Groove Academy
1990–1996
Before Giant Step, there was Groove Academy. Started in June 1990, almost 4 months before Giant Step, the first show was the legendary vocalist Leon Thomas with James Brown alumni The JB’s featuring Pee Wee Ellis, Maceo Parker, and Fred Wesley. The concept of the Groove Academy tagline, “Dedicated To The Preservation of Funk,” was to give an audience to heavily sampled and forgotten soul and funk artists from 1960s and 70s. It went on to present artists like Bobby Byrd, Bootsy Collins and his Rubber Band, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Ohio Players, The Jimmy Castor Bunch, Gil Scott Heron, and Average White Band to name a few. Most of these early shows took place at the club SOBs in Soho. In fact, Larry Gold (SOBs’ owner) was the silent partner in all these early concerts. Later, concerts happened at The Ritz (old Studio 54), Irving Plaza, and The Palladium among others.
Once the Giant Step club got started, Maurice and Jonathan wanted to continue putting on concerts but didn’t want to confuse the audience with the unique sound and vibe of the weekly club. The Groove Academy continued producing concerts until 1996. In that time, it presented artists like Massive Attack, Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, Blaze, D-Influence, Incognito, and more. The name was also used for the fledgling management company that was set up in the early 1990s. As Maurice and Jonathan started to sign and manage artists that were coming out of the Giant Step scene like Groove Collective, Repercussions, Dana Bryant, and Raw Stylus (from London). By 1997, they decided to merge everything under the name Giant Step.
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