The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy: the music of Steely Dan

“Tommy Igoe puts together a hell of a band and puts on a hell of a show.” —All About Jazz

With his long, lanky frame and imposing wingspan, Tommy Igoe cuts a mesmerizing figure behind the drum kit as his swirling motion telegraphs every rhythmic nuance. Returning to the festival with his 15-piece Groove Conspiracy after a six-year absence, he’s bringing a book of finely-honed arrangements focusing on the sardonic and voluptuously hook-laden songbook of Steely Dan. Joining his talent-laden crew is guitarist Drew Zingg, who played a key role in Walter Becker and Donald Fagen relaunching Steely Dan in the early ’90s after a 15-year hiatus. With a repertoire that includes hits like “Aja,” “Bodhisattva,” “Josie,” “My Old School,” “Peg,” and “Babylon Sisters,” Igoe evokes the music’s studio-polished sheen while foregrounding Becker’s and Fagen’s abiding love of jazz. For Igoe, putting his own stamp on iconic drum parts created by studio legends like Bernard PUrdie, Steve Gadd, and Jeff Porcaro is the best kind of challenge. A supremely versatile player who spent years touring with rock and pop acts, Igoe became an international force in 1997 by creating the drum book for Disney’s hugely popular Broadway production, The Lion King. But his first love was jazz, a relationship that started at home. The son of the revered jazz and studio drummer Sonny Igoe (who toured with Benny Goodman and Woody Herman when he wasn’t playing studio dates), Tommy grew up in a nexus of top-shelf jazz talent. Featuring some of the region’s most formidable improvisers, his Groove Conspiracy has become an extension of his extroverted persona.