2017 Artist Bio's
Lowrider Band
When served an eclectic brew of Latin, R&B, rock and funk on a saucy platter of contemporary jazz and hot Jamaican reggae, what do you get? You get a motley spread of the hottest musical omnibus to morph from recording studios in over a decade: You get the fabulous Lowrider Band™.
Since 1962, members of Lowrider Band™ have compiled a tapestry of quintessential songs and live performances so musically infectious that its moniker traces from Los Angeles to Mexico City and from London to Copenhagen. And the genius of these musicians is captured in the musical medley of Hispanic, African-American, Asian and mainstream cultures, resulting in monster compositions such as “Slippin into Darkness,” “Low Rider,” “9 to 5 (Ordinary Man),” “All Day Music” and many other chart-toppers.
Comprised of four prolific, multi-platinum singer-songwriters, Howard Scott (guitar), Harold Brown (drums), Lee Oskar (harmonica) and B.B. Dickerson (bass), this dynamic team of accomplished musicians is guilty of dishing up many of the greatest tunes to permeate airwaves since the dawn of radio: “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” “Spill the Wine” and “The World is a Gheto” are a few more mega-hits they composed and performed over the years. A plethora of these hits have been sampled and recorded by major artists, including the smash single “You” by singer Janet Jackson.
Completing the seven-member posse and lending harmonious support to their distinctive sound are Lance Ellis on saxophone and flute, Pete Cole on keyboards, and Chuk Barber on percussion. Their latest self-tiled disc, Lowrider Band, features eight superbly orchestrated songs, including a riveting live version of “Why Can’t We Be Friends.” It’ll conjure reminisces of back in the day when the members of Lowrider began their collaborative composing odyssey.
Lowrider Band’s picturesque web-site is a window into the bands exciting plans, including upcoming projects and concerts. Lowrider Band™ will be bringing their "PEACE IN THE STREETS TOUR" to your town satisfying their international legion of loyal followers. Lowrider Band and staff are thrilled to announce that band members Howard Scott, Harold Brown, Lee Oskar and B.B. Dickerson have been nominated three times for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the legendary song "Low Rider", composed by them in the 1970s, with others, was recently inducted in the 2014 Grammy Hall of Fame! Written by Phil Brown
Since 1962, members of Lowrider Band™ have compiled a tapestry of quintessential songs and live performances so musically infectious that its moniker traces from Los Angeles to Mexico City and from London to Copenhagen. And the genius of these musicians is captured in the musical medley of Hispanic, African-American, Asian and mainstream cultures, resulting in monster compositions such as “Slippin into Darkness,” “Low Rider,” “9 to 5 (Ordinary Man),” “All Day Music” and many other chart-toppers.
Comprised of four prolific, multi-platinum singer-songwriters, Howard Scott (guitar), Harold Brown (drums), Lee Oskar (harmonica) and B.B. Dickerson (bass), this dynamic team of accomplished musicians is guilty of dishing up many of the greatest tunes to permeate airwaves since the dawn of radio: “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” “Spill the Wine” and “The World is a Gheto” are a few more mega-hits they composed and performed over the years. A plethora of these hits have been sampled and recorded by major artists, including the smash single “You” by singer Janet Jackson.
Completing the seven-member posse and lending harmonious support to their distinctive sound are Lance Ellis on saxophone and flute, Pete Cole on keyboards, and Chuk Barber on percussion. Their latest self-tiled disc, Lowrider Band, features eight superbly orchestrated songs, including a riveting live version of “Why Can’t We Be Friends.” It’ll conjure reminisces of back in the day when the members of Lowrider began their collaborative composing odyssey.
Lowrider Band’s picturesque web-site is a window into the bands exciting plans, including upcoming projects and concerts. Lowrider Band™ will be bringing their "PEACE IN THE STREETS TOUR" to your town satisfying their international legion of loyal followers. Lowrider Band and staff are thrilled to announce that band members Howard Scott, Harold Brown, Lee Oskar and B.B. Dickerson have been nominated three times for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the legendary song "Low Rider", composed by them in the 1970s, with others, was recently inducted in the 2014 Grammy Hall of Fame! Written by Phil Brown
Guy Davis
When Guy Davis plays the blues, he doesn’t want you to notice how much art is involved. “It takes work making a song that’s simple, and playful, and easy to do,” he says. “And I don’t want people to see that. I want to uplift and create something that causes delight. And I want some little eight-year-old kid in the front row to have big eyes and say, ‘Hey, I want to do that!’.”
Davis’ much-praised 1995 debut, Stomp Down the Rider on Red House Records, marked the arrival of a major talent, earning acclaim for his deft acoustic playing, his well-traveled voice and his literate, yet highly accessible songwriting. He’s barely rested since then, taking his music to television (the Conan O’Brien and David Letterman shows) and radio (A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, World Cafe, E-Town), as well as performing at theaters and festivals. And he’s played the four corners of the world, with a recent tour taking him from the Equator to the Arctic Circle. He played the Ukraine in summer of 2014, just a week or so before the statues of Lenin were torn down. He even played for the visiting Queen of Denmark when he performed at a children’s home in Greenland.
“I feel like I’ve only hit three corners of the world, with a lot more to go,” he says. “I seek to communicate no matter where I go. When I play in non-English speaking countries I play more of the classics—Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell. And I may tell fewer stories, but sometimes I can get away with it because the words sound like music.” Above all he’s looking to bring people together through music. “With the world falling apart it’s up to all of us to be ambassadors and to spread the music everywhere we can. There’s nowhere that I don’t want to play.”
His parallel careers– as a musician, an author, a music teacher and a film, television and Broadway actor—mark Davis as a Renaissance man, yet the blues remain his first and greatest love. Growing up in a family of artists (his parents were Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis), he fell under the spell of Blind Willie McTell and Fats Waller at an early age. Guy’s one-man play, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed With the Blues, premiered Off-Broadway in the ‘90s and has since been released as a double CD. He went on to star Off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil, winning the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive” award. He followed the footsteps of another blues legend when he joined the Broadway production of Finian’s Rainbow, playing the part originally done in 1947 by Sonny Terry. Along the way he cut nine acclaimed albums for the Red House label and three for his own label, Smokeydoke Records; and was nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards.
So it’s no wonder that Davis is reluctant to define himself simply as a bluesman. “To me, a bluesman is somebody who has to carry a knife or a gun and enter dangerous situations and sometimes fuel it with alcohol—That’s not who I am. I call myself a blues musician, and to me the blues is a broad title. I include some ragtime, I make a nod to New Orleans, and a nod to the fife and drum players. And I always include things that make you want to dance.”
All that and more can be heard on Kokomo Kidd, Guy’s twelfth studio album and his follow-up to the stripped-down, critically acclaimed 2013 release “Juba dance”, produced in Italy by Fabrizio Poggi. As always he combines modern with traditional blues, the somber and the celebratory. And for him it represents a jump into new territory. “It’s the first time I’ve produced myself,” he points out. “I stepped up to the plate, put the cash on the barrelhead and said ‘Let’s make this happen.’ What I‘m showing here is a side of me that’s deep inside. It’s needing air and light, and here it comes!”
The rollicking title track, featuring Ben Jaffe of New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, might be called a short story that you can dance to, featuring a rascal character who starts as a bootlegger and winds up a Republican advisor. “It’s sort of a demented celebration of corruption,” Guy says. “The Kidd represents all the forces that operate on the margins of society. That song says something about who I am, because I just don’t follow blues musicians, even though they’re very dear to me. But another one of my influences is someone I’d consider America’s modern Shakespeare, and that’s Garrison Keillor.”
The song’s New Orleans connection harks back to a formative visit he made to the Crescent City in 1979, a trip that convinced him to follow his muse as a performer. “I was playing the streets and Al Jaffe [Preservation Hall founder and Ben’s father] came out and saw me. Not only did he take me inside to meet all the players, he gave me the official Preservation Hall uniform tie, which I have to this day. And I ran into [legendary jazz bassist] Milt Hinton, who’d been my professor at Hunter College. He saw me playing on the street and thought, great—I’d finally made something of myself!”
