When it comes to talking about the band... its history, its sound... who better to do it than the band members themselves? We begin with a history of the band in Kurt's words.

The History of the Band

Ike and I met in the Army while playing in an Army band. We weren't drafted in the same year; I was drafted about a year before Ike in 1965. I was the sergeant that auditioned Ike, and I went to my company commander and pronounced: "This Man Will Come Back to Play in our Band". Later, after I was discharged, Ike went on to become sergeant with many of the same duties.

When Ike arrived at the Army band, we immediately became friends. We had a Shearing quintet... piano, bass, drums, guitar, and I played vibes. Ike also played piano in our 18-piece stage band that I wrote arrangements for and conducted. Ike and I were asked to produce a show for the troops, and that's when we started our lifelong relationship. We still have dinner every Tuesday night at my place. Forty-two years of friendship with never a harsh word between us...

Ike was from Brooklyn, and he joined me on leave to come down where I lived (and still do) in Pompano Beach, FL. To make the story short... when Ike was discharged, I had a gig ready for him down here. (It was really easy to find a job for such an excellent musician.) We also started playing in the Ben Champion Trio. Ben played sax, flute and drums; Ike played all the keyboards and the bass parts as well as some vibes, and I played drums, vibes, guitar and marimba.