Soul Band - Kohiba

Kohiba are a semi-professional funk / soul / disco function band based in London.  They perform songs ranging from soul legends such as James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, funk instrumentals by The James Taylor Quartet and The Average White Band, to the disco classics of Rose Royce, Wild Cherry and LaBelle. 

The band are all in their twenties and have a wealth of experience, as well as an infectious love for the music they play. Their 10 piece line up consists of 2 lead vocals (& backing vocals), 4 piece horn section, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. 

Kohiba were formed in the summer of 2001 by Mark Farrar and Dave Odams.  The band started out playing the soul and blues classics covered by The Commitments and The Blues Brothers, but soon built upon this solid foundation by working on a number of other soul and funk classics.  Their first few gigs were huge successes (filling London venues, such as The Bedford to full capacity on more than one occasion), with people crowding onto the dance floor to dance to the infectious beat.  Kohiba now compliment these 60’s/70’s soul/funk tunes with a number of 70’s disco and 80’s/90’s pop-rock favourites, thus ensuring that everyone’s musical taste is catered for in the Kohiba stage show. 

Mark and Dave met in 1998 whilst playing for UCLU Big Band, where Mark was lead trumpet and Dave was lead trombone.  They have subsequently undertaken a number of musical projects together, including Bloomsbury Brass (brass ensemble) The Schplendids (pop/disco band) and Population Explosion (Blues Brother Tribute).  In addition to this, they both play with numerous orchestras in and around London. 

Kohiba can tailor their performance to accommodate any type of event and venue size.  The band have a huge song list and can perform up to 150 minutes of music, usually split into either two or three sets.  The normal requirement is for two sets of 1 hour each but three sets of 45 minutes is also popular. 

The sets are normally of mixed genre soul and funk, finishing with a disco mix, but sets can be themed on request from the booking party. 

Interval music can also be provided, at no extra cost, via compilation CD’s.
                                          The music will then be played through the PA system between the bands sets.

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