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While playing with Detroit legend Johnnie Bassett, organ player Chris Codish met bass player James Simonson and the two began getting together and working on some of their own material. They soon developed a musical chemistry that would become complete with Kalamazoo-native Michael Caskey on drums in August of 1999. Almost immediately the trio clicked and starting gigging around the Detroit area as the Brothers Groove. They quickly established themselves as one of the hardest working bands in the Motor City due to their constant schedule of appearances almost every night of the week. In early 2001, the Brothers released their debut CD, Clamp it Down, a melting pot of blues-funk-driven jazz-pop/rock gumbo that received high marks from many critics and certainly from their near rabid fan base. Meanwhile, the group continued to spotlight and develop themselves in the public arena by continuing to play out incessantly. At the 2001 Detroit Music Awards, the Brothers Groove were recognized for their hard work by claiming four of the nine awards for which they were nominated including: Outstanding Jazz Group, Outstanding Jazz Recording, Outstanding Jazz Vocalist (Chris Codish), and Outstanding Blues Writer (Chris Codish). The Real Detroit publication awarded them the title of Best Blues Band that same year. Although they were very grateful for the recognition, the Brothers Groove remained a little confused by the categories for which they were awarded. For they are really not a jazz band, nor a blues band — but in fact they are a group of guys that like to get out there and lay down some thick slices of greasy groove for a crowd.
