ABOUT THE BAND:

Riding through “an international confluence of downtempo, jazz, and funk”, Imperial Boxmen features a power ensemble of heavyweight Chicago players. After years of underground exposure in Chicago as a niche acid jazz trio (made up of Ford, Austin, and Plotkin) focused on recreating the songs sampled in 90’s hip hop, the Boxmen sound gradually moved to original music under the direction of keyboardist Kevin Ford. Their sound sits firmly in the jazz underground of Chicago, drawing influences from instrumental hip-hop, 70s jazz-funk, and currents of afrobeat and ethiopiques music. The band name, Imperial Boxmen, paints an image of the ‘in-house’ musical ensemble in the court of a god-emperor—partly inspired by the era of Ethiopian jazz in the 60s and 70s under Emperor Haile Selassi: the soundtrack of a mythical future utopia.

Ford’s experience songwriting, working and performing with the late Fela Kuti drummer, Tony Allen and Chicago Afrobeat Project, and his work as an electronic music producer and downtempo DJ are all major influences on their sound. Combine this with Alex Austin’s masterful bass tactics and experience performing with guitar virtuoso Fahreed Haque, and Noah Plotkin’s authentic 70s drumming style in demand by numerous groups in Chicago and nationally, and the rhythmic virtuosity of Danjuma Gaskin’s percussion performances, (another Tony Allen collaborator and CAbP member) who is arguably the most in-demand percussionist in Chicago. Although the group stands on its own as a showcase of great Chicago talents, they are a passport to international imagination. And regarding their self-titled album on LA label 600 Block Records, as Jazz Times put it: “If an album can be simultaneously futuristic and nostalgic, this one is.”