Ali Baba's Tahini is a

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

quintet that incorporates everything from

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and fusion to

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

. The band, which formed in 1997, made a name for themselves on the Midwest club circuit and began sharing gigs with an up-and-coming

Umphrey's McGee Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American rock band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and ...

. The original group featured bassist/vocalist Karl Engelmann, guitarist/vocalist

Jake Cinninger Jacob Alan Cinninger (born December 16, 1975) is an American musician. He has risen to fame as one of two lead guitarists in the Chicago-based jam band Umphrey's McGee. He is influenced by a wide range of styles and guitar players such as Joe Pa ...

, and drummer Steve Krojniewski. They released their debut album ''

Hopi Champa The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado Ri ...

'' in 1999. The album has become a sought-after collectors item since going out of print in 2002. Engelmann left the band in 1999 and was replaced by Kahlil Smylie for the album ''

Limbo Boots ''Limbo Boots'' is the second album from Ali Baba's Tahini, best known as the band Jake Cinninger was in before joining progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee. This is the only album to feature Kahlil Smylie on bass, who replaced founding member K ...

''. The departure of Engelmann, one of the band's main songwriters and singers, was a drastic change for the band. A few months later, Cinninger disbanded Ali Baba's Tahini to join

, where he remains to this day. Three years later in 2003, a four-man Ali Baba's Tahini (with Smylie on bass and Engelmann on guitar) reunited for a one-off performance in

Niles, Michigan Niles is a city in Berrien County, Michigan, Berrien and Cass County, Michigan, Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana state line city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. The population was 11,988 according to the 2020 Unit ...

. The following year, the original lineup of the band (Engelmann/Cinninger/Krojniewski) reunited in the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

mountains to record the album ''

Rockstars and Lawnmowers ''Rockstars and Lawnmowers'' is the third album from Ali Baba's Tahini, best known as the band Jake Cinninger was in before joining progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee. The album is the first since 1999 to feature the original lineup of Cinning ...

''. Engelmann fronted

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populous city in Western North Carolina a ...

-based rock band Mother Vinegar from 2004 to 2007, who, along with

, performed a number of Ali Baba's Tahini songs in concert. The band recorded

with former Mother Vinegar bassist Jeff Hinkle. Ali Baba's Tahini added a new member and songwriter, Justin W. Powell (The Mantras) on keyboards, for their ''Bottom Feeders'' release in 2020. A mini-tour through the midwest followed shortly after the release of Living Room. ABT also did a one-off appearance at Summercamp Music Festival to a crowd of over 4000 in 2011. Ali Baba's Tahini performed a benefit show for Michael Welter at Vegetable Buddies in South Bend, Indiana on Sept 30, 2017.

Discography

*''

'' (1999) (Engelmann/Cinninger/Krojniewski) *''

'' (2000) (Smylie/Cinninger/Krojniewski) *''

'' (2005) (Engelmann/Cinninger/Krojniewski) *''Living Room'' (2010) *''Bottom Feeders (2019)''

Current members

Karl Engelmann: guitar, vocals, bass

: guitar, vocals Steve Krojniewski: drums Justin W. Powell - Keys, vocals Jeff Hinkle - Bass

References

{{Authority control American hard rock musical groups Rock music groups from Indiana