Another of Davis’ mentors, folk legend Pete Seeger, inspired a song of loss, “I Wish I Hadn’t Stayed Away So Long.” He explains, “I was on Pete’s last official tour in 2008, witnessing with my own eyes something I’d heard since I was a child. Folk music was the doorway that I came into the blues from. And I want people hearing the song to know that life is precious, and that the road is not always an easy place to be.”
Other songs cover the more familiar territory of love and sex—or in the case of the sly “Blackberry Kisses,” both at once. “God knows I’ve written plenty of double and even single entendres about the sexual side of love,” he notes. “But the kiss is something different, that’s what elevates and energizes you—and I wanted this to be very elevated and energized! And I don’t know a lot of blues songs that break into waltz time in the middle.”
The most surprising of the album’s four cover tunes has to be “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” the slightly trippy Donovan hit from 1967. “I loved that song back when I was a kid, and I wasn’t even sure why—It wasn’t especially rhythmic, more on the acoustic psychedelic side of things. Growing up as an African-American, for me it was always about James Brown, soul music. So it comes from a more courageous part of myself to show how much I love that song. Same with the Bob Dylan song, ‘Lay Lady Lay’– There was a time when I wouldn’t have had the self-confidence to do a song like that.”
Closer to home is “Little Red Rooster,” the Willie Dixon classic first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf. The song teams Davis with another old friend, harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite. “I play the harp myself when I do that one live, but Charlie brings something special to it. In his blood he feels the harmonica and its sound, just as they did in the days of Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf.”
Continuing his mission to spread the blues around the world, Guy has lately been doing more teaching. “I’ve had beginning and intermediate students, and I try to give them enough of the basics that they can go into a jam session, and create more licks out of the ones they know. And I try to give them a bit of my philosophy. To my mind you can treat these songs as recombinant DNA, you can own it and you can create something new with it. And I didn’t sign any papers, but I can claim an ownership to the blues.”
Davis’ much-praised 1995 debut, Stomp Down the Rider on Red House Records, marked the arrival of a major talent, earning acclaim for his deft acoustic playing, his well-traveled voice and his literate, yet highly accessible songwriting. He’s barely rested since then, taking his music to television (the Conan O’Brien and David Letterman shows) and radio (A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, World Cafe, E-Town), as well as performing at theaters and festivals. And he’s played the four corners of the world, with a recent tour taking him from the Equator to the Arctic Circle. He played the Ukraine in summer of 2014, just a week or so before the statues of Lenin were torn down. He even played for the visiting Queen of Denmark when he performed at a children’s home in Greenland.
“I feel like I’ve only hit three corners of the world, with a lot more to go,” he says. “I seek to communicate no matter where I go. When I play in non-English speaking countries I play more of the classics—Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell. And I may tell fewer stories, but sometimes I can get away with it because the words sound like music.” Above all he’s looking to bring people together through music. “With the world falling apart it’s up to all of us to be ambassadors and to spread the music everywhere we can. There’s nowhere that I don’t want to play.”
His parallel careers– as a musician, an author, a music teacher and a film, television and Broadway actor—mark Davis as a Renaissance man, yet the blues remain his first and greatest love. Growing up in a family of artists (his parents were Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis), he fell under the spell of Blind Willie McTell and Fats Waller at an early age. Guy’s one-man play, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed With the Blues, premiered Off-Broadway in the ‘90s and has since been released as a double CD. He went on to star Off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil, winning the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive” award. He followed the footsteps of another blues legend when he joined the Broadway production of Finian’s Rainbow, playing the part originally done in 1947 by Sonny Terry. Along the way he cut nine acclaimed albums for the Red House label and three for his own label, Smokeydoke Records; and was nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards.
So it’s no wonder that Davis is reluctant to define himself simply as a bluesman. “To me, a bluesman is somebody who has to carry a knife or a gun and enter dangerous situations and sometimes fuel it with alcohol—That’s not who I am. I call myself a blues musician, and to me the blues is a broad title. I include some ragtime, I make a nod to New Orleans, and a nod to the fife and drum players. And I always include things that make you want to dance.”
All that and more can be heard on Kokomo Kidd, Guy’s twelfth studio album and his follow-up to the stripped-down, critically acclaimed 2013 release “Juba dance”, produced in Italy by Fabrizio Poggi. As always he combines modern with traditional blues, the somber and the celebratory. And for him it represents a jump into new territory. “It’s the first time I’ve produced myself,” he points out. “I stepped up to the plate, put the cash on the barrelhead and said ‘Let’s make this happen.’ What I‘m showing here is a side of me that’s deep inside. It’s needing air and light, and here it comes!”
The rollicking title track, featuring Ben Jaffe of New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, might be called a short story that you can dance to, featuring a rascal character who starts as a bootlegger and winds up a Republican advisor. “It’s sort of a demented celebration of corruption,” Guy says. “The Kidd represents all the forces that operate on the margins of society. That song says something about who I am, because I just don’t follow blues musicians, even though they’re very dear to me. But another one of my influences is someone I’d consider America’s modern Shakespeare, and that’s Garrison Keillor.”
The song’s New Orleans connection harks back to a formative visit he made to the Crescent City in 1979, a trip that convinced him to follow his muse as a performer. “I was playing the streets and Al Jaffe [Preservation Hall founder and Ben’s father] came out and saw me. Not only did he take me inside to meet all the players, he gave me the official Preservation Hall uniform tie, which I have to this day. And I ran into [legendary jazz bassist] Milt Hinton, who’d been my professor at Hunter College. He saw me playing on the street and thought, great—I’d finally made something of myself!”
Another of Davis’ mentors, folk legend Pete Seeger, inspired a song of loss, “I Wish I Hadn’t Stayed Away So Long.” He explains, “I was on Pete’s last official tour in 2008, witnessing with my own eyes something I’d heard since I was a child. Folk music was the doorway that I came into the blues from. And I want people hearing the song to know that life is precious, and that the road is not always an easy place to be.”
Other songs cover the more familiar territory of love and sex—or in the case of the sly “Blackberry Kisses,” both at once. “God knows I’ve written plenty of double and even single entendres about the sexual side of love,” he notes. “But the kiss is something different, that’s what elevates and energizes you—and I wanted this to be very elevated and energized! And I don’t know a lot of blues songs that break into waltz time in the middle.”
The most surprising of the album’s four cover tunes has to be “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” the slightly trippy Donovan hit from 1967. “I loved that song back when I was a kid, and I wasn’t even sure why—It wasn’t especially rhythmic, more on the acoustic psychedelic side of things. Growing up as an African-American, for me it was always about James Brown, soul music. So it comes from a more courageous part of myself to show how much I love that song. Same with the Bob Dylan song, ‘Lay Lady Lay’– There was a time when I wouldn’t have had the self-confidence to do a song like that.”
Closer to home is “Little Red Rooster,” the Willie Dixon classic first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf. The song teams Davis with another old friend, harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite. “I play the harp myself when I do that one live, but Charlie brings something special to it. In his blood he feels the harmonica and its sound, just as they did in the days of Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf.”
Continuing his mission to spread the blues around the world, Guy has lately been doing more teaching. “I’ve had beginning and intermediate students, and I try to give them enough of the basics that they can go into a jam session, and create more licks out of the ones they know. And I try to give them a bit of my philosophy. To my mind you can treat these songs as recombinant DNA, you can own it and you can create something new with it. And I didn’t sign any papers, but I can claim an ownership to the blues.”
Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers
“America’s Hottest Accordion” winner, Dwayne (Dopsie) Rubin, plays a unique, high energy style of zydeco. Dwayne hails from one of the most influential Zydeco families in the world. Although inspired by tradition, he has developed his own high energy style that defies existing stereotypes and blazes a refreshingly distinct path for 21st century Zydeco music. This singer/songwriter and accordionist has performed all over the world since debuting his band, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, at age 19.
