Sandlin Gaither photo

Pimps of Joytime: Funky.

The Pimps of Joytime

With Deep Banana Blackout. 8 p.m., Nov. 25. Toad's Place, 300 York St. $18.50-$20. 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.

Over the past five years, the Pimps of Joytime have honed their funk and roll soul revue into a finely-tuned stage presentation. Of course, over the past five years, the Pimps of Joytime have been transformed into an actual band. In 2004, the Pimps were little more than guitarist Brian J and the handful of friends he invited into his just-completed Brooklyn, N.Y., studio to record an album that was still in the ideation phase.

"I started the process without knowing what kind of record I was going to make," says J of the first Pimps album, High Steppin. "I had done a bunch of funk music in the past, then I took a couple detours with some other styles, then things got funky. What became Pimps of Joytime started with just me in the studio, then I started collaborating with different people. Sometime when the album was just about done, the whole Pimps of Joytime name came up and that's how that went down."

As High Steppin began to reveal itself, J realized exactly where he wanted to take the album and ultimately the band itself. With his fresh musical perspective, J's vision for the Pimps was clarified and refocused.

"I just thought about what I want to be doing for the next 10 years," says J. "When I play a show, I want it to be a party. I want people to dance and I want it to be fun, as opposed to more singer-songwriter or more rock 'n' roll. The funk was where my heart was at and that's where I went. Still going deeper into it."

Since the release of High Steppin in 2005, the Pimps have bounced around with a rotating membership, but their newest line-up, while not completely settled, has evolved into an intuitively swinging unit.

"It's a work in progress, really," he says. "Chauncy Yearwood, the conga player and vocalist, we've been working together almost as long as the band's been together. Mayteana came into the fold about two and a half years ago, and she does vocals, runs the sampler and percussion and about six months ago, we hooked up with Clark Dark, the bass player who also plays Moog, and he brings a whole different energy. And we've got four really capable drummers that we use, because the level of drummer we need is highly in demand."

High Steppin and the subsequent remix album are strong evidence of what the Pimps are capable of in the live arena. They seamlessly shift from Sly & the Family Stone-style pop-funk to Prince-like funk-rock to vintage '70s Marvin Gaye R&B. J is putting the finishing touches on a new album recorded by the Pimps as they are now, and he's extremely excited about the results.

"This has been a journey for me, just in learning how to front a band, and being able to dig deep and bring out the soulfulness that I have inside and not be shy, and really lay it all on the line," says J. "That's still a process that's going on. A band is not just the musicians. The musicianship is 50 percent of the game, the other thing is the characters that you're involved with. Trust is a big thing; it can take years before you truly can open up and trust somebody. We're on that road. As that progresses and matures, I feel everybody's shining more and letting out their inner light. The group is really special people. Everybody is really a star in their own right in this group."