Rookie officer Al Gebroni had two reasons to be nervous. Not only was this his first night on duty as a member of Albuquerque Police Department’s party patrol, but riding next to him was APD’s Chief of Police, who had thought it wise to conduct a ride-along on this particular Saturday night.
Both men’s eyes widened as they approached the house party. The squad car rolled to a stop, the third to arrive. Through the front door, upbeat syncopated rhythms pounded as an invisible wall of brass forced the officers to a halt. An astounding vibrato swelled as the police chopper hovered overhead, the sounds pulsating, seemingly in step with the crowd of carefree dancers. The Ghetto Bird was the Leslie Speaker Cabinet and the horns were the B3 Organ. The spotlight from the aircraft shown brightly, revealing a saturated front yard that overflowed onto the street. The party people only danced harder, for now there was an audience.
The officers fought their way through the crowd to get to the source. And it was a fight indeed. With the exception of a few fleeing youths, the crowd appeared undaunted and unified in their celebration. The officers approached the house fearlessly, as the skanking/swaying crowd outside showed no signs of anguish or malicious intent. The scene inside, however, was more roughneck than expected. Upon entering the room, Officer Gebroni met immediate impact from a drive crazy member of the mosh pit, whose head caught Gebroni’s on the bridge of the nose. The officer braced himself as his vision blurred. Chaos quickly came to a halt, as the Chief ripped the chord from the socket, literally removing the musicians’ power source. In a delayed response, the mosh pit came to a stand still, and a dozen crowd surfers were lowered to the floor. Officer Gebroni, still dazed, recognized the Chief’s whisper, "This has got to be the party of the year."
The party was Crazyfool’s fifth show in three days, as the band returned from a brief whirl-wind Southwest tour earlier in the day. The Chief recognized the members of the band, as this was not their first encounter. When Gebroni’s vision returned, he took special care to commit their faces to memory, knowing that this meeting would not be their last.
CrazyFool’s high energy live show has become one of the most popular in New Mexico and surrounding states. The band members are no strangers to hard work, performing over 150 times since 2001 on over 30 stages. Members of CrazyFool have shared stages with artists such as Yellowman, The Toasters, Eek-a-Mouse, The Wailers, Andrew Tosh, The Phunk Junkeez, and Israel Vibration. Their appeal lies in their unique musical approach, wonderful band chemistry, and knack for soliciting crowd participation and interaction. The band continues to blend elements of Reggae, Ska, Hip Hop, and Soul in a way that appeals to a wide array of listeners and party goers. Combining thick groove-oriented bass with off beat drums, driving horns, and vocal harmony, CrazyFool’s compositions are deep, yet easily approachable. The band’s superb songwriting raises the standard in a typecast genre saturated with repetition. The band, CrazyFool, touts a log of over 30 original songs, paired with a few carefully chosen covers to comprise 3 hours worth of music available at each performance. Along with a little help from an amazingly devoted and ever growing fan base, and the support of a dynamite and always improving Albuquerque music scene, the music of CrazyFool continues to play an important role in diversifying popular music in the Southwest and across the globe.