Dwayne, born March 3, 1979 in Lafayette, Louisiana, was the last of eight children. Dwayne attributes his musical ablilities to his father, Rockin' Dopise, Sr., a pioneer of Zydeco music. As a small child, Dwayne was interested in the washboard, but quickly realized he had incredible talent with an accordion. He has played the accordion since age seven and states, "This is my calling - Zydeco music is in my blood and it is my heart and soul." As a tribute to his late father, the most influential person in his life, Dwayne plans to record an album of his Dad's greatest Zydeco hits.
Dwayne and his Hellraisers recorded a live CD released September 2011 which features a limited edition double LP album as a bonus. He released another cd called BEEN GOOD TO YOU.
"Dwayne takes the instruments and traditions of zydeco to new levels infusing blues, soul and funk with a driving rub-board rhythm. The Zydeco Hellraisers’ sound is relentless, pulsating and funky, easily appealing to fans of all genres.” – Toledo City Pape
Dwayne, born March 3, 1979 in Lafayette, Louisiana, was the last of eight children. Dwayne attributes his musical ablilities to his father, Rockin' Dopise, Sr., a pioneer of Zydeco music. As a small child, Dwayne was interested in the washboard, but quickly realized he had incredible talent with an accordion. He has played the accordion since age seven and states, "This is my calling - Zydeco music is in my blood and it is my heart and soul." As a tribute to his late father, the most influential person in his life, Dwayne plans to record an album of his Dad's greatest Zydeco hits.
Dwayne and his Hellraisers recorded a live CD released September 2011 which features a limited edition double LP album as a bonus. He released another cd called BEEN GOOD TO YOU.
"Dwayne takes the instruments and traditions of zydeco to new levels infusing blues, soul and funk with a driving rub-board rhythm. The Zydeco Hellraisers’ sound is relentless, pulsating and funky, easily appealing to fans of all genres.” – Toledo City Pape
Carolyn Wonderland
A musical force equipped with the soulful vocals of Janis and the guitar slinging skills of Stevie Ray, Carolyn Wonderland reaches into the depths of the Texas blues tradition with the wit of a poet. She hits the stage with unmatched presence, a true legend in her time.
Carolyn grew up the child of a singer in a band and began playing her mother’s vintage Martin guitar when other girls were dressing dolls. She’s gone from being the teenage toast of her hometown Houston to sleeping in her van in Austin amid heaps of critical acclaim for fine recordings Alcohol & Salvation, Bloodless Revolution, and more recently, Miss Understood and Peace Meal.
Along with the guitar and the multitude of other instruments she learned to play – trumpet, accordion, piano, mandolin, lap steel – Wonderland even thows in a whistling solo on occasion.
Her breakthrough album release was 2008’s Miss Understood (Bismeaux). From appearances on PBS’s Austin City Limits to top slots at major festivals around the world, Wonderland’s album quickly reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Blues chart and her live shows left a trail of screaming fans in its wake.
The follow up, Peace Meal (2011), was produced by a stellar cast including long-time supporter and inspiration, Ray Benson, and two-time Grammy winner Larry Campbell (the force behind The Band drummer Levon Helm and his recent comeback) and founding Monkee, Michael Nesmith.
2014 highlights included key festival appearances in North America and Europe, as well as guest sit-in appearances with cohorts Vintage Trouble, and vocal performance on two tracks of James Williamson’s (Stooges) release of newly recorded versions of songs he and Iggy wrote in 1973 and 1974 called“Re-Licked” along with Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, and many more. 2015 highlights include her first-ever New Orleans JazzFest appearance, appearance on Carson Daly Show, and a live album called “Live Texas Trio.”
Cole El-Saleh plays keyboards and key bass. His keyboard work can be heard on Carolyn Wonderland’s most recent three albums, as well as about a hundred other projects, mostly recorded and produced in Austin, Texas between 1996 and the present.
Rob Hooper was born in Dallas, TX and started playing drums when he was 11 years old. Rob started playing professionally at age 18. He has played drums for Jimmie Dale Gilmore, the Resentments, Seth Walker, Guy Forsyth, Monte Montgomery, and many more.
Carolyn grew up the child of a singer in a band and began playing her mother’s vintage Martin guitar when other girls were dressing dolls. She’s gone from being the teenage toast of her hometown Houston to sleeping in her van in Austin amid heaps of critical acclaim for fine recordings Alcohol & Salvation, Bloodless Revolution, and more recently, Miss Understood and Peace Meal.
Along with the guitar and the multitude of other instruments she learned to play – trumpet, accordion, piano, mandolin, lap steel – Wonderland even thows in a whistling solo on occasion.
Her breakthrough album release was 2008’s Miss Understood (Bismeaux). From appearances on PBS’s Austin City Limits to top slots at major festivals around the world, Wonderland’s album quickly reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Blues chart and her live shows left a trail of screaming fans in its wake.
The follow up, Peace Meal (2011), was produced by a stellar cast including long-time supporter and inspiration, Ray Benson, and two-time Grammy winner Larry Campbell (the force behind The Band drummer Levon Helm and his recent comeback) and founding Monkee, Michael Nesmith.
2014 highlights included key festival appearances in North America and Europe, as well as guest sit-in appearances with cohorts Vintage Trouble, and vocal performance on two tracks of James Williamson’s (Stooges) release of newly recorded versions of songs he and Iggy wrote in 1973 and 1974 called“Re-Licked” along with Jello Biafra, Mark Lanegan, Alison Mosshart, and many more. 2015 highlights include her first-ever New Orleans JazzFest appearance, appearance on Carson Daly Show, and a live album called “Live Texas Trio.”
Cole El-Saleh plays keyboards and key bass. His keyboard work can be heard on Carolyn Wonderland’s most recent three albums, as well as about a hundred other projects, mostly recorded and produced in Austin, Texas between 1996 and the present.
Rob Hooper was born in Dallas, TX and started playing drums when he was 11 years old. Rob started playing professionally at age 18. He has played drums for Jimmie Dale Gilmore, the Resentments, Seth Walker, Guy Forsyth, Monte Montgomery, and many more.
Joe Louis Walker
Joe Louis Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Blues Music Award winner celebrates a career that exceeds a half a century. His new album Everybody Wants A Piece cements his legacy as a prolific torchbearer for the blues. Looking back on his rich history, Walker shares, “I’d like to be known for the credibility of a lifetime of being true to my music and the blues.
Sometimes I feel I’ve learned more from my failures, than from my success. But that’s made me stronger and more adventurous. And helped me create my own style. I’d like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, ‘That’s Joe Louis Walker.’
Always an artist deeply expressive lyrically, Walker continues to write and sing about themes that are universal. On “Black & Blue” he talks about a love affair that’s falling apart, but there’s an effort to keep it going. He offers, “The lyric ‘Let’s find a quiet place, A place out of town…We Need to talk this thru, Be honest & True’ says it all in trying to save the relationship.” He cites the title track as a composition that might not have a deep meaning, but in presenting the thought, “Everybody wants a piece of your love,” offers a double entendre that speaks for itself. With a deep history and background in gospel, Walker looks towards Wade in the Water” as an instant all time favorite. He reveals, “The inspirational lyric ‘The water is deep, the water is cold, it chills my body, BUT NOT MY SOUL” is expressing my belief that the spiritual will carry you through when the physical can’t.”
This time out Joe has brought on Paul Nelson to produce his album which was recorded at his famed Chop Shop studio on the east coast. Nelson is a Grammy winning guitarist/producer who was rock/blues legend Johnny Winter’s guitarist, and who also appears as guest guitarist on two tracks on Everybody Wants A Piece.
A true powerhouse guitar virtuoso, unique singer and prolific songwriter, he has toured extensively throughout his career, performed at the world’s most renowned music festivals, and earned a legion of dedicated fans. Walker’s 1986 debut album Cold Is the Night on HighTone announced his arrival in stunning fashion, and his subsequent output has only served to further establish Walker as one of the leading bluesmen on the scene.
