Artist description This was, is, and always will be, a funky, danceable, phat groovin' unstoppable good time, provided by incredible musicainship!

Music Style Primarily Funky, with other various other flavors throughout

Musical Influences Tower of Power, Sly & the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Prince

Similar Artists Mainly Tower of Power, with a little of all our influences thrown in.

Artist History In 1989, Jordan Robins and Dave Baker formed Home Cookin', with bassist Joe Hamrock, drummer Mike Mytling. The band started playing and practicing in front of friends before making their official debut at "The Spa" in Las Vegas. After gigging and establishing fans, by 1990 the band recorded a 12 song demo at UNLV and became a college favorite. Dave Baker knew saxophonist Rob Mader from UNLV's band and asked him to join. It wouldn't be long before Rob recruited Russell Burt on Tenor, Glenn Colby on trumpet, Veto Louise on trombone, and Nate MacClenden on Bari Sax, expanding the horn section to a powerful 5 piece. And finally, they talked yet another UNLV talent Joe Malone into sitting in on timbales, who coincidentally was Frank Klepacki's high school band instructor at the time. By 1992, Home Cookin' recorded another 4 song demo at RMS studios, but it didn't get finished, as Home Cookin' went on hiatus for a couple of years to focus on college. But then in 1995, Jordan Robins and Dave Baker rekindled the band, recruiting Frank Klepacki on drums, and Chris Waters on bass, and the horn section recruited Dave Philippus on trombone since Veto was now unavailable. The band began playing out under the name "The Chemical Solution," to test out a new set of tunes.In 1996, the band recorded a 12 song demo at Digital Insight studios, but once again did not get finished due to the guys having to let Chris go, and Dave needing some time off. During the 6 month break, Frank learned how to write horn charts, and brought more influence to the group. Only thing was, Home Cookin' lost a few horns to Las Vegas Strip gigs. So Dave Phillipus & Russell Burt recruited newcomers Jason Colby on trumpet, & Rob Stone on alto sax. With new recruit Hal Floyd on bass, in 1997, an all new Home Cookin' debuts at Mad Dogs & Englishmen pub. The time had come to finally record a and complete a full length CD, and after a five month period, "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm" was received with much success Oct. 4th 1997. Unfortunately for the group, Hal Floyd moved to Austin, Texas, and the band recruited new local bad boy Darryl Williams to finish the bass tracks on the CD and play live, but it couldn't last due to his other band commitments. None the less, the band pressed on and also recruited Steve Dawson on Bari sax to fill the horns back to 5 again. After playing a huge show at the Huntridge Theater with Proffessor Punn, Attaboy Skip, and Phatter than Albert, the band recruited Steve Barclay as their new steady bassist. The band enjoyed local radio success. In 1998, Jordan and Frank formed Fly Records as the band's indie label, and began touring the west coast. The biggest show the band played was X-treme radio's Big Concert #2, to a crowd of 13,000 people at Sam Boyd Stadium. The band opened for several national acts including Dread Zepplin, The Ohio Players, Meredith Brooks, & James Belushi to name a few. They even shot a music video for X-Rated Superstar. In 1999, Home Cookin' endured their toughest year. Steve Dawson and long time member Dave Baker left the group, and were replaced by Tom Pastor, (who played Bari Sax and also started doubling on keyboards. And of course no one will forget his pimp dance moves!) and Ryan Bull, the new kid guitar prodigy from Chicago. Once again the band pressed on and Frank produced and recorded the second Home Cookin' CD entitled "Pink in the Middle." Shortly after, the band had to also let Steve Barclay go, and recruited Jon Cornell on bass.From there it was back uphill. The band recruited Frank's girlfriend Jennifer Hoge as their manager and marketing person. And the next year and a half saw lots of accomplishments. The song "Soul Space Express" made it's way on the ABC sitcom "Cupid," as well as the Playstation Game "Road Rash Jailbreak." "X-rated Superstar" was selcted to used in HBO and Sundance festival films.The band toured the West Coast again for the next year and had become an icon after 10 years in the biz. Finally, it had to come to an end. On Dec. 8th 2000, Home Cookin' played their final show. But the music will never die! Enjoy!!

