Reverb and the Verse and Denver wine
You might get lost a little in Jahi Simbai’s explanation of his band, Reverb and the Verse:
“Take the elements of hip hop that you love, lyrics, and take the things you love about dance music and smash them together and throw in some singers on the back end — that’s what you get. It’s a mash up,” says Simbai, Reverb lyricist.
“We haven’t figured out what we call it.”
Cue YouTube video atop post for some theme music while you continue reading. Meantime, we’ll simplify his definition, and just say it’s fresh, energetic, pretty damn good and mixes well with [d] Red.
Yes, [d] Red. Or our Colorado Riesling or anything else flowing from the tap at the Bonacquisti Tap Room on Friday evening when Reverb and the Verse performs the second annual Rhymes with Wine.
Bringing a dance party to this Sunnyside neighborhood winery shouldn’t surprise. Simbai, who goes by the stage name Providence, has been a friend of the Bonacquistis since well before the winery opened its doors six years ago.
“They’ve always been supportive,” he says.
The group first played the winery several years ago to test some new material in front of friends and family. They had such a good time, the winery invited them to perform Rhymes with Wine in 2011.
Reverb, however, has been around since the late 1990s, with Simbai and Shane Etter (producer/engineer) being the constants. The group now consists of those two and Tisha Luna and David Blalock as vocalists too.
Reverb tours the Denver club circuit, playing venues such as the Larimer Lounge, Walnut Room and Benders. They’ve become one of the city’s most popular local bands; getting some nice love by local publications such as Westword.
They all keep their day jobs as they work on album No. 5 (due out in 2013), but wouldn’t mind getting discovered and turning music into their fulltime thing. “If somebody ever big says, ‘we like what you are doing,’ we’d take it,” Simbai says.
While Reverb waits for that call, Simbai looks forward to mixing up the normal club circuit with a stop at Bonacquisti for another reason other than friendship: wine and music mix pretty well.
“I don’t want to put down any beer drinkers but something about wine is a little more stylish and a little more thoughtful,” he says. “Normally you are listening to jazz or something like that. Wine is a little more thoughtful, a little more intellectual, even a little more creative.”
Kind of like Reverb’s music, even if it’s damn hard to define it.
More:
Rhymes with Wine II featuring Reverb and the Verse, 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5 at Bonacquisti Wine Co., 4640 Pecos St., Unit I. Free with wine for sale by the glass or bottle. Food provided by a local food truck.
