RENCHRIS Entertainment presents “SOUL Suite”

On May 1st, THE COOL returned to Lake County Illinois. The Fuel Room at Austin's Saloon & Eatery hosted the inaugural performance of SOUL SUITE LIVE. SOUL SUITE is a monthly series of live performances featuring the best in Soul, R & B, and Jazz from across the nation. The month of May featured – COREY WILKES – a young virtuoso of the trumpet that hails from the club scene of Chicago. Corey's talents have earned him membership in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), an organization that includes famed musicians like Ernest Dawkins, Fred Anderson, Roscoe Mitchell, and many more.

Corey's musical creativity has allowed him to develop a wide range of musical projects including his current ensemble – BLACK SLANG. Black Slang may be his most stylistically wide-reaching ensemble to date. A group of young talented musicians, Black Slang rocked the crowd for more than two hours. The magic of their performance is how this group seamlessly glides from jazz to funk to soul to hip-hop to rock-n-roll. The talent of this group is evident as Corey leads them through original compositions of jazz and funk. Suddenly YAW takes the stage with smooth sensual vocals reminiscent of Marvin Gaye and vocal range of Al Jareau. His presence fills the room and makes you feel as if you are the only listener. From ballads to up-tempo reggae, YAW delivers lyrics that reach your soul. To close out the set, they are joined by Phenom, a young poet whose words speak across generations and inspire the soul. Before you know it the band is in a frenzy playing some of the dopest, hardest rock you'll ever hear. Frankie Blaze is poppin' heavy licks on the guitar while Will Kirk's (Crazy Leggs) keyboard is on fire from the speed of his fingers slappin' the ivory. Big Ant on drums and Jun on bass guitar push the rhythm section hard and heavy while Corey, Yaw, Phenom, and the audience all scream to the rhythm, "I'M A ROCK STAR."

What a night…What a show. We will definitely have these cats back.