Toph-e & The Pussycats live @ Covet Lounge, NY, Sept. 30

Toph-e & The Pussycats debut at Covet, midtown Manhattan's newest live music hotspot, on Thursday, September 30. Show times are at 8pm and 10pm. No cover. For reservations or more information, call (212) 223-2829 or visit www.covetlounge.com

Don't let this band's name fool you: Toph-E & The Pussycats are a group of veteran jazz musicians whose combined resumes include television gigs, Grammy awards, and musician credits from James Brown to Miles Davis. Led by drummer Chris Parker, the group also features bassist Will Lee, pianist Clifford Carter, saxophonist David Mann, and percussionist Ralph MacDonald.

The New York-based group, which was formed in 2000, performs compositions with a heady mix of jazz, R&B and rock music, basing them around a musical philosophy dubbed "R&B-bop."
Drummer Chris Parker, pictured above, has been a member of The Brecker Brothers, Stuff, Joe Cool, and NBC's Saturday Night Live. He has toured with Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Joe Cocker, Paul Simon and the legendary Stuff band. He has recorded with Donald Fagen, Ashford and Simpson, Eumir Deodato, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, James Brown, Salt ‘n' Pepa, Miles Davis and Cher.

Will Lee, on bass and vocals, hails from The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, and The Fab Faux. He has performed and appeared on numerous recordings with Frank Sinatra, Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, Mick Jagger, Steely Dan, Esther Phillips, Joe Beck, Deodato, Don Sebesky, Bob James, Kimiko Itoh, The Brecker Brothers, Richard Tee, David Matthews, Patti Austin and James Brown, to name a few.

Ralph MacDonald, percussionist and Grammy winning songwriter, started with Harry Belafonte when he was only 16 years old and went on to have Grammy winning hit records of his songs recorded by Bill Withers & Grover Washington Jr. ("Just the Two of Us"), Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack ("Where is the Love?") plus Roberta's "No Tears In The End" and "When You Smile"), and Grover Washington, Tony Bennett and Esther Phillips, who covered "Mister Magic." He released several solo album and has performed on countless recordings with such artists as George Benson, Gabor Szabo, Bob James, Aretha Franklin, Luiz Bonfá, Esther Phillips, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, Toots Thielemans, Blood Sweat & Tears, David "Fathead" Newman, Joe Farrell, Tom Scott, and Jimmy Buffett.

Cliff Carter, on piano and keyboards, has been the pianist with Patti Scialfa, recorded and toured with James Taylor, Bryan Ferry, Idris Muhammad, David Matthews, Hank Crawford, Esther Phillips, Betty Buckley, Melissa Errico and Brethren Crazed Man and the Wildlife Ensemble.

David Mann, tenor and soprano saxophones, has released solo albums, most recently, "Touch," on N-Coded Music, as well as producing many other artists, like Wayman Tisdale, Nelson Rangell and Rachel Z. His recording credits are extensive, including Tower of Power, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Queen Latifah, Madonna, Bob James and Sting.