Fat Larry's Band

Led by drummer "Fat" Larry James, the Philadelphia funk ensemble Fat Larry's Band delivered lively sets without ever landing major chart successes. Releases on Stax, Fantasy, and Omni embodied the era's East Coast jazz-tinged funk across the late 1970s and 1980s. Trumpeter and flutist Art Capehart, trombonist and alto saxophonist Jimmy Lee, saxophonist Doug Jones, keyboardist Erskine Williams, guitarist Ted Cohen, bassist Larry Labes, and percussionist Darryl Grant rounded out the roster. The 1982 track "Act Like You Know" emerged as their strongest effort, driven by a surging bass line and a simple yet memorable lyric refrain. James also performed with the Delfonics and Blue Magic and managed the group Slick. A strong stage presence with a magnetic personality, he died far too soon in 1987 at age 38.