The Special Purpose was a
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
/
funk fusion band from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
,
Washington. Formed in the summer of 2004, the group - consisting of John Fawcett (drums), Stephen Fogg (
8-string guitar), Christopher Stefanile (guitar) and Tim Symons (keyboards)-- became one of the Pacific Northwest's premier grassroots musical acts. The band's name was a reference to the 1979 cult comedy classic, ''
The Jerk
''The Jerk'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias (from a story by Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb). This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The ...
'', starring
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominat ...
. The Special Purpose allowed the audio recording and free distribution of their live performances.
The group stopped playing shows together in 2011.
References
Musical groups from Washington (state)
{{Washington-stub