Formed in 1997 by five fresh-faced Wellesley, MA high school seniors, the Addison Groove Project seized immediately upon the funkier roots of the jam band aesthetic, pumping out Kool & the Gangcovers while slowly building the fusion jazz chops that would come to color their releases. The quintet of Brendan McGinn(guitar/vocals), Andrew Keith(drums), John Hall(bass), Ben Groppe (tenor sax) and Dave Adams (alto sax) soon became a sextet with the addition of keyboardist Rob Marscher. After a self-titled release in 1998, ddison Groove Project played frequently in the Boston area. They eventually set out for a tour in 2000 and a live album, Wicked Live, appeared later that year. Their next two released followed in 2002 in quick succession: Allophone came out in the spring, followed in the winter by Wicked Live 2.