Flint & Genesee Group

Description

Major Dudes formed in late 2015 with a simple mission: let's make it hard on ourselves. That's right. When Danny Taylor (keyboards and lead vocals) and Paul Laginess (bass and vocals) set out for seemingly the umpteenth time to put a band together - don't ask - they figured the best way to finally solidify a project and to sustain it was to make it as appealing as possible, to themselves, naturally, and to any other musicians they could enlist. So, the challenge for Danny and Paul was twofold. Select a bunch of fun, challenging and seldom covered material (hey!...how about a Steely Dan tribute?), and find talented and like-minded musicians to fill out the lineup.  

Well, we like to think we accomplished the mission. Apart from Danny and Paul, a few words about those "talented and like-minded musicians". Guitarist Waldon Reed is a highly regarded Redford-based musician who has been teaching, recording CDs (a total of eight, four of which bassist Paul played on), and performing since the mid-1980s. Around even longer, David Reinstein is on saxophones and keyboards. He's played with more artists and bands than we could list but to name just a few, there's Orange Lake Drive, The Sun Messengers, Stewart Francke, and the Detroit Piston's band. He's written and performed for radio, television and movies. On drums and lead vocals, veteran Jim Pryor is the man. He's one of the hardest workers around. Major Dudes is sharing him with at least 4 other bands and he's been as busy over the last 3+ decades as he is now. Newest member, Carl Cafagna on saxophones, flute and vocals, joined in March of 2018 and has helped open a whole new realm of possibilities for the band. He's an in-demand live performer, a studio ace, and a 2018 Detroit Music Award nominee in the outstanding jazz instrumentalist category.

Danny Taylor and Paul Laginess have been around since the early 70s and have been working with each other off and on for over a decade. Danny has spent a good chunk of his time over that same decade in The Rockets and has recorded dozens of great original tunes, some of which Major Dudes perform currently. Apart from his recordings with guitarist Waldon Reed, Paul has played with many groups and musicians over the years most notably with legendary local late 70s band Air Condo and for most of this century with Blue Bang Theory led by Three Dog Night member, Paul Kingery.