Born on December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, at age 14, he took up the guitar. Just two years later, he was a known quantity on the Bay Area music scene, playing blues with an occasional foray into psychedelic rock. For a while, he roomed with Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead. Walker even made a brief pilgrimage to Chicago to check out the blues scene there. In 1975, burned out on blues, Walker turned to God, singing for the next decade with a gospel group, the Spiritual Corinthians. When the Corinthians played the 1985 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Walker was inspired to embrace his blues roots again. He assembled the Boss Talkers, and throughout the 1990s merged many of his gospel, jazz, soul, funk and rock influences with his trademark blues sensibilities on recordings released by Polydor/Polygram. These albums feature Walker’s collaborations with a diverse group of first-rate artists including Branford Marsalis, James Cotton, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Walker has steadily released recordings since the turn of the millennium, and recently signed to Provogue / Mascot Label Group.
NPR Music has called Walker “a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues,” and he is already being referred to within the blues world as a living legend. However, at this stage of his life, Walker profoundly shares, “I’d really like to inspire younger musicians to carry on the legacy of blues/roots music. But play, and do it your way. Don’t be afraid to mix it up. There’s no right, or wrong way. Just the way you wanna express yourself. And above all, ENJOY YOURSELF.”
Sometimes I feel I’ve learned more from my failures, than from my success. But that’s made me stronger and more adventurous. And helped me create my own style. I’d like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, ‘That’s Joe Louis Walker.’
Always an artist deeply expressive lyrically, Walker continues to write and sing about themes that are universal. On “Black & Blue” he talks about a love affair that’s falling apart, but there’s an effort to keep it going. He offers, “The lyric ‘Let’s find a quiet place, A place out of town…We Need to talk this thru, Be honest & True’ says it all in trying to save the relationship.” He cites the title track as a composition that might not have a deep meaning, but in presenting the thought, “Everybody wants a piece of your love,” offers a double entendre that speaks for itself. With a deep history and background in gospel, Walker looks towards Wade in the Water” as an instant all time favorite. He reveals, “The inspirational lyric ‘The water is deep, the water is cold, it chills my body, BUT NOT MY SOUL” is expressing my belief that the spiritual will carry you through when the physical can’t.”
This time out Joe has brought on Paul Nelson to produce his album which was recorded at his famed Chop Shop studio on the east coast. Nelson is a Grammy winning guitarist/producer who was rock/blues legend Johnny Winter’s guitarist, and who also appears as guest guitarist on two tracks on Everybody Wants A Piece.
A true powerhouse guitar virtuoso, unique singer and prolific songwriter, he has toured extensively throughout his career, performed at the world’s most renowned music festivals, and earned a legion of dedicated fans. Walker’s 1986 debut album Cold Is the Night on HighTone announced his arrival in stunning fashion, and his subsequent output has only served to further establish Walker as one of the leading bluesmen on the scene.
Born on December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, at age 14, he took up the guitar. Just two years later, he was a known quantity on the Bay Area music scene, playing blues with an occasional foray into psychedelic rock. For a while, he roomed with Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead. Walker even made a brief pilgrimage to Chicago to check out the blues scene there. In 1975, burned out on blues, Walker turned to God, singing for the next decade with a gospel group, the Spiritual Corinthians. When the Corinthians played the 1985 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Walker was inspired to embrace his blues roots again. He assembled the Boss Talkers, and throughout the 1990s merged many of his gospel, jazz, soul, funk and rock influences with his trademark blues sensibilities on recordings released by Polydor/Polygram. These albums feature Walker’s collaborations with a diverse group of first-rate artists including Branford Marsalis, James Cotton, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Walker has steadily released recordings since the turn of the millennium, and recently signed to Provogue / Mascot Label Group.
NPR Music has called Walker “a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues,” and he is already being referred to within the blues world as a living legend. However, at this stage of his life, Walker profoundly shares, “I’d really like to inspire younger musicians to carry on the legacy of blues/roots music. But play, and do it your way. Don’t be afraid to mix it up. There’s no right, or wrong way. Just the way you wanna express yourself. And above all, ENJOY YOURSELF.”
Ron Hacker
"The first time I got the blues, I mean really got the blues, was in 1956. A friend and I got caught breaking into parking meters. I was eleven - he was twelve. Off we went to the juvenile center. The counselors in the center were young Afro-Americans in their twenties and they loved their music, like young dudes do. In '56 their music was Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed. I fell in love with the music and it's been a part of my life since then. As I've gotten older I've tried to concentrate more on playing the Blues than living them."
After teaching himself to play guitar, Ron met the late Yank Rachell, partner of Sleepy John Estes. Yank trained Ron on the finer points of Delta Blues, and they became life-long friends in the process.
The actor Peter Coyote helped Ron get his first gig in San Francisco at a neighborhood coffee shop. It wasn't long before Ron put together the Hacksaws and was tearing it up in clubs all over the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since then, Ron has played every major festival in Northern California, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Marin County Blues Festival and the Long Beach Blues Festival. Ron has also toured extensively in Europe playing major festivals in Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Germany, and Norway.
Ron has put out nine albums, which include No Pretty Songs, Bar Stool Blues, I Got Tattooed, Backdoor Man, Burnin’, Live In Holland, Mr. Bad Boy, My Songs, and Filthy Animal.
In June of 2006 Ron put some slide guitar on Tom Waits’ Grammy nominated CD, Orphans released 11/21/06. He has also written a pulp memoir, White Trash Bluesman. Movie credits include "The Blues Guy" in “Just Like Heaven”, September 2005.
After teaching himself to play guitar, Ron met the late Yank Rachell, partner of Sleepy John Estes. Yank trained Ron on the finer points of Delta Blues, and they became life-long friends in the process.
The actor Peter Coyote helped Ron get his first gig in San Francisco at a neighborhood coffee shop. It wasn't long before Ron put together the Hacksaws and was tearing it up in clubs all over the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since then, Ron has played every major festival in Northern California, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Marin County Blues Festival and the Long Beach Blues Festival. Ron has also toured extensively in Europe playing major festivals in Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Germany, and Norway.
Ron has put out nine albums, which include No Pretty Songs, Bar Stool Blues, I Got Tattooed, Backdoor Man, Burnin’, Live In Holland, Mr. Bad Boy, My Songs, and Filthy Animal.
In June of 2006 Ron put some slide guitar on Tom Waits’ Grammy nominated CD, Orphans released 11/21/06. He has also written a pulp memoir, White Trash Bluesman. Movie credits include "The Blues Guy" in “Just Like Heaven”, September 2005.
Randy Oxford
Randy Oxford, Washington State Entertainer of the Year, and his 6 piece international roots band bring you a unique, 21st century sound in the blues!
Winners of over 25 music awards in Washington State, The Randy Oxford Band showcases their sophisticated brand of Chicago-style musicianship, daring arrangements of blues classics, Americana,Soul, R&B, Funky, Rock, Motown and more.The band is led by Washington State Performer of the Year, Randy Oxford, whose prowess on trombone and ability to ignite an audience's enthusiasm have become legendary in the Northwest.
"Somewhere along that musical path, Oxford, a talented trombonist, has unearthed the ingredients for an original blend, one that combines elements of blues, jazz, R&B, funk, rock and even some country." Rick Nelson, THE NEWS TRIBUNE Columnist
Winners of over 25 music awards in Washington State, The Randy Oxford Band showcases their sophisticated brand of Chicago-style musicianship, daring arrangements of blues classics, Americana,Soul, R&B, Funky, Rock, Motown and more.The band is led by Washington State Performer of the Year, Randy Oxford, whose prowess on trombone and ability to ignite an audience's enthusiasm have become legendary in the Northwest.
"Somewhere along that musical path, Oxford, a talented trombonist, has unearthed the ingredients for an original blend, one that combines elements of blues, jazz, R&B, funk, rock and even some country." Rick Nelson, THE NEWS TRIBUNE Columnist
Maria Rivas
Known as one of the most versatile voices in Latin America and now North America, Maria Rivas skillfully combines American and Latin Jazz / Blues rhythms with lively yet sentimental music from around the world. She interprets her music in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and performs her own blend of traditional standards as well as music and lyrics she has composed herself.
Maria's unique sound is an intoxicating combination of classic American jazz and Latin music, with just the right splash of Brazilian accents, together with her signature mixture of indigenous, Caribbean, European, and African strains. From slow and sensuous, to very lively with a strong beat, her audiences love alternately to dance to her music, or sit and listen while being both moved and energized. A significant number of her audience members have described her performances as "magical"--their word.
