The Witzard

Los Angeles super-group/production team, Night Owls have returned with yet another pipin' hot slice of Reggae-infused Soul/Funk on wax, "Gossip" B/W "What'cha See Is What'cha Get." Just a quick refresher: Night Owls' core line-up consists of Dan Ubick (The Lions, Connie Price & The Keystones) on guitar, Blake Colie (Seu Jorge, The Lions) on drum kit, Dave "Wilder Style" Wilder (The Lions) on bass, and Roger Rivas (The Aggrolites, Jason Mraz) on organ and piano. Frequent The Witzard readers and vinyl enthusiasts alike may recall Night Owls from their previous two 7-inches, "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" with Afrodyete and Terin Ector, respectively, or Durand Jones-assisted "This Christmas," both issued last year on LA-based F-Spot Records. Now, Dan Ubick, Blake Colie Dave Wilder & Roger Rivas have returned, again, joining forces with F-Spot Records for th...

Just in time for Christmas, The Night Owls have returned with a new 45 showcasing a festive cover of "This Christmas" with Durand Jones . The Night Owls (or just Night Owls ) are drummer Blake Colie , guitarist Dan Ubick , and bassist Dave Wilder of The Lions , along with The Aggrolites' long-time piano/organ player Roger Rivas . Durand Jones is, of course, the frontman and namesake of critically-acclaimed Soul/Funk revival ensemble, Durand Jones & The Indications . Following "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" released this past July, Night Owls have re-emerged to bring us a Reggae-tinged version of "This Christmas" first popularized by Donny Hathaway in 1970 for ATCO Records. "A perfect jam to have on deck this holiday season. Side B features an instrumental version, where the Funky and grooving organ stylings of Roger Rivas keep the tune alive to be played on the dance floor ...

There's a Break In the Road / Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Night Owls Not to be confused with Rolled Gold's The Nite Owls, members of Los Angeles' The Lions & The Aggrolites have joined forces to form Night Owls . Blake Colie , Dan "Connie Price" Ubick & Dave Wilder from The Lions have linked up with kindred spirit, Roger Rivas from The Aggrolites . For Night Owls , Colie has stepped behind the drum kit, Ubick provides guitar/percussion, Wilder plays bass, and Rivas provides organ & piano duties. Night Owls' first collaborative offering stands as "There's A Break In The Road" & "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" 7-inch/digital single as part of F-Spot Records' ongoing Homage Series. "There's A Break In The Road" is an uptempo Reggae/Soul cover of Allen Touissant & Betty Harris' 1968-69 smash hit now featuring long-time Breakestra vocalist Afrodyete . Side B feature...

"Video premiere!! Thanks to Otto Granillo and Junko Seki , I got to get my [New Wave] on producing this catchy tune, "Wallflower" for their group Kotolan . Mixed beautifully by my main man, Stephen Kaye at SunKing Studios ," The Lions producer and bandleader Dan Ubick AKA Connie Price enthusiastically wrote on Facebook this past May; just about a month after "Wallflower," Kotolan unleashed their second Dan Ubick -produced single, "Toyko Subway." Trombonist, audio-visual artist, and "OTO" half of Kotolan , Otto Granillo recently told me that he and his wife/bandmate Junko Seki "have been writing an producing singles lately, instead of making an album." Although, Granillo says they're currently "throwing around the idea of releasing a full-length album in the future [with] a group of previously-released singles from a specific year/period" of Kotolan 's recent work. Granillo currently plays trombo...

(1) I read that you've known Peanut Butter Wolf (Chris Manak) for quite a while now. So, what made you sign with Stones Throw after all these years for the joint release of This Generation? Yeah, I met Wolf back when he started Stones Throw and was still up in San Francisco. He signed a group I played in for 5+ years called Breakestra that my friend Miles Tackett leads. I signed with Stones Throw because Wolf is an artist himself and really believes in the groups he signs. He and the guys at the label put in a ton of time strategizing about how to best help get the band heard by more and more people. I obviously am into that (Laughs), plus they have a great track record and very loyal followers. (2) For those who aren't exactly familiar with The Lions, would you care to go through each member and their companion instrument/role in the band? Sure. On drums we have Blake Colie, bass is Dave Wilder, percussion is Dave Chegwidden, organ and piano is Dan Hastie, on guitar i...