Group Members Jordan Robins - Vocals, Frank Klepacki - Drums, Russell Burt - Tenor Sax, Joe Malone - Percussion, Dave Philippus - Trombone, Jason Colby - Trumpet, Rob Stone - Alto Sax, Tom Pastor - Bari Sax/Keys, Ryan Bull - Guitar, Jon Cornell - Bass

Instruments Horns, Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, Drums, Percusion

Press Reviews "Mr. Home Cookin' " by: Geoff Carter First published on Jan. 24, 1998. Home Cookin' is not a band; it is a monster. A creature composed of well-worn brass fittings, gold lame, low-end rumble, ten hearts and multiple limbs all intent upon hitting it on the one. They do not play shows; they host dinners. On the menu: slick horn charts, fierce guitars, engaging vocals, a rhythm section sharp enough to cut through tin cans and more than a few surprises. Ask a question, and Home Cookin' will respond with a unified answer. Leave an opening, and Home Cookin' will endeavor to fill it. Fall off a tall building, and Home Cookin' will be waiting at the bottom with an air mattress and a pitcher of beer. They're that thick, that friendly, that willing to please. Unfortunately, this solidarity unwittingly makes them an imperial pain in the ass to interview. Nine neo-brothers sit in a semi-circle and answer each other's questions, as if at a gospel revival: "Yeah, man." "Right on, right on." It is difficult -no, impossible - to determine who is saying what at times; such is their singular voice. Therefore, some quotes in this story may be attributed to one "Mr. Cookin'" - the Thing from Planet Funk. Tonight, direct from the mothership: Dave Baker, guitar; Steve Barclay, bass; Russ Bert, tenor sax; Jason Colby, trumpet; Steve Dawson, baritone sax; Frank Klepacki, drums; Dave Philippus, trombone; Jordan Robins, vocals; Rob Stone; alto sax. (Percussionist Joe Malone can't make it, which makes my job that much easier, and marks the third time I've almost interviewed Joe: he missed a Tippy Elvis interview, and his quotes didn't make the last December's Vargas cover story. Hey, Joe!) We take over several tables at Money Plays, order up a few beers, the band forgives me for being half an hour late and we get in the groove. THE COLLECTIVE In 1988, Robins and Baker started jamming together with a long-gone drummer as Home Cookin', knocking around the bars until scholastic and financial matters forced a brief hiatus. Their pursuit of marketable skills lasted until January 1997, when suddenly a fully-staffed, well rehearsed and completely primed Home Cookin' suddenly dropped from the sky and started playing standing-room-only gigs. Hang on a second here. "First, we started playing together with Frank as the Chemical Solution [in late 1995], just trying to find our sound," says Baker. "We were trying out different kinds of material, trying to figure out what was going to work best," adds Klepacki. "We used the other name as a way to record the new material without blowing our load. That's how I interpret it, anyway." "Good interpretation," chuckles Robins. "So we tested our stuff on the crowd, and the funkier stuff worked out the best," says Klepacki. "So we just stuck it out, which is what Home Cookin's always done, even prior to me being in the band." I comment on the band's solidarity; how unusually cooperative and friendly they seem for a double quintet. "There's power in numbers, man," says Mr. Cookin'. "There's ten people and no room for conflicts." WHAT MAKES THEM COOK? There's nobody that grooves the way we do," says Robins. "The horns are a big part of it," says Klepacki. "We could just get up there as a rhythm section, but we would sound like every other rhythm section that's trying to be funky." "You can really mix it up with horns," says Stone, grinning wide. "Plus, the women love 'em, which is the primary attraction of having horns." "And I'm getting better at writing horn charts," says Klepacki. "Nothing makes me happier than hearing from the horn section that my charts are getting better. I mean, they have to play them night after night." "[Frank's] style of songwriting fits so well with the band," says Bert, "that I thought the new songs were ones that Jordan and Dave had written." FOR THE RECORD: SUMMER 1997 Home Cookin's debut CD, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, has been selling steadily since it hit the shelves late last year. Most of it was recorded at Frank K. Studios of Las Vegas, scarcely twenty feet from where the drummer and Westwood Studios house composer cooks dinner. "Listen to this," says Klepacki, playing the tracks that would become their debut album. "X-Rated Superstar" leads the parade with its Nile Rodgers-style guitar riffing and sly, sexy lyric ("Getting ladies from the latest magazines...making money with my pants down"). Every track Klepacki plays blurs my memory of the previous by virtue of being so goddamn catchy - stickier than