An Admirable Effort

The Akron funk/soul band the Admirables came together when singer Wesley Bright (of the equally awesome Akron-based traditional soul group Wesley Bright and the Hi-Lites) asked Nathan-Paul Davis to put together a group to play at his birthday party. Davis recruited tenor saxophonist Chris Coles, keyboardist Steven A. Miller, drummer Ashanti Allison, bassist Matthew DeRubertis, guitarist Dave Hammer and percussionist Dan Farnandez to join the band. Davis and Coles have different musical influences and that comes out in their writing. Davis grew up listening to gospel music, hip-hop, soul, jazz, R&B, pop, and just about anything under the sun. He calls the band’s music “funky soul.” The group plays tonight at 6 at the Beat Uptown, a free show held at the Museum of Contemporary Art. (Niesel)