There is not much you would expect traveling down a paved, quiet road in Bowie at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night.
But in one particular driveway is six or seven cars and SUV’s outside of a brick, single-family home.
There’s some music playing from the back of the house. A guy appears to the left, casually dressed in a standard white tee and jeans. “Oh no, not the house, don’t ring the doorbell,” he smiles “We’re back here.”
He introduces his self as Black Boo, the lead vocalist for Mambo Sauce, a 5-year-old Washington, D.C. based band fusing a mixture of Go-Go, R&B, Rock, Latino, and Alternative genres to create a unique new sound of music.
In a small crimson red shed with white panels, off to the rear right of the house is lead guitarist Drew in the midst of cracking jokes, and doing covers of Lil’ Wayne’s “Tie My Hands” and D’Angelo’s “You’re My Lady,” while the band members laugh along with his renditions. Practice is winding down.
Drew is the lead guitarist, the lighthearted member who keeps the humor. Black Boo is the male vocalist who keeps things in order and running smoothly. J.C. Jones is the newest addition to the group, as the female vocalist. She is a Baltimore native who attended Howard.
Khari is the bass guitarist, who founded the classic Go-Go band Northeast Groovers when he was 15 years old. Pep is the percussionist, who’s slightly quiet, yet his drums speak volumes. Twink is the drummer, the only female instrument player with a youthful face, covered in square, black personality frames, and Chris a.k.a. “Keybo”, the keyboard player.
With such a bold, in-your-face name like “Mambo Sauce,” inspired by the popular sauce served in DC carryouts, one would think that Mambo Sauce is another Go-Go band. Wrong.
“[Our Music] is not local. It’s beyond DC. Its vibe is more diverse,” Jones said. “We don’t play other people’s music. We cross more boundaries than the average Go-Go band. The repertoire is open and that’s what separates us”
There is a formula for their success. While the music still has a sound that remains true to its native DC roots, there is a hook, there is a chorus, there is originality, and those factors are clear distinctions between them and other Go-Go bands that they are compared with.
“You have to go to a Go-Go,” Drew said. “You have to experience it.”
They want to break away from the unfortunate stigma that surrounds Go-Go. They do not play at a specific venue weekly, like most bands. They also want to break away from the criticism of violence that Go-Go receives. After five years of working as a group there has never been a fight.
“Go-Go is our foundation, but we’re out here to make our sound national. If it were up to Go-Go, we wouldn’t do [what we’re doing]”, Black Boo said in response to criticism that the music is too positive and not as strong of the percussion thrived, song-covering sound that the Go-Go represents.
“Our music is so diverse, because we all came through different paths musically,” Black Boo said.
Mambo Sauce is already gaining national recognition. Last year, their video for “Welcome to DC” aired on MTV networks, including the popular MTV Jams and VH1 Soul.
“We want to be A-status celebs,” Twink said. They’re well on their way.
