A fun quartet that performed "lite jazz," Uncle Festive played accessible funky jazz-influenced music during its existence. Its four members first came together as the backup group for pop singer Barry Manilow. When Manilow decided to take 1986 off, the quartet (guitarist John Pondel, keyboardist Ron Pedley, bassist Marc Levine and drummer Bud Harner) started playing independently as a unit, using the name Uncle Festive. Randy Drake took over as drummer in 1992 when Harner (who continued producing for the group) departed. The Los Angeles-based unit recorded for Denon and Bluemoon, performing catchy music that still sounds reasonably fresh. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi