On the 50th anniversary of Umbria Jazz, Funk Off celebrated their 25th birthday as a band. There’s no need to introduce Funk Off to those who attend Umbria Jazz. The Tuscan street band has become very popular with its original and recognizable formula: to overcome the concept of a marching band in the New Orleans tradition by proposing enthralling, spectacular, modern, and engaging music written and conducted by Dario Cecchini.
This is how Funk Off has become the audience favorite since Umbria Jazz introduced them in 2003. The reason for such popularity is straightforward: the group is fun, it plays well, and its sense of entertainment, together with its musical innovations, manages to renew a centuries-old genre such as the marching band, which is part of the dawn of jazz music.