Her exotic and varied repertoire includes American jazz and blues standards such as 'Funny Valentine', 'Route 66', 'Lush Life', and 'Summertime;' Latin classics like 'Bésame Mucho' and 'Moliendo Café;' smooth and sensuous Brazilian bossa nova tunes like 'Girl from Ipanema', 'Corcovado', 'Dindi' and 'One Note Samba'; movingly romantic ballads, such as 'My Romance' and 'Our Love is Here to Stay,' and many, many others.
During her musical career spanning over 30 years, Maria has released ten CDs while headlining concerts in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Asia. including the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. She entertains her audiences with her uniquely melodious voice and dynamic expression and stage presence, as well as her phenomenal 'Scat' improvisations, which have been favorably compared by music critics and audiences with those of Ella Fitzgerald.
Maria has won every prestigious singing award Venezuela and much of Latin America have to offer. Her hit song, MANDUCO, remained in the number one position on the charts in Latin America for many months, and in the top 10 for over 3 years, and turned her into a cultural icon. Maria now makes her home in South Florida.
Ms. Rivas also became known as the vocalist most associated with Venezuela's most prominent and beloved composer of the 20th century, Maestro Aldemaro Romero. Ms. Rivas and Maestro Romero collaborated during 20 years of concerts, both acoustic with piano and voice, as well as with symphonic orchestras. Over the course of this period, Ms. Rivas achieved an intensely personal style of interpretation of Maestro Romero's work, which continues to influence her Jazz interpretations and improvisations.
Maria is also an innovative and accomplished painter and visual artist, with a refreshing and distinctive style. She has created works on multiple media, and these now grace the galleries of museums and collectors around the world. Maria's latest paintings are her "American Jazz Greats" Series. In this Series, she has created highly original interpretations on canvas of some of the greatest artists in Jazz history, including (alphabetically) Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Nina Simone. Art critics have raved that the viewer can actually experience the sensation of listening to these great performers while simply looking at Maria's paintings. Maria frequently exhibits her art during her musical performances, creating a tremendously attractive and unusual combination of delights for her audiences.
Maria Rivas is a renowned environmentalist and humanitarian in her native Venezuela. Among her many charitable works, she has been instrumental in popularizing the Recycling movement in that nation. An example of her innovative approach was her series of concerts where the ticket of admission was paid by young patrons in the form of bags of Recycled Garbage brought to the concert!! She also has devoted her leadership skills in Hatha Yoga and meditation to women and teenage inmates in Venezuela prisons, where she led successful programs to reach numerous prisoners through her positive example and teachings.
Maria's unique sound is an intoxicating combination of classic American jazz and Latin music, with just the right splash of Brazilian accents, together with her signature mixture of indigenous, Caribbean, European, and African strains. From slow and sensuous, to very lively with a strong beat, her audiences love alternately to dance to her music, or sit and listen while being both moved and energized. A significant number of her audience members have described her performances as "magical"--their word.
Her exotic and varied repertoire includes American jazz and blues standards such as 'Funny Valentine', 'Route 66', 'Lush Life', and 'Summertime;' Latin classics like 'Bésame Mucho' and 'Moliendo Café;' smooth and sensuous Brazilian bossa nova tunes like 'Girl from Ipanema', 'Corcovado', 'Dindi' and 'One Note Samba'; movingly romantic ballads, such as 'My Romance' and 'Our Love is Here to Stay,' and many, many others.
During her musical career spanning over 30 years, Maria has released ten CDs while headlining concerts in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Asia. including the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. She entertains her audiences with her uniquely melodious voice and dynamic expression and stage presence, as well as her phenomenal 'Scat' improvisations, which have been favorably compared by music critics and audiences with those of Ella Fitzgerald.
Maria has won every prestigious singing award Venezuela and much of Latin America have to offer. Her hit song, MANDUCO, remained in the number one position on the charts in Latin America for many months, and in the top 10 for over 3 years, and turned her into a cultural icon. Maria now makes her home in South Florida.
Ms. Rivas also became known as the vocalist most associated with Venezuela's most prominent and beloved composer of the 20th century, Maestro Aldemaro Romero. Ms. Rivas and Maestro Romero collaborated during 20 years of concerts, both acoustic with piano and voice, as well as with symphonic orchestras. Over the course of this period, Ms. Rivas achieved an intensely personal style of interpretation of Maestro Romero's work, which continues to influence her Jazz interpretations and improvisations.
Maria is also an innovative and accomplished painter and visual artist, with a refreshing and distinctive style. She has created works on multiple media, and these now grace the galleries of museums and collectors around the world. Maria's latest paintings are her "American Jazz Greats" Series. In this Series, she has created highly original interpretations on canvas of some of the greatest artists in Jazz history, including (alphabetically) Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Nina Simone. Art critics have raved that the viewer can actually experience the sensation of listening to these great performers while simply looking at Maria's paintings. Maria frequently exhibits her art during her musical performances, creating a tremendously attractive and unusual combination of delights for her audiences.
Maria Rivas is a renowned environmentalist and humanitarian in her native Venezuela. Among her many charitable works, she has been instrumental in popularizing the Recycling movement in that nation. An example of her innovative approach was her series of concerts where the ticket of admission was paid by young patrons in the form of bags of Recycled Garbage brought to the concert!! She also has devoted her leadership skills in Hatha Yoga and meditation to women and teenage inmates in Venezuela prisons, where she led successful programs to reach numerous prisoners through her positive example and teachings.
Shuffle Demons
What do you get when you cross 3 amazing saxophonists dressed in wacky clothes, a crazy dancing drummer and a killer upright bass player and have them sing songs about Buses, Roaches and Hockey and spend 1/2 their time playing in the audience? The Shuffle Demons, that's what!!! They were a band that captured the imagination of a generation with their antics and amazing no holds barred playing and stopped traffic on a regular basis. And now they're back!!
The Shuffle Demons are a high-energy Canadian band that blends virtuosic jazz and funk playing with eye-catching costumes and over the top stage antics to produce an incredible show. A hit at festivals all over the world, the Shuffle Demons are a crowd pleasing, full-on musical group that backs up wild stage antics with phenomenal playing by some of Canada's most talented musicians.
The Shuffle Demons first broke onto the Canadian music scene in 1984 with an electrifying musical fusion that drew in equal measure from Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. This band is genre bending, highly visually entertaining, funny, and best of all, can really PLAY. All their eye catching, crowd-pleasing stunts are backed up by incredibly solid musicianship and real groundbreaking playing.
The band has toured extensively in Europe and around the world and has played at the Molde, Oslo, Stockholm, Lund, Pori, Birmingham, London, Edinbourgh, Montreal and North Sea Jazz festivals, Jazz a Vienne, Outside In Jazz Festival, the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Japan's biggest Jazz Fest), on the Barenaked Ladies Ships and Dip Cruise, at the Bangkok International Festival of Music and Dance, at the Taranaki Arts Fest and the Dubbo Jazz Fest in New Zealand and Australia, the Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea, the Zacatecas Cultural Festival in Mexico, the Beijing Jazz Festival, in India, the USA, Cuba and all across Canada.
Over a twenty eight year span the Shuffle Demons have released eight CDs, two hit videos, won several music awards, done numerous TV and radio appearances and toured nationally and internationally including 20 cross Canada tours, 5 US tours, 16 European tours, a tour of India, a tour of China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Cuba playing on big festival stages, theatres and clubs.
The band continues the tradition today with a great line-up of players that includes Juno Award winner Richard Underhill -sax & vox, Perry White and Kelly Jefferson - saxes, George Koller - bass and Stich Wynston - drums. Expect the same exciting, no holds barred performances that feature wild romps in the crowd, free jazz moments, danceable funk, poetry, killer solos and more. They just released a new CD ‘Clusterfunk’ in 2012. The CD features 12 new compositions that will be sure to please long time fans and new listeners alike.
