To understand where a musician is going, one must first understand where they’ve been. When asked to spin some tunes that have helped define his musical life, saxophonist/composer Mike Kammers joked that this first question may end up being the toughest of the whole interview.

His face showed both enthusiasm and a touch of consternation as he stared at his expansive vinyl collection that, until recently shelved, was piled nearly to the ceiling of his Brooklyn apartment. “I listen to so many things, it’s impossible to do this,” he laughs.

Kammers eventually got the turntable spinning, and throughout the course of the evening the room was filled with everything from Sly Stone to Balinese gamelan music, the minimalism of composer Steve Reich to the black-metal of Liturgy, Eddie Palmieri’s Latin big band to the 1980s jazz-punk of the Contortions. He was just as excited to share a few of his latest finds – Louis Armstrong, 1923 and the Aaron Copland-penned soundtrack to Steinbeck’s The Red Pony – as he was in showing off a book of Olivier Messiaen scores.

If anyone seems destined to lead a 21st century big band, it may be Kammers. Born in Syracuse, NY, he picked up the sax in fourth grade, and by the age of 16 he was playing professionally in a local big band. “My high school summers involved doing three big band gigs a week, all before 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The rest of the day I would just jam with my friends. My entire adult life, I guess you can say I’ve been trying to replicate that experience.”

After years of digesting the 1970s jazz/funk albums on the CTI label, Kammers relocated to New York in 2002 and formed the MK Groove Orchestra. In its earliest stages the MKGO was primarily a funk outfit, but has since evolved to mirror Kammers’ wide-ranging musical palette. While the 14-piece group’s instrumentation reflects that of the big bands of the 1930s and 1940s – three trumpets, two trombones, three saxophones, flute, two guitars, bass, drums, and percussion – the band’s bodacious sound is anything but traditional.

The MKGO juxtaposes its funk lexicon with Afro-Cuban forms and rhythms and dresses it up with edgy, rock textures. Add seriously well-informed jazz improvisation, a touch of face-melting metal, some bewilderingly complex polyrhythms and an occasional cacophonic freak-out, and you have a group that is impossible to categorically define. “Idiom doesn’t matter to me,” Kammers sternly states.

The sheer brawn of tunes like “Jam Band Sweet, Part 1″ and “Kung Fu” off of the group’s eponymous full-length debut will knock you flat on your ass. The hard funk of “Tomo’s Tenacious Trio of Masked Marauders” will have you back on the dance floor, but watch your step – on “Soul Samurai” the dizzying swirl of twin brothers John and Joe Beaty’s dueling improv (on alto sax and trombone, respectively) will spin your head like a pinwheel.

But it’s not all power, velocity and ubiquitous weirdness. “Aerosonique” is the most beautiful song you’ve never heard, with tender, contrapuntal melodies ebbing and flowing in gentle waves of collective improvisation. Kammers – who normally blows a tenor saxophone that sounds as if molded from the blended remains of free-jazz hero Albert Ayler and Hendrix’s Stratocaster – tones down his gruff and spastic intensity on “10-20-03,” a touching tribute to his late mother.

MKGO’s tighter, sophomore effort Greatest Hits chronicles Kammers’ compositional maturation. Trombonist Joe Beaty notes, “There are many more thoroughly composed pieces now and sometimes our parts are four pages long.” Greatest Hits opens with a scorching trumpet solo by New York’s underground trumpet hero Jonathan Powell on “Trifecta Prelude,” Kammers’ polyrhythmic reduction based on the clave pattern of guitarist Abe Seiferth’s Jaga Jazzist-influenced “Trifecta.” And after your body internalizes the silky samba groove of “Roy Ayers (Party on the 69th Floor),” you’ll be seeking out an invite to the next high-rise throwdown.

The band’s third full-length album is being produced by Seth Olinsky of Akron/Family, who was MKGO’s original guitarist. Kammers arranged the horn section on Akron/Family’s Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free and the MKGO horns have been accompanying Akron/Family on occasional gigs of late, including a set at All Points West in 2009.

MKGO’s live shows reflect a similar “touch-all-the-bases” approach, but setlists are pieced together meticulously – resulting in a cohesion and vibe all their own. On the perennial closer, John Beaty’s “M.C.P.,” the band gradually sets down their horns to sing transcendent block harmonies that shift and slide under Nic Cowles’ sinuous flute. Then there’s the band’s uber-badass, spot-on cover of Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son,” which needs no qualifying adjectives (you can find it on YouTube).

