 Rashawn Ross has posted on his myspace profile that he will be joining Dave Matthews Band on tour this summer.
Rashawn is a trumpet player hailing from the bands Yerba Buena and Soulive. DMB had Yerba Buena open at four shows in 2002 and Soulive four in 2005.It wasn't until 6.18.2005 when Rashawn joined the guys on stage as a guest on Louisiana Bayou. Since then he has guested at 16 shows, including most of the Red Rocks shows and even the renewal of JTR at Jazzfest.
Rashawn's most recent side project has been filling the horn section of Soulive with Ryan Zoidis. According to the Soulive website "the pair are an integral part of the band, traveling everywhere they go." This won't be the case with multiple Soulive dates conflicting with DMB's tour. (Soulive opens for DMB in Hartford) Talib Kweli's most recent album, Right About Now , gives trumpet credits to Ross.
Rashawn's presence as a guest on an entire tour with the band is a point of some controversy. Butch Taylor has been playing keyboards on tour with DMB for so long now that many consider him to be a de facto part of the band. Rashawn Ross seems to have has less support as evidenced by a thread from a few weeks ago comparing him to Butch Taylor.
Some hesitancy from fans may stem from both Ross's simply being a new contribution to DMB's sound and also the high expectation of any performer joining DMB. To be sure, Rashawn plays a very different role than Butch. Dave and the guys have mentioned on a number of occasions that Butch is there to help fill in the overall sound of the band while Rashawn acts as more of a complement to the horn section. For some this is of no consequence if it means one less solo for LeRoi Moore.
If Rashawn does indeed join DMB on stage at each show this summer, it will be interesting to see how his performance is integrated into DMB's sound and what role he'll play on the new songs we're expecting as well.
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