But who are these debonair ruffians, these satirical streetniks of stage, screen, and sidewalk... these Cartoon Hepcats with the cracked conviction of 5 Harpo Marxes? How did they start spreading shuffle ecstasy, only known antidote to seriousness in Canadian music? And is it really 23 years since the Demons first took the Spadina Bus??
The legend of the Shuffle Demons is well known to Canadians. Beginning in September 1984 with veteran street sax player Demon Richard Underhill pleasing the pedestrian multitudes at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, the Shuffle Demons quickly evolved into an immensely popular street band. Drawing hordes of hipsters to their street gigs with their wild playing and exotic wardrobe, the Demons (Mike Murley, Stich Wynston, Jim Vivian, Dave Parker and Richard Underhill) next took their caustic collection of musical majesties and travesties inside and began pleasing bunches of boppers in Toronto clubs. Inspired by these fashion assassins and their original street hits Spadina Bus, The Shuffle Monster, Out of My House, Roach, and What do you Want? large delirious audiences began experiencing the early stages of shuffle rapture.
Looking to broaden their horizons, on May 12/85 the Shuffle Demons embarked on a 3-month whirlwind street tour of Europe. They played in clubs and music festivals in Germany (incl. East Berlin-close call with serious border people!), Italy and France and on the streets of 10 European countries.
Upon their return, these flagrant flag bearers of folly stormed the stages of the land, their newfound Gimi-wear (named after their Parisian/Gambian tailor) inspiring occasional attacks of ocular indigestion among the uninitiated. Their popularity continued to grow, and with it burgeoned the newly formed society of streetniks. With this support, the Shuffle Demons released their first album 'Streetniks'.
Then things got really crazy! In 1986, John Gunn and Rob Fresco directed "Spadina Bus", the video which turned T.V. into Demonsville.
'Spadina Bus' became a MuchMusic hit, and was quickly followed by the hilarious 'Out of My House, Roach' (directed by Joel Goldberg). The Demons caught fire, sold more independent albums than anyone up to that point (15,000) were nominated for a Juno, won 5 CASBY Awards, toured like mad and released their 2nd album (Bop Rap) which featured a very popular rendition of 'Hockey Night in Canada.' More touring and more albums followed and soon the Shuffle Demons were playing to packed houses around the world with a new line-up featuring Perry White and George Koller. And brand new demon duds by Kurt Swinghammer.
The rest is history!
The Shuffle Demons released 6 albums and 7 videos in their 23-year career. They played 1000s of shows at every major jazz and folk festival in Canada during 20 Canadian tours. They toured Europe 15 times playing from Estonia to Italy, from the Netherlands to Norway, from Switzerland to Sweden, from Germany to Belgium. And all the while they kept audiences excited, dancing and smiling as they built up a solid fan base that to this day will never forget the music and the antics...stopping traffic with the famous 'Spadina Bus' walk around, playing a Mingus tune and really meaning it, thrashing around the stage in crazy interpretive dance, delivering the classic poem 'What do you Want.'
The Shuffle Demons are a high-energy Canadian band that blends virtuosic jazz and funk playing with eye-catching costumes and over the top stage antics to produce an incredible show. A hit at festivals all over the world, the Shuffle Demons are a crowd pleasing, full-on musical group that backs up wild stage antics with phenomenal playing by some of Canada's most talented musicians.
The Shuffle Demons first broke onto the Canadian music scene in 1984 with an electrifying musical fusion that drew in equal measure from Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. This band is genre bending, highly visually entertaining, funny, and best of all, can really PLAY. All their eye catching, crowd-pleasing stunts are backed up by incredibly solid musicianship and real groundbreaking playing.
The band has toured extensively in Europe and around the world and has played at the Molde, Oslo, Stockholm, Lund, Pori, Birmingham, London, Edinbourgh, Montreal and North Sea Jazz festivals, Jazz a Vienne, Outside In Jazz Festival, the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Japan's biggest Jazz Fest), on the Barenaked Ladies Ships and Dip Cruise, at the Bangkok International Festival of Music and Dance, at the Taranaki Arts Fest and the Dubbo Jazz Fest in New Zealand and Australia, the Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea, the Zacatecas Cultural Festival in Mexico, the Beijing Jazz Festival, in India, the USA, Cuba and all across Canada.
Over a twenty eight year span the Shuffle Demons have released eight CDs, two hit videos, won several music awards, done numerous TV and radio appearances and toured nationally and internationally including 20 cross Canada tours, 5 US tours, 16 European tours, a tour of India, a tour of China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Cuba playing on big festival stages, theatres and clubs.
The band continues the tradition today with a great line-up of players that includes Juno Award winner Richard Underhill -sax & vox, Perry White and Kelly Jefferson - saxes, George Koller - bass and Stich Wynston - drums. Expect the same exciting, no holds barred performances that feature wild romps in the crowd, free jazz moments, danceable funk, poetry, killer solos and more. They just released a new CD ‘Clusterfunk’ in 2012. The CD features 12 new compositions that will be sure to please long time fans and new listeners alike.
But who are these debonair ruffians, these satirical streetniks of stage, screen, and sidewalk... these Cartoon Hepcats with the cracked conviction of 5 Harpo Marxes? How did they start spreading shuffle ecstasy, only known antidote to seriousness in Canadian music? And is it really 23 years since the Demons first took the Spadina Bus??
The legend of the Shuffle Demons is well known to Canadians. Beginning in September 1984 with veteran street sax player Demon Richard Underhill pleasing the pedestrian multitudes at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, the Shuffle Demons quickly evolved into an immensely popular street band. Drawing hordes of hipsters to their street gigs with their wild playing and exotic wardrobe, the Demons (Mike Murley, Stich Wynston, Jim Vivian, Dave Parker and Richard Underhill) next took their caustic collection of musical majesties and travesties inside and began pleasing bunches of boppers in Toronto clubs. Inspired by these fashion assassins and their original street hits Spadina Bus, The Shuffle Monster, Out of My House, Roach, and What do you Want? large delirious audiences began experiencing the early stages of shuffle rapture.
Looking to broaden their horizons, on May 12/85 the Shuffle Demons embarked on a 3-month whirlwind street tour of Europe. They played in clubs and music festivals in Germany (incl. East Berlin-close call with serious border people!), Italy and France and on the streets of 10 European countries.
Upon their return, these flagrant flag bearers of folly stormed the stages of the land, their newfound Gimi-wear (named after their Parisian/Gambian tailor) inspiring occasional attacks of ocular indigestion among the uninitiated. Their popularity continued to grow, and with it burgeoned the newly formed society of streetniks. With this support, the Shuffle Demons released their first album 'Streetniks'.
Then things got really crazy! In 1986, John Gunn and Rob Fresco directed "Spadina Bus", the video which turned T.V. into Demonsville.
'Spadina Bus' became a MuchMusic hit, and was quickly followed by the hilarious 'Out of My House, Roach' (directed by Joel Goldberg). The Demons caught fire, sold more independent albums than anyone up to that point (15,000) were nominated for a Juno, won 5 CASBY Awards, toured like mad and released their 2nd album (Bop Rap) which featured a very popular rendition of 'Hockey Night in Canada.' More touring and more albums followed and soon the Shuffle Demons were playing to packed houses around the world with a new line-up featuring Perry White and George Koller. And brand new demon duds by Kurt Swinghammer.
The rest is history!
The Shuffle Demons released 6 albums and 7 videos in their 23-year career. They played 1000s of shows at every major jazz and folk festival in Canada during 20 Canadian tours. They toured Europe 15 times playing from Estonia to Italy, from the Netherlands to Norway, from Switzerland to Sweden, from Germany to Belgium. And all the while they kept audiences excited, dancing and smiling as they built up a solid fan base that to this day will never forget the music and the antics...stopping traffic with the famous 'Spadina Bus' walk around, playing a Mingus tune and really meaning it, thrashing around the stage in crazy interpretive dance, delivering the classic poem 'What do you Want.'
Patricia Zarate
Born and Raised in Chile, Zarate came to the US at age 20. She has worked and studied in the music industry jazz studies, music therapy and ethnomusicology; has taught private saxophone Instruction as a Teaching Assistant at Howard University in Washington DC, and Ethnomusicology at University of Maryland.