The group’s stylistic range remains a key marketing tool as well, with no venue off-limits. They’ve played everything from an expansive outdoor set at the Rochester International Jazz Festival to the intimate Al’s Whisky and Wine Bar in Syracuse. They’re equally comfortable in rock-oriented venues like Buffalo’s Nietzsche’s and Sullivan Hall in the West Village as they are in upscale clubs like the Highline Ballroom or hipster-havens like Williamsburg’s Spike Hill.

The group regularly plays Blue Note’s Late-Night Groove Series, which included a headlining gig at the historic jazz club, featuring keyboardist Marco Benevento playing the music of soul-jazz organist Jimmy McGriff’s 1969 masterpiece Electric Funk. “That gig was really big because we got to play all the rare groove Blue Note organ/horn stuff that really is the nucleus of where the band came from,” Kammers says.

Given the financial burden, spatial constraints and constant juggling of schedules, Kammers didn’t choose the easiest outfit to manage. But the 14-piece Brooklyn big band chugs on. “There’ll always be another gig, there’ll always be another tune,” he says, wistfully. “We’ve been doing this for eight years. Eight years, man. We are a working big band, which in and of itself is remarkable.”

With the bottom line being such a concern for underpaid musicians in overpriced New York, it is remarkable that the makeup of the band has remained as constant as it has. All of the members play in multiple groups. The majority of them lead their own bands. Yet you continue to see the same faces on stage night in and night out at MKGO shows, even when the pay is negligible (which sadly, is all too often).

It’s a testament to the uniting powers of making music and the respect Kammers has earned from his bandmates. Altoist John Beaty says, “Mike lets me be heard in a way that plays to my stronger musical traits and he treats me with love and respect I don’t necessarily get from other leaders.” Kammers often refers to the band as a family and Joe Beaty, who’s been in the group since 2003, says, “We all grew up together in the band. We’re friends first, who happen to play kick ass music.”

With a steady band, over 60 songs in the book and more ready to go, Kammers foresees no great changes in the musical path the group has been following and plans to let things evolve naturally. “The future of the band is it becoming more of itself,” he says. “It’s best to not put pressure on something creative-just let it be what it’s going to be. Ask what serves the music best and go from there.”

The opener, “Big Boss”, featured crescendoing woodwinds with swooning notes supported with throbbing bongos that inspired nostalgic adventures I never lived. Often, I found myself tying MKGO’s sound to the ups and downs of an unnamed protagonist, reminding me of why I fell in love with music so many years ago.

Kammers’s first solo came with “TTT”, and found the frontman belting an improvisation that was both sonically precise and aesthetically raw. The twenty-something saxophonist hit the proverbial high note often and rolled down to raunchy low-notes simply because he could. Quick progressions and unscathed sounds drew cheers from the late-night crowd.

The unlikely frontman’s audio bravado catalyzed his band mates into spotlight-snatching improvs of their own. In the following song, “Mambo en Espana”, flutist Nic Cowels exuded a sound that is equally provocative as it is difficult to describe. Cowels burnt eardrums and crushed preconceived notions by delivering ethos-laden notes somehow bordered by a vocal flair. His deft fingers moved over the keys with blinding speed, yet were so meticulous I had to remind myself that he wasn’t relying on sheet-music. He was a welcome surprise, as were the intentional background vocals delivered by both the horn and woodwind sections at various times during this song, providing it with a crowd-pleasing pop-element.

“Shady Blues” featured a pair of guitar solos from the soulful hands of Tom Cumming and the rock-bordered strings of Abe Seiferth. The two form an interesting duo, and played improvisation pieces that mirrored MKGO’s wide range and diverse influences. Putting these two to shame, however, was Kammers’s follow-up solo that found him dueling with one of the group’s trombonists. It made for a bizarre and unforgettable back and forth that smashed one’s ideas of what a trombone should sound like and built fantasies of its potential.

A personification of consistency coupled with the timing of a metronome, Japan native Tomoaki Kanno played his drums with laudable control. A cornerstone of the group since its beginnings, his beats are characterized by a mindful eye to the composition, yet are strikingly original and movement inducing. Most were yearning for this guy to break into an extended solo, but it never came.

To fill the void in between songs was Kammers’s stab at stand-up comedy. The sometimes awkward, often raunchy and always funny jokes kept both the crowd and band members comfortable and at ease. I always enjoy it when a frontman takes the time to candidly speak with his audience, it creates an unparalleled sense of intimacy that is rare in most live performances today.

