Projects

Huptown Funk is a 12 piece ensemble dedicated to playing funk based popular music. Started in 2024 by Paul Barrett the first band consisted of Ben Tucker and Chris Terry on Guitar, Keith Dorion on Bass, Chris Ryan on Drums, Dave Pos on Keyboards. Nick Fisher on Saxophones and Paul Barrett on Trombone.

• Put It Where You Want It – Jazz Crusaders
• So Far Away – Jazz Crusaders
• Chameleon – Herbie Hancock
• Cantaloupe Island – Herbie Hancock
• Sweet Emma – Nat Adderley
• The Chicken – Jaco Pastorious
• Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – Joe Zawwinal
• Watermelon Man – Herbie Hancock
• Diggin’ On James Brown – Tower of Power

The second band added Jakob Terry on Vocals, Bassist Aidan Zann-Roland and Drummer David Burton.
The material for this group included many of the above songs plus:

• Backyard Party – Ole Berud
• Don’t Change Horses – Tower of Power
• Only So Much Oil In The Ground – Tower of Power

The third version of Huptown Funk included Vocalist Tom Thomson, Bassist Jamie Gatti, Keyboardist Trevor Wentzell and introduced The Huptown Horns. These members of the New Horizons Band program were:

• Derrick Gray – Trumpet
• Lori Nielsen – Trumpet
• Melanie Haggart – Alto Sax
• Crawford MacPherson – Tenor Sax
• Trudy Shea – Baritone Sax

New material for this group included:

• I Can’t Go For That – Darryl Hall
• Get Yo’ Feet Back On The Ground – Tower of Power
• Master Blaster – Stevie Wonder
• The Bump – The Haggis Horns
• Nothin’ Bout Me – Sting

The fourth version of this group included Dave Staples on Keyboards and Josh Robinson on Vocals.
New material for this band included:

• Down To The Nightclub – Tower of Power
• I Like Your Style – Tower of Power
• Soul With a Capital S – Tower of Power

The fifth version of this band included: Charlie Cooley on Percussion.
New material included:

• Regulation Time – Junior Walker
• My Old School – Steely Dan
• Valdez In the Country – Cold Blood
• The Fez – Steely Dan
• Do It Again – Steely Dan

The sixth and final band was sponsored by the Atlantic Federation of Musicians through the Music Performance Trust Fund. A requirement of this performance was for every member of the group to be a Musician’s Union member and several of the players joined the union for this gig.
The personnel included:

• Tom Thomson – Vocals
• Trevor Wentzell – Keyboards
• Chris Terry – Guitar and Vocals
• Ben Tucker – Guitar
• Leo Cox – Bass
• David Burton – Drums
• Charlie Cooley – Percussion
• Ken MacKay – Alto and Tenor Sax
• Sam Withers – Tenor Sax
• Chris Mitchell – Baritone Sax
• Luke Dobson – Trumpet
• Ryan Cameron – Trumpet
• Paul Barrett – Trombone