wordplay by Brian Kenney
image by Todd Marriott

If Fina Dupa were a drink, what kind of drink would they be? "We go with any alcohol beverage really?" says Dupa founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter, Devon Kurzweil "In terms of where Fina Dupa is at, we kind of a sophisticated drink…like a mojito."

Fina Dupa (pronounced “fine-a-doo-pa”) the moniker, a bastardized translation of "fine ass" is a reggae punk funk soul influenced 5-piece from Denver who are routinely selling out quaint cozy venues along the Front Range. No surprise their debut disc bears the apt title of The Booty EP. 

Fina Dupa and The Booty EP qualify with its unique sound and is accessible to just about any crowd. "Soulglo" off The Booty is a scorching orchestration capable of making even the shyest of wallflowers realize he's got more moves than a 70's funk hustler. A cover of General Public's "Tenderness" softly speaks to the listener, as seducing as the original, laying you down after a night of cutting the rug and getting your groove on. "Bubbler," a track that ultimately defines the true Dupa sound, wakes you up, more succinct and tranquil than a tequila sunrise.

Kurzweil along with Will Greer on bass, Daniel Levin (a.k.a. Mr. Lizard Man) on vocals, Matt Kane on percussion, and Matt White on saxophone, create acid jazz influenced orchestrations that rift through and with every member of the band with improvisational complex chord progressions. What does that mean? It’s funk! And you will shake your ass to it all night long!
 
But the band exists live. Fina Dupa live is an experience all its own. A happening if you will. Such is the reason the band is not cutting studio albums every month like Pearl Jam: they're out gigging…hardcore. "We try to go for a jazz festival size sound for all of our shows. It's fresh; even if we play a cover it’s fresh, new, inventive. We really try to make it a better experience than what people expect from the usual show when they go out. Even though we play a tune on the album, different things happen live. Live is the place to see the band!"

Yet Kurzweil, who has logged countless hours in the local music scene, consciously avoids any kind of over exposure, so as to leave their audience hungry for more. His experiences for many years on a local level with 'Buckner Funken Jazz' as well as the radio project 'Air Tight Experiment,' [with future Dupa singer Levin] earned him an honorary yet unofficial diploma on how to gig the Front Range. "A lot of venues want to fit the general population," he says. "A club will want classic rock, or dance music or Top 40. We're not that band."

Conscious of its own musical integrity, they strategically book their gigs where they won’t always have to compromise their sound. "Over the last 2 years, we've limited the number of gigs that we play. What we want to leave a gig with is above and beyond what we get paid. We want to leave a gig, whether it be the Ritz Grill in Colorado Springs or the Foundry in Boulder, what we want to leave with is 'Man I had a great show and I connected with the audience and the band had a great show' [and the audience connected with us.]"

With elements of Miles Davis, Karl Denson, Galactic and Boulder's own Ordinary K, Fina Dupa, sounds like a hybrid form of Soulive and Sublime and routinely splices in teasers of the aforementioned bands in their live shows. "We're all adept musicians and our plan was always to get people in here [into the band] that can really play. And that makes for a dynamic live show. We can go from a Greyboy Allstars tune into some old Weather Report and into Sublime. Really jazzy jamming intricate and complicated [songs] that an average listener doesn’t see or hear live, but our audience appreciates and is looking for."

With a new disc in the works, Fina Dupa will be playing Highlands Square Street Festival on June 17th. "We'll be recording in early next year. It'll be a big release with CD release party in various cities across the Front Range," says Kurzweil. You can hear some of the new tunes live and catch up with Fina Dupa on a monthly basis for most of the summer at the Red Fish in Boulder (6/16, 7/14, 8/18). The Dupa are also routinely booked at Herb's in Denver (6/24) and the Hornet in Denver (7/15.)

www.FinaDupa.com