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Earth, Wind & Fire ... and strings
COVELLI centre concert
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
Earth, Wind & Fire, the ’70s funk band whose string of hits include “Shining Star,” “September” and “Let’s Groove,” will come to Covelli Centre on Sunday night.
On many stops of its current tour, the 11-piece ensemble — with core members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and Verdine White — is being joined on stage by a local orchestra.
Sunday’s concert will see musicians from the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra backing up the band. About 25 members of the YSO — the string section, plus a harpist and a tuba player — will perform with EWF.
It will mark the third time in recent years that members of the YSO performed in concerts at Covelli. They backed up Christian-pop star Michael W. Smith in 2008 and Barry Manilow last year.
“We’re getting to be the house band at Covelli,” said Patricia Syak, executive director of the Youngstown Symphony Society.
Syak said the orchestra is always thrilled to perform with pop stars, but she expects fans of the YSO also will be in attendance.
“I think some bands that have been around for a while enjoy coming back on tour with the big sound of an orchestra behind them,” she said.
The YSO members will rehearse with EWF’s music director Sunday afternoon, and then will do a sound check with the whole band shortly before the concert.
Fans can expect to hear all of the band’s hits from its four-decade catalog at Sunday’s concert.
The funk legends released one album this year and have another on the way.
In January, Earth, Wind & Fire released “Now, Then & Forever.” It’s a greatest-hits compilation that centers around favorite tracks picked by celebrity friends and fans of the band, including some musicians whose work was influenced or inspired by EWF. Celebrity curators who picked their favorite songs for the album include Andre 3000, Lenny Kravitz, Pharrell, Raphael Saadiq, will.i.am and David Foster.
The album also includes a new song, “Guiding Lights,” as well as a new remix by will.i.am.
“Guiding Lights” provides a hint of things to come from the band, which is planning a new studio album this summer.
Inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Earth, Wind & Fire has earned six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. And with more than 90 million albums sold worldwide, EWF is America’s seventh-top-selling musical group of all time.