Excellent Gentlemen profile picture

Excellent Gentlemen

We Love You. You're Beautiful.

About Me


We Love You…
Excellent Gentlemen implores you to take a seat on the comfortable couch.
Excellent Gentlemen would love for you to relax.
Excellent Gentlemen invites you to listen to some Fresh Beats and Anthems.
Excellent Gentlemen comments on the quality of the bumping bass and greasy guitar.
Excellent Gentlemen wonders if you’re at all thirsty.
Excellent Gentlemen pours some most refreshing libations.
Excellent Gentlemen leans over and mumbles reassuringly into your collarbone.
Excellent Gentlemen remarks on the taste of cinnamon upon your lips.
Excellent Gentlemen is totally all about doing what needs to be done.
Excellent Gentlemen plays danceable, vocal Soul R&B music. Think: 70's block parties and golden-age hip-hop records. What goes on at an Excellent Gentlemen show? Yeah, there are gritty soul shouts. Yeah, there are drum breakdowns. Yeah, there's a whole lot of groove, and hells yeah people get down and dance when they hear it.
It took only a year for these transplanted New Yorkers to transform the music scene in their newly adopted home of Portland, Oregon. In 2007, the quartet opened for groups like Zap Mama at the Aladdin Theater and under their own billing Excellent Gentlemen has packed venues like Jimmy Mak's and Lola's Room at the Crystal Ballroom. Their music stands for positivity, love, joy and sex; this is definitely NOT the drudgery of mediocre Indie-Rock. Growing up together in New York forged a bond between these musicians that is evident in their lock-tight pockets and fierce commitment to song-craft and musicianship. From their roots in the East coast neo-soul and hip-hop communities, Excellent Gentlemen has forged a signature sound that is steeped in sweet soulfulness and ferocious grooves.
On the strength of their incredible live show, the independently-run band has ignited an adoring fan base and has attracted the attention of promoters and industry players across the Pacific Northwest. The band is fronted by Jeff Sechs and Steveland Swatkins, two powerful vocalists who both kick synth-bass lines and interweave vintage keyboard textures underneath soulful R&B harmonies. Guitarist Ehud Abadi carves the sonic space with pinpoint rhythm and sizzling leads while the backbeat gutbucket funk of drummer PJ Snacks keeps people's heads bobbing and bodies rocking. Excellent Gentlemen is currently touring across the region and will release their debut album in 2008.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/18/2006
Band Website: excellentgentlemen.com/
Band Members: Pics by D...

Jefferson Sechs- Vocals, Keyboards and Synth Bass

Sechs' MySpace

Steveland Swatkins- Vocals, Talkbox, Keyboards and Basses

Swatkins' MySpace

PJ Snacks- Drums and High Life

PJ Snacks' email

Ehud Abadi- Guitars and Vocals

Ehud's MySpace

Influences: Stevie Wonder, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire, George Duke, Al Green, Steely Dan, Mike Jackson, Lord 2 Lord, D’Angelo, The Foreign Exchange, Outkast, Snoop and Dre Back In Tha Day, Bootsy, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, George Benson, Paul Jackson Jr., Jack Herrera, Chocolate Milk (Friction), A Tribe Called Quest, Blackstar, Richard Groove Holmes, Pino Palladino, The (Old-Skool) Roots, James Down Brown JB and Jay-Dee JD Dilla Yancy (RIP Brothas), P-Funk, Dom Phenom, Luxury Land, Little Brother, Erykah Badu, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding
Sounds Like: Music for parties and other special moments.

You know about the Excellent Gentlemen?
We do. We are Excellent Gentlemen.
Featuring Global Anthems and Sweat Beats, we bring desire and resolution to a table filled with far too much ass. Hope you like the ass.

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Record Label: none
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Featured in PSU Vanguard 2008 Local Music Guide!

We're stoked to have been featured in the Portland State University Vanguard's 2008 Local Music Guide, alongside some of the best bands in Portland!The Vanguard has been knighting the local stars of t...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:00:00 PST

Portland Peace Rally March 15th, Deep Soul Summit After Party

Concerned Funkateers,On Saturday, March 15th, PDX Peace is planning a day of action to express a commitment to peace in the face of war-driven US foreign policy.http://www.pdxpeace.org/Excellent Gentl...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:44:00 PST

The Freshness

Peoples!Excellent Gentlemen is making moves.Mssr. Swatkins, fresh off an extended stay abroad with PJ Snacks and Furious B, is back in Portland with the boys and wants to let you know what's what.Show...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:55:00 PST

Can’t Stop like Al Green on Adderall

Just a few words about what these nasty men have been up to...Excellent Gentlemen opened for international touring artist Zap Mama at the famed Aladdin Theater in Portland this September. Having 500+...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:11:00 PST

Lola’s Room. Gasp.

Hey Errybuddy.Thanks to the fine folks at Lola's Room, our dear friends Sweet City Slang, Keegan Smith and the Fam, and of course all y'all that came out last Saturday night, we had The Best. Gig. Eve...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Sat, 11 Aug 2007 10:24:00 PST

Brand New Song on Myspace

Just put up a rendition of "Get Down Baby" recorded at the Fez Ballroom in Protland on the Ides of March 03.15.07Thanks to Marc from Aloha Sound for capturing the groove.This chestnut of early-80's-st...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 01:54:00 PST

Fighting Cancer With Soul in Portland

Hosted By: Excellent Gentlemen When: Friday May 18, 2007 at 9:00 PMWhere: Imbibe2229 SE HawthornePortland, OR 97214United StatesDescription:Excellent Gentlemen Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Fri, 11 May 2007 05:25:00 PST

McCall Madness

We just played two shows out at Brundage Mtn. Ski Resort near McCall, Idaho.Absolutely.Freakin'.Incredible.Brian and Common Ground Productions showed us an amazing time and the beautiful people who ca...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:09:00 PST

Important Haircuts

Some people in Portland have Very Important Haircuts.A good friend and colleague Bobby Benjamin once made a remark to the effect that folks who take their haircuts way too seriously ought to be "shipp...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Sun, 04 Feb 2007 03:57:00 PST

Gearing Up...

Hey All,We're hoping to bring to 2007 all the joy and Excellence that this crazy world needs right now. Hope all your various Scientology holidays went well, keep an eye out for L. Ron, we heard he w...
Posted by Excellent Gentlemen on Wed, 27 Dec 2006 04:29:00 PST