peanut butter and marshmallows. Before long we arrive at the power groove of "Soul Space Express." Robins belts the lyric through a Vocoder, evoking a hot set of memories in my head-the first time I saw an Ohio Players album cover, hearing Roger "Zapp" Troutman throw down live. The song fades and Klepacki shakes his head in wild disbelief. "This," he says excitedly, "is the sound we've always wanted." WHO'S THAT GIRL? The eye catching cover of Mmm, Mmm, Mmm was designed by Robins, who works as an art director at DRGM Advertising when not dropping the bomb. Former Playboy centerfold, Playmate of the Year and Las Vegas resident Corinna Harney peers into an oven diffused with unearthly green light. It's da funk, and it's rising! "A complete sweetheart," says Robins. "We didn't even ask her to do the cover; she volunteered." WHY FRANK WEARS THAT GOLD LAME SUIT "I figured nobody was gonna see me behind the drums," smiles Klepacki, "so I had better wear the flashiest shit in the group." "We talked him out of setting himself on fire," adds Robins. There would be no point, anyway. The entire band is already burning, happily hard-firing their repertoire into the collective nervous system of a packed house. Ten men light the torch, but it's the fabulous Mr. Cookin' that combusts. ___________________________________________________________ Show Review: Home Cookin', Kickwurmz and Left Standing, Las Vegas Weekly Battle of the Bands House of Blues - Fri., March 24, 2000 By Geoff Carter (carter@vegas.com) I judged a battle of the bands contest once, in 1994. I don't remember which bands were involved, or even the name of the bar where it took place. All I remember is how late that battle of the bands ran--until 4 a.m. One of the judges, former New Times editor Aaron Cohen, went to sleep in his car around 1:30. I filled out his card, and went outside to wake him when it was time to come back in and act like he had been there for the entire thing. Naturally, he had gone home by then. Times have changed for the better. The final round of the Las Vegas Weekly's Second Annual Battle of the Bands (Disclosure: You're reading the Las Vegas Weekly right now) was a smooth, enjoyable affair all the way. The judges came from MTV, the Golden Nugget, Hits magazine and Miramax; this wasn't a bunch of local 'wipes like myself. The bands played short, densely packed sets. The venue put everyone at ease, and a true party atmosphere prevailed. But that's not what a BOTB is about, is it? It's the bout to knock the other guys out, the melee at Mandalay Bay. Left Standing won the contest, a fair chunk of money and a spot in this year's EAT'M lineup, a privilege the band had already secured. The current disposition of Home Cookin' is a bit of a mystery to me. Everything about this cool, white-funk army says touring party band, like the late, great Oingo Boingo--everything, that is, but the fact that they're not on the road right now, working on Sony's dime. There's not a local band that works harder, has a better self-image and as focused a marketing strategy as Home Cookin'--in other words, they're too professionally poised to do a local BOTB. ____________________________________________________________ Show Review: "Funk, Soul Brethren" By Molly Brown (molly.brown@vegas.com) There's a little band from Chicago known as Liquid Soul. Now, Liquid Soul is a big group of musicians--on everything from guitars to saxophones to horns--whose main objective is for the crowd to get their butts out on the dance floor. Hitting the audience with everything from funk, soul, jazz, blues, freestyling hip-hop and rock, this is a band that worships in the wake of James Brown and his funk-soul brothers' spirit. Watching a Liquid Soul show, preferably in a small club, inevitably churns the audience into a sweaty, writhing mass. It's an awakening of sorts, making the people sway and dance in beat and injecting rhythm into those who never had it before. Well, like the good Lord laying his hands upon us, Las Vegas' Home Cookin' served up one healthy dose of that same feeling Aug. 22 at The Boston. The guys started out the show with a side project called Junkfood. Only four of Home Cookin's 10 piece entourage--the singer, drummer, lead guitarist and bassist--are part of it, giving it more of the standard rock 'n' roll bar band feel. But Junkfood had plenty of funk, too. Taking the stage in matching, prison-like issued, tan coveralls, Junkfood proceeded to bust into a tribute to James Brown, Kool & the Gang and many others, even issuing this introduction to the show: "Don't you worry about the funk. We've got it under control." Though Junkfood could easily be described as The P-Funk meets Lenny Kravitz--even covering a couple of Kravitz's tunes--it was an admirable and enjoyable performance. Though it was apparent the guys were a little apprehensive about the new side