For three decades Philadelphia Phil, (a pseudonym for writer Phillip Henry Christopher), has been writing, arranging and performing music that fuses the world's traditions into intelligent and challenging topical forms.
Denizens of Joe's Sportsmans Lounge in West Chester, The Barn Door in Wilmington, or Bacchanal on South Street in Philly might rememeber Phil's first reggae band, Rhygin. (early 80's) If you're from the Midwest, you might have seen him in Iowa, fronting Agni, with Sharon Bousquet, (who still writes and performs beautiful music), bassist Willam Clancy, keyboardist-arranger, Kepha Maynard, and virtuoso drummer, David Brown. (middle 80's) In the late 80's he joined college circuit favorite, Quasar, and toured Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky for two years. That group included keyboard wizard, Larry Sledge, (Manchild, Temptations, Duke Tomato), bassist-producer, Darryl Briscoe, and Dog Talk vocalist, Cliff White. Then there was Groove Yard at Kilamanjaro (now the Jazz Kitchen) in Indianapolis. (Again with Darryl Briscoe) After disappearing into a cave for ten years, Philadelphia Phil returned as "that Greek boy from Philly that plays salsa", leading the Cuban-style mambo orchestra, Urbanos, which featured saxophonist-arranger, Armando Perez, Jr., and pianist-musical director, Eugenio Urrutia.
Feeling the need to write, as well as get loud and nasty with his guitar, Phil dissolved Urbanos in 2005. Since that time, the music that will be Mumbai Taxi was written and arranged. Mumbai Taxi brings Cuban, African, American and Jamaican influences together. Here on MySpace can you preview demos of Mumbai Taxi music, instrumentation and vocals by Phil alone.
So... Stay tuned-- Rehearsals are underway, and soon there will be groovy acoustic and full throttle electric versions of Mumbai Taxi wherever there's a club, auditorium or grassy spot that needs an infusion of psychedelic mambo, raga reggae and whatever else we cook up.
NOTE: Urbanos Music was established in 2001 to represent Latin music groups in the Midwest. Initially representing the mambo orchestra, Urbanos, the agency later represented Monsalve-Perez Latin Jazz Ensemble, Elizabeth Souza & Ipanema, Colada and other Latin and jazz performers. Today, Urbanos Music is the sole representative for Mumbai Taxi, the latest adventure from Urbanos founder, Philadelphia Phil.