She has published music therapy articles in the Journal of Medicine of Chile, Journal of Pediatrics of Chile, Medical Journal of Panama, worked as music therapy intern at the New Hampshire Psychiatric Hospital, and in January of 2013 founded the 1st Latin American Music Therapy Symposium in Panama City.
She has performed as a professional saxophonist with a variety of bands in diverse settings in USA, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe and in places such as Havana Jazz Festival, San Salvador Jazz Festival, Paris Conservatory, Lincoln Center (New York), Kimmel Center (Philadelphia) and currently works as Outreach Coordinator (and is a member of the Advisory Board) for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (at Berklee College of Music). Zarate has studied at Berklee College of Music, New York University, University of Maryland, Howard University, and Harvard Extension School. She has presented her research about "Music as a Tool for Social Change" in USA, Latin America, and Europe.
She also performs as guest saxophonist in her husband's band the Danilo Perez.
She has published music therapy articles in the Journal of Medicine of Chile, Journal of Pediatrics of Chile, Medical Journal of Panama, worked as music therapy intern at the New Hampshire Psychiatric Hospital, and in January of 2013 founded the 1st Latin American Music Therapy Symposium in Panama City.
She has performed as a professional saxophonist with a variety of bands in diverse settings in USA, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe and in places such as Havana Jazz Festival, San Salvador Jazz Festival, Paris Conservatory, Lincoln Center (New York), Kimmel Center (Philadelphia) and currently works as Outreach Coordinator (and is a member of the Advisory Board) for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (at Berklee College of Music). Zarate has studied at Berklee College of Music, New York University, University of Maryland, Howard University, and Harvard Extension School. She has presented her research about "Music as a Tool for Social Change" in USA, Latin America, and Europe.
She also performs as guest saxophonist in her husband's band the Danilo Perez.
Marshall Keys
Versatility and a strong sense of melody have helped make Marshall Keys somewhat of an icon in his native Washington, DC. The wide audience that used to listen to his group at Takoma Station and the Ritz Club has long wondered when he would finally release an album under his own name. "The longer I waited, the greater the pressure was to make a good recording and a really strong statement".
The new recording, "First Born" will be released probably in late summer 2001. Keys attended Howard University, switching to music only after 2 years of a psychology major. He performed with the Blackbyrds, and eventually joined the band of legendary blues organist Jimmy McGriff. "I think that is when my education really began", Keys remembers. "There are some things that can only be learned on the bandstand with great players."
Keys recorded the album "Countdown" with McGriff and still occasionally tours with his band. Keys' performing credits also include gigs with jazz luminaries Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Steve Allen, Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Turner, Sonny Stitt and Branford Marsalis as well as recordings with Cyrus Chestnut, Vinny Valentino, Gary Thomas, Dave Valentin and jazz fusion artists John Stoddart, Keith Killgo, Marcus Johnson, Kirk Whalum, Dan Reynolds, and Paul Jackson Jr.
He has received a National Endowment For The Arts grant and a commission by the Smithsonian Institution to perform the works of Wayne Shorter.
The new recording, "First Born" will be released probably in late summer 2001. Keys attended Howard University, switching to music only after 2 years of a psychology major. He performed with the Blackbyrds, and eventually joined the band of legendary blues organist Jimmy McGriff. "I think that is when my education really began", Keys remembers. "There are some things that can only be learned on the bandstand with great players."
Keys recorded the album "Countdown" with McGriff and still occasionally tours with his band. Keys' performing credits also include gigs with jazz luminaries Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Steve Allen, Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Turner, Sonny Stitt and Branford Marsalis as well as recordings with Cyrus Chestnut, Vinny Valentino, Gary Thomas, Dave Valentin and jazz fusion artists John Stoddart, Keith Killgo, Marcus Johnson, Kirk Whalum, Dan Reynolds, and Paul Jackson Jr.
He has received a National Endowment For The Arts grant and a commission by the Smithsonian Institution to perform the works of Wayne Shorter.
Scott Ambush
Scott Ambush is an American musician, best known as the bass player of jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra.
I was born April 28th, in the not too distant past, in Frederick, Maryland to Webster and Jeanette Lofton Ambush. I was preceded by my sister Cassandra, and followed by brother Peter and sister Tracy. Since my sister is two years older, and my brother five years younger, I guess I'd be considered the middle child. A psychological profile I think, would confirm this.
I attended Ubana Elementary School in Ubana, MD, West Frederick Middle, and Frederick High School. Although I managed above average grades, my mom was constantly bombarded with the dreaded "Talks too much in class" notes. I played in the jazz ensemble, ran track, and play on the football team.
I started playing the bass at twelve when my buddies decided to start a band. Since one of them already had a drumset, I became the bass player. (I've been a frustrated drummer ever since.) We began playing rock and roll by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zepellin, Black Sabbath, Sly and the Family Stone, The Isley Brothers, Parliament/Funkadelic, and others.
A few years later, my cousin Allen turned me on to Return to Forever and Stanley Clarke. I was never the same. We formed a band playing "fusion" and straight ahead jazz, while also playing funk and R&B in other bands. Incidentally, my mother was a gospel singer, so there was also a lot of spiritual music in my household. This made for a very diverse` musical development. After high school, I attended the University of MD at College Park. While studying psychology during the day, I was introduced to the Washington, D.C. music scene at night.
Eventually I was spending more time playing than studying, and left school to pursue music. I played, (and still often do) with a wide variety of musicians and bands in the area. This exposure led to gigs with regional and national acts both locally and on the road. (see partial performance list.) Through word of mouth, I was recommended for the bass job with Spyro Gyra. After auditioning, I got the gig (obviously). The past five years touring with the band has been a great experience. We get to see the world, meet new people, and have our music appreciated by thousands of fans. What more could a middle child ask for?
Equipment List:
My stage setup is pretty straight forward. It starts with an Ambush Custom five-string bass. The signal goes into a Whirlwind Selector A/B box, where it is split. One side of the box feeds a Korg tuner, while the other feeds a Countryman direct box. This allows me to tune silently while on stage. The signal is split again at the direct box. One side feeding the house and monitor consoles the other side is fed into my stage rig. On stage I use an Eden Navigator preamp, fed into a QSC 3500 power amp, driving an Eden 4x10 cabinet. The cabinet is miked and fed to the house and monitor desks as well. As for effects, I sometimes use a TC Electronics chorus pedal and an EBS Octave pedal.
In addition to the Ambush basses, I sometimes use an Athlete acoustic bass guitar or a custom Jazz Bass with a Moses composite neck. In the studio, the bass goes direct to the console, and is combined with signal from either a miked Eden cabinet or the Navigator preamp.
My home home studio is a basic writer/project affair with Alesis ADAT, Mackie Board, Yamaha NS10 and KRK KROC monitors, various keyboards, Alesis DM5 drum module, Hart Dynamics Miltipad and kick drum triggers, a Power Computing CPU, MOTU Digital Preformer sequencing softwareand Pro Tools.
I was born April 28th, in the not too distant past, in Frederick, Maryland to Webster and Jeanette Lofton Ambush. I was preceded by my sister Cassandra, and followed by brother Peter and sister Tracy. Since my sister is two years older, and my brother five years younger, I guess I'd be considered the middle child. A psychological profile I think, would confirm this.
I attended Ubana Elementary School in Ubana, MD, West Frederick Middle, and Frederick High School. Although I managed above average grades, my mom was constantly bombarded with the dreaded "Talks too much in class" notes. I played in the jazz ensemble, ran track, and play on the football team.
I started playing the bass at twelve when my buddies decided to start a band. Since one of them already had a drumset, I became the bass player. (I've been a frustrated drummer ever since.) We began playing rock and roll by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zepellin, Black Sabbath, Sly and the Family Stone, The Isley Brothers, Parliament/Funkadelic, and others.
