PORT TOWNSEND — In this case, Uncle Funk is more of a feeling than the name of one person.
It’s also a popular sextet about to re-emerge onto the local music scene: Uncle Funk and the Dope Six, which has a free, all-ages concert happening Saturday.
The grassy courtyard is the setting for the event from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Manresa Castle, 651 Cleveland St.
“It’s a really neat space,” said guitarist Tim Halpin, who added he hopes to see “young couples with kids … and people age 2 to 92.”
Uncle Funk’s new repertoire — cooked up after a nearly two-year hiatus — ranges from the band’s interpretations of Rick James, the Beastie Boys and the Bee Gees to Rage Against the Machine, Talking Heads, Toots and the Maytals, even Michael Jackson — “all over the board,” promised Halpin.
His fellow Dope Sixers are singer Megan Hudson, percussionist Jesse Watson, keyboardist Pete Lack, drummer Tomoki Sage and bassist Kyle Dannert, who think their last gig was at the Wooden Boat Festival in September 2019.
When the band reunited this spring, “the first practices were surreal,” Sage said.
Performing “really feeds my soul,” Hudson added.
Manresa Castle is also presenting an evening vocal jazz series in the Rook Cafe: singer Jean Lenke and her band are slated to play from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight. Backed by pianist George Radebaugh and guitarist Chuck Easton, Lenke plans sets loaded with jazz standards, bossa novas, jazz-folk, blues, pop and rock from the 1960s and ’70s.
The Castle’s Friday night series will continue with the Jean Lenke trio July 9 and July 16; then Tony Petrillo and his Roundabout Quartet will play July 23 and Sequim vocalist Sarah Shea and her band July 30.
Throughout the live music Friday and Saturday, food and drink will be available from the venue’s restaurant and bars.
“The people who run the castle are doing a wonderful job,” Halpin said. “I’m really excited about playing there.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