project, not dancing as much or seeming nearly as comfortable as when doing the Home Cookin' thing, it was a nice little warm up for things to come. As the band again took the stage as Home Cookin'--the now very familiar 10-piece band with three saxophones, a trumpet, a trombone and percussionist in addition to the original four-piece ensemble--it was clear the guys were back into their own skins. Off came the jumpsuits and on came the full-on personality. Home Cookin' was automatically looser, grooving and dancing away. The group's laid-back warmth easily permeated an audience that was well on its way to getting sloshed and dancing its asses off. As Home Cookin' grooved its way through songs like "X-rated Superstar" and "Super Sexy Cool," Jordan Robins played ringleader between belting out the songs, reacting and feeding the crowd's energy at the same time. Never overbearing, none of the musicians dominated the band's sound. Ryan Bull delivered solid guitar solos--nice and neat, he easily shines. And the band avoided doing half-hour-long-jam-band-like songs--a dangerous pitfall for some groups that rely heavily on instrumentals--which can get very annoying, indeed. The songs were catchy and fluidly fell into each other. Easily a local gem, Home Cookin' fills a musical void for those jonesing for a good, funky time where they can just throw their hips back and groove. And if the sweat pouring off their heads and soaking the group's shirts was any indication, this just might be the hardest-working band in Las Vegas show business. __________________________________________________________ "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm" CD review by Geoff Carter And in this corner, weighing in October 4th with a CD release party at the Wow! Superstore: Home Cookin's Mmm Mmm Mmm, 14 songs of horny funk (with real horns!) that echoes everyone from Parliament-Funkadelic to Justin Hinds & The Dominoes. Home Cookin' has been banging around Vegas for quite a while now and to finally get their kinetic, sexy beats in the comfort of your own home is little short of terrific. The dedication to quality and self-motivation has raised the local standard. Wanting a certain look for the cover of Mmm Mmm Mmm, Home Cookin' hired former Playboy Playmate (and Vegas native) Corinna Harney and had a set built to accommodate her. And it goes without saying that this disc is easily on a par with most major-label product, with appreciably higher quotients of heart and soul. Make it a point to pick up this effort, not out of scene guilt, but because they're wonderful. _________________________________________________________ HOME COOKIN' "Pink In The Middle" CD review By Jeff Inman (inman@lasvegasweekly.com) ( A ) It's been a quiet year for Home Cookin'. Last February, longtime guitarist Dave Baker left the band, forcing the Vegas funk mob into hiding for awhile, training new strummer Ryan Bull. When the group finally did emerge, it quickly set up shop at Quark's Bar inside Star Trek: The Experience, away from the local scene's collective eye. Pink in the Middle should raise the band's profile. While 1997's Mmm, Mmm, Mmm was a satisfying nugget of grooves, it played like a blueprint rather than a fully realized structure. Pink in the Middle is a completely erected tower of funk. Tracks like the old school soul symphonies "Super Cool Sexy" and "What's Your Crime" mix Tower of Power horn explosions with Sly and the Family Stone boogies. "Got Your Back" is a constant pummeling of grooves, like being thrown against the ropes and beaten in 4/4 time for five minutes straight. But the band isn't a throwback. Home Cookin' updates the funk with loops and samples on "Keep On Movin'" and a remixed version of "X-Rated," off Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. Even with the little millennial tweaks, though, Home Cookin' proves that funk is timelesss, and everyone needs something to shake their groove things to. _____________________________________________________________ Best local music of 1999 - HOME COOKIN' Pink in the Middle At Home Cookin's CD-release party, singer Jordan Robins was one step away from an emergency room. He was so sick that two days earlier he had to be intravenously re-hydrated. But once he was onstage you wouldn't have known it. And it's fitting. After losing two key players in the last year, Home Cookin' could have just folded. But the group decided to forge on. The result: an even more powerful mob of funk and grooves. Pink in the Middle is crammed with bombastic horn work, tight hooks and butt-wiggling rhythms. It's hard to think that The Ohio Players or Kool and the Gang could have come up with a more precise bit of soul food than "Got Your Back." As Robins himself says on "Super Cool Sexy," "ahhhh baby!" --Jeff Inman

Location Las Vegas, NV - USA

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