A few years later, my cousin Allen turned me on to Return to Forever and Stanley Clarke. I was never the same. We formed a band playing "fusion" and straight ahead jazz, while also playing funk and R&B in other bands. Incidentally, my mother was a gospel singer, so there was also a lot of spiritual music in my household. This made for a very diverse` musical development. After high school, I attended the University of MD at College Park. While studying psychology during the day, I was introduced to the Washington, D.C. music scene at night.
Eventually I was spending more time playing than studying, and left school to pursue music. I played, (and still often do) with a wide variety of musicians and bands in the area. This exposure led to gigs with regional and national acts both locally and on the road. (see partial performance list.) Through word of mouth, I was recommended for the bass job with Spyro Gyra. After auditioning, I got the gig (obviously). The past five years touring with the band has been a great experience. We get to see the world, meet new people, and have our music appreciated by thousands of fans. What more could a middle child ask for?
Equipment List:
My stage setup is pretty straight forward. It starts with an Ambush Custom five-string bass. The signal goes into a Whirlwind Selector A/B box, where it is split. One side of the box feeds a Korg tuner, while the other feeds a Countryman direct box. This allows me to tune silently while on stage. The signal is split again at the direct box. One side feeding the house and monitor consoles the other side is fed into my stage rig. On stage I use an Eden Navigator preamp, fed into a QSC 3500 power amp, driving an Eden 4x10 cabinet. The cabinet is miked and fed to the house and monitor desks as well. As for effects, I sometimes use a TC Electronics chorus pedal and an EBS Octave pedal.
In addition to the Ambush basses, I sometimes use an Athlete acoustic bass guitar or a custom Jazz Bass with a Moses composite neck. In the studio, the bass goes direct to the console, and is combined with signal from either a miked Eden cabinet or the Navigator preamp.
My home home studio is a basic writer/project affair with Alesis ADAT, Mackie Board, Yamaha NS10 and KRK KROC monitors, various keyboards, Alesis DM5 drum module, Hart Dynamics Miltipad and kick drum triggers, a Power Computing CPU, MOTU Digital Preformer sequencing softwareand Pro Tools.
Anne Harris
"Once you have witnessed Anne Harris play the violin, you aren't likely to forget the experience any time soon. It's not just the wondrous music she makes drawing her bow across the strings, it's also the way the spirit of the music emanates from her physically. She inhabits the music, or maybe the music inhabits her, but it is impossible not to be drawn under her spell." (BluesWax)
Blues is an expressive art form and nowhere can you find a more expressive Bluesician than the mystic violinist, Anne Harris. Rolling, blending and folding in a variety of musical influences from Celtic to American to Funk she embodies a musical genere-morphing Blues sound that is all her own. Anne is an internationally recognized instrumental talent that has captivated audiences around the globe. Her command of the stage is punctuated with a free reeling and coiling whirlwind of sound and visual excitement. Her gypsy-like stage presence is truly unforgettable and revolutionary in the ever expanding Blues genre. (Big Blues Bender)
The Chicago-based singer-songwriter and fiddle player has indeed been crafting and evolving her unique sound spanning five indie studio records and countless live performances. She's also played fiddle live or in-studio with numerous artists, including blues harp virtuosos and 3-time Grammy nominee Billy Branch, Grammy winner Terrance Simien, Anders Osborne, Tab Benoit, blues icon Bob Margolin, Living Colour, Moreland and Arbuckle, David Mayfield, Amy Helm, Cathy Richardson and occasional stints with hippie legends Jefferson Starship.
But her highest profile to date has risen from her work with trance-blues innovator and multi-Blues Music Award winner, Otis Taylor, with whom she's currently touring internationally. "Over the past several years, Harris has become an integral part of Taylor's sound both on stage and on record, adding another element to his diverse instrumentation...and adding a visual element that takes the celebratory spirit up a couple of notches." (Blues Music Magazine) Expounds Julie Jenkins in The Golden Gate Blues Society Newsletter, "The beauty of Anne's ability to play the violin while dancing as gracefully as a swan and as powerfully as a shaman, moved me to joyful tears. Bearing witness to her performance left me completely awestruck and mesmerized. To watch her perform is hypnotizing."
Harris' highly visual performances have understandably been garnering much attention in the photography world, earning her the cover of a popular blues calendar, a feature in renowned photographer Marilyn Stinger's seminal book, Blues in the 21st Century, placement in several gallery exhibitions in France, Poland and the US, and a recent portrait by renown painter Dane Tilghman.
Her latest projects include performing with American Roots artists Ivan Neville and Crís Jacobs in their new band Neville Jacobs and a collaboration with alt-blues journeyman Markus James on a forthcoming EP.
Although it's been reported that "Anne Harris plays violin like [Buddy] Guy wields his guitar," (Orange County Register) and her recognition within the Blues community notwithstanding, she is decidedly not a straight-ahead Blues player. "I'm a true hybrid, I guess I'm a true American. I'm influenced by myriad genres," Harris said. "To me, whatever particular kind of music we're playing, whatever bin the music is supposed to fit in a the record store; it's sort of a nebulous thing. Soul music is soul music, and it can come through a classical format, a blues format, a Celtic format, or a a bluegrass format." (Blues Music Magazine)
Harris has recently released her fifth studio album, Come Hither, featuring significant contributions from guitarist/vocalist Dave Herrero, as well as Otis Taylor, drummer/producer Steve Gillis (Filter), sacred steel guitarist Chuck Campbell (Campbell Brothers) and Billy Branch.
Blues is an expressive art form and nowhere can you find a more expressive Bluesician than the mystic violinist, Anne Harris. Rolling, blending and folding in a variety of musical influences from Celtic to American to Funk she embodies a musical genere-morphing Blues sound that is all her own. Anne is an internationally recognized instrumental talent that has captivated audiences around the globe. Her command of the stage is punctuated with a free reeling and coiling whirlwind of sound and visual excitement. Her gypsy-like stage presence is truly unforgettable and revolutionary in the ever expanding Blues genre. (Big Blues Bender)
The Chicago-based singer-songwriter and fiddle player has indeed been crafting and evolving her unique sound spanning five indie studio records and countless live performances. She's also played fiddle live or in-studio with numerous artists, including blues harp virtuosos and 3-time Grammy nominee Billy Branch, Grammy winner Terrance Simien, Anders Osborne, Tab Benoit, blues icon Bob Margolin, Living Colour, Moreland and Arbuckle, David Mayfield, Amy Helm, Cathy Richardson and occasional stints with hippie legends Jefferson Starship.
But her highest profile to date has risen from her work with trance-blues innovator and multi-Blues Music Award winner, Otis Taylor, with whom she's currently touring internationally. "Over the past several years, Harris has become an integral part of Taylor's sound both on stage and on record, adding another element to his diverse instrumentation...and adding a visual element that takes the celebratory spirit up a couple of notches." (Blues Music Magazine) Expounds Julie Jenkins in The Golden Gate Blues Society Newsletter, "The beauty of Anne's ability to play the violin while dancing as gracefully as a swan and as powerfully as a shaman, moved me to joyful tears. Bearing witness to her performance left me completely awestruck and mesmerized. To watch her perform is hypnotizing."
Harris' highly visual performances have understandably been garnering much attention in the photography world, earning her the cover of a popular blues calendar, a feature in renowned photographer Marilyn Stinger's seminal book, Blues in the 21st Century, placement in several gallery exhibitions in France, Poland and the US, and a recent portrait by renown painter Dane Tilghman.
Her latest projects include performing with American Roots artists Ivan Neville and Crís Jacobs in their new band Neville Jacobs and a collaboration with alt-blues journeyman Markus James on a forthcoming EP.
Although it's been reported that "Anne Harris plays violin like [Buddy] Guy wields his guitar," (Orange County Register) and her recognition within the Blues community notwithstanding, she is decidedly not a straight-ahead Blues player. "I'm a true hybrid, I guess I'm a true American. I'm influenced by myriad genres," Harris said. "To me, whatever particular kind of music we're playing, whatever bin the music is supposed to fit in a the record store; it's sort of a nebulous thing. Soul music is soul music, and it can come through a classical format, a blues format, a Celtic format, or a a bluegrass format." (Blues Music Magazine)
Harris has recently released her fifth studio album, Come Hither, featuring significant