This was an entertaining Philadelphia funk band, fronted by drummer
"Fat" Larry James.
Fat Larry's Band never scored any major hits, but their singles for Stax, Fantasy, and Omni were prototype late-'70s and '80s East Coast jazz-tinged funk. Trumpeter and flutist
Art Capehart, trombonist and alto saxophonist
Jimmy Lee, saxophonist
Doug Jones, keyboardist
Erskine Williams, guitarist
Ted Cohen, bassist
Larry Labes, and percussionist
Darryl Grant completed the lineup. Their best song aesthetically was "Act Like You Know," a 1982 tune with a surging bass line and simple but catchy lyric refrain.
James also played with the Delphonics and
Blue Magic and managed the group
Slick. A good performer and charismatic personality,
James died very prematurely in 1987 at age 38.
–
Ron Wynn, Rovi