Get Into the Groove

According to Rodriguez, the Collective put on one of its best shows last year, in the wee hours in the morning in Boulder, after the Widespread Panic Red Rocks gig. It was there that Worth began to notice the similarities between the groups' devoted audiences. "That's why we probably ended up on the end of the jam-band scene," Worth says. "Even though I don't like all of the bands in it, I kind of respect them. There are a lot of kids who don't watch TV and who don't listen to the radio. They just don't wanna know, and they've found Widespread and Phish, who aren't on MTV or the radio for the most part, and they love them because it is all about the live shows."

For Groove Collective, the emphasis has always been on the live shows, because, as Rodriguez puts it, "It's always nice to see the music looking back at you." Like the jam bands, the group has built a substantial fan base by relentlessly touring and by the word-of-mouth support of many fans who also tape the shows. The group is at its best when giving the music directly to the people. All of which fits in well with Worth's summation of the band: "If there is anything that really defines us, it's that it is universal folk music. And when I say folk music, I'm including dance music in New York, because it's music by the people and for the people, without being low-brow."

One nation under a groove: New York City jazz-fusion ensemble Groove Collective.

Details

9 p.m. Friday, February 23, and Saturday, February 24
$15-$16, 303-443-3399

Fox Theatre, 1135 13th Street, Boulder

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• Jay Rodriguez
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Maybe what jazz needs is to loosen up, get down, and not be overly concerned with what is and what is not jazz according to the gospel of Wynton. Now, that would be funky.