musicians in the band who could play jazz and pop music, so he changed Bell Telefunk into a fusion group, Telefunk. They played cover songs from the Brecker Brothers, Chic Correa and Billy Cobham. The band would eventually change its name to Kinsman Dazz with a rhythm section consisting of drummer Issac Wiley, his brother Mike Wiley on bass, Michael Calhoun on guitar and singer / percussionist Kenny Pettus. I came up with the name Kinsman Jazz when were considering signing with Sweet City Records - the label that launched Cleveland's bar band, Wild Cherry of Play That Funky Music White Boy fame. Carl Maduri President of Sweet City Records, thought we should name ourselves after Kinsman Avenue, the street that some of us grew up on. I figured no one would understand that, so I added Dazz (dance able jazz), because that's what we were about. In 1976, Kinsman Dazz landed a recording deal when Joe Simone, an indie record distributor let a executive at 20th Century Records hear their music. He was impressed enough to send two A&R men to Cleveland to see the band. At, that time the band was playing all original material. Their musicianship won over the A&R men, which lead to Kinsman Dazz recording their album in Los Angeles with Philip Bailey of Earth , Wind & Fire. The band moved on to Motown when 20th Century closed their record division. Harris also met Skip Martin at this time , Skip became one of the lead vocalists as well as playing the trumpet which was a nice addition to the sound. The first album released was "Invitation to Love", followed by "Let the Music Play," which had the hit ballad "Knock Knock". The third album "Keep It Live" was the album that set the pace for the Dazz Band sound when they introduced the groove heavy Let It Whip, which catapulted the band to top success after its release parked itself at #1 on the R&B charts for five weeks. It won a grammy in 1983 in the Best Performance by an R&B duo / Group category and the album went Gold. The band recorded for Motown from 1980-1985, producing seven albums. In 1986, the band recorded "Wild and Free" for Geffen Records. After another release "Rock The Room" on SBK Records, the Dazz Band took a hiatus and went their separate ways. Now, the Dazz Band is back to reclaim their spot on the charts and funk their way back into the hearts of music lovers everywhere with Time Traveler. Major Hits Records www.majorhitsrecords.com marlon@majorhitsrecords.com