The only drawback to the show was the late time slot, which consequently led to a short set. After an extended wait, both inside and outside of the venue, MKGO was onstage for a little more than an hour. Such a time constriction is commonplace and understandable, but it naturally cuts down on the length of the set-list and forced the band leader to keep a bead on the time allotted to each solo performer. This band has attained a sizable, and loyal, audience, making them deserving of a headlining spot.

Take the time to check out the band’s website below. Go there often to find out the time and place of their next performance, they’re worth the effort.

The MK Groove Orchestra is: Mike Kammers (Band Leader/ Tenor Saxophone); Tomoaki Kanno (Drums); Christopher Tordini (Bass); Abe Seiferth (Guitar); Tom Cumming (Guitar); Nic Cowels (Flute); John Beaty (Alto Saxophone); Joe Beaty (Trombone); Tatum Greenblatt (Trumpet); Jonathan Powell (Trumpet).

The horns cut regal and bright with random tart twists where the band injects the swing. And there’s plenty of danger, too. Call the music outlaw big band. That’s not to say it’s all nuts; the Orchestra delves into Afro-Cuban and traditional big band as well as old-school funk, and bangs it out honest and precise. But when you blend it all together…

“Your average straight-ahead jazz fan may think we’re a funky weird band,” says band leader Mike Kammers. “People that like funk think we’re a jazz band. And the promoters bring us in because I think, at the very least, we’re exciting.”

There was plenty of excitement at the 2007 Rochester International Jazz Festival when the band – dressed entirely in black and with several members sporting mohawks – commandeered the stage on Gibbs Street. Even after a mass exodus of the khaki’d and the square, the band played to a large, enthusiastic crowd and rocked their pants off.

“I think at the end of the set, however weird we get, we can always bring it back,” Kammers says. “The over-arching logic of our entire set sort of incorporates a lot of things, with the funk as our base.”

But the band’s funky groove is a powder keg. It kicks traditional big band horns in the ass, along with Kammers’ impish composer curiosity. This can sometimes leave an audience in the lurch.

“I honestly don’t know what the audience expects,” he says. “But when I started the band, putting the word ‘groove’ in the title I think ultimately set up people’s expectations for a groove band. But I’ve listened to so much music and played so much music, my definition of groove might be a lot broader than the average person’s.”

You hear groove, you think funk.

“Yeah,” he says. “And I love funk music. But I’m kinda restless. I don’t want to sound like a total pretentious snob, but I hear a lot of mediocre funk bands playing one-four vamps over and over and over, and it just bores the hell out of me. I have to keep it interesting for myself without alienating my audience.”

Kammers has had moments where his influences battle for dominance. “When I started the band, I was going for a big-band funk thing,” he says. “I was really influenced by albums like Jimmy McGriff’s ‘Electric Funk’ and all that late 60′s, early 70′s funk. But my musical nature is really restless and eclectic. Maybe I got too into Sun Ra for a few years and sorta scared people away. But I like Sly and the Family Stone – the first album, too. I like Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn; the way they make a horn section sound. But at the same time, I’m a child of the 80′s and 90′s, so I love rock music…anything that’s raw and visceral and expressive.”

To give you an idea of Kammers’ heavy vision and the band’s potential, if the all-instrumental group were to ever plug a singer in up front, Kammers knows who and what he wants.

“I would want somebody that just rocks,” he says. “I want the lead singer of AC/DC, or Henry Rollins; somebody that’s just gonna throw down.”

And at this point, fans of the band expect and get a throw down. But The MK Groove Orchestra doesn’t pander to its audience. Consequently, the music is unfettered and infinitely more genuine.

“As far as where I stand with the band conceptually, it’s where my interests as a musician and composer meet my prospective audience’s interests,” Kammers says. “I’m just trying to make music that’s honest to me. I always like wedding disparate things into the music in a way that strikes me as novel. Personally, I’m really inspired by the Afro-Cuban big band tradition – bands like Machito and Tito Puente. But, I’m not Cuban, I’m not Puerto Rican; I’m a white guy, so I try and take those influences and use them in a way that’s informed without sounding contrived.”

With this tug-o-war going on between dissonance and convention in Kammers’ head, you’d think having a big band would provide an adequate pallet to flesh it out. Or maybe not.

“Don’t start a big band,” he says. “It’s a terrible idea. Everything’s harder with a big band. But I love it.”

The MK Groove Orchestra w/Filthy Funk

Dubland Underground, 315 Alexander St

Saturday, October 11

9 p.m. | $5 | 232-7550