Hail To The Horns!!!

By Timothy Cox for Patch.online

WASHINGTON, DC - Three solid hours of authentic old-skool funk, soul and good times, was the vibe pervading the Theater at MGM National Harbor casino/concert hall in suburban Washington, DC, Thursday night, Oct. 15, 2026.

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A nearly sold-out packed house filled the 3,000 available seats on this special evening, which featured opening act, the SOS Band and headliners, Kool & The Gang.

Importantly, because both groups have been around at least 40 years, it was good to recognize that all onstage performers were obviously in good physical shape and up to the challenge of performing sychronized choreography.

And both groups displayed tight hornmanship. SOS leaders include trumpet/vocalist, Abdul Ra'oof and tenor saxman Sultan (Soo-tonn) Muhammad. Both of Atlanta, Ga.

Their hour-long setlist failed to include "SOS (Dit-Dash)," a long-time crowd-pleaser. They did satisfy their strong fan-base with "Weekend Girl," "Just Be Good To Me," "Take Your Time," "The Finest," "No One's Gonna Love You" into a medley which included P-Funk's "One Nation Under A Groove."

Also sorely missing was original lead singer, Mary Davis, now in a part-time retiree status role, after suffering a stroke a few years ago. Abdul Ra'oofalso announced that his music director, Reggie "Wizard" Jones, had a medical emergency and was hospitalized just prior to showtime. We learned later that Jones was released from the hospital two days later and has returned to Atlanta under his wife's loving care.

Those issues didn't stop SOS from delivering a tremendous show. Two new young ladies are Mary Davis' replacements and performed admirably.

Marleen Thimas of South Bend, Indiana and Kayla Cox, of Delray Beach, Florida not only have the looks and dainty choreography, but they both got pipes. Reportedly both women received approvals from Mary Davis and Ra'oof, after auditioning for the gig.

Dustin Lynch is the new replacement guitarist for the late Reggie Ward, who died in December 2024. Lynch is also from Atlanta, said Ra'oof. The unidentified drummer appears to be a white guy, which would be unprecedented in Kool & The Gang historic annals.

A 30-minute stage changeover was well worth the wait, as Kool & The Gang immediately opened with their powerful, four-piece horn section on "Open Sesame," from the "Saturday Night Fever" 1977 film soundtrack.

For the next two hours, the Jersey City fellas played from a setlist that included classics like "Joanna," "Fresh" and "Misled" into their funky soul book of''70s sounds of "Jungle Boogie, "Hollywood Swingin" and "Funky Stuff.

By mid-show, folks were dancin in their seats and aisles on "Get Down On It," Ladies Night" and they aptly completed the night with "Celebration."

A brief version of "Summer Madness" featured music director/alto saxman Curtis "Fitz" Williams, who displayed his keyboard-synthesizer talents in addition to his hornmanship.

Tenor saxophonist Louis "Nicky" Taylor, nailed the iconic sax solo on "Too Hot" and guitarist Rick Marcel, of Rochester, N.Y, was epic, throughout the performance with skills similar to George Benson, Al McKay, Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix.

Original Kool guitarist Charles "Cladys' Smith would be so proud of his successor.

Current front man Shawn McQuiller aka Shawny Mac, was steller throughout the evening, as he continuously gave props to band founder, Robert "Kool" Bell.

Throughout his career, Kool was able to achieve acclaim as a traditional four-string bass player. Unlike his contemporaries such as Larry Graham, Marcus Miller, Ready "Freddy" Washington and Nathaniel Phillips of Pleasure, Kool rarely used thumb-plucking techniques to find success. Still he's highly regarded as a legendary bassist and importantly, a Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famer.

In a nutshell, this night of classic RnB performances felt like a cool return to 1979.

(About the Author: Timothy Cox is a veteran journalist and member of the Jazz Journalist Society and the National Association of Black Journalists. He can be reached at teacawks2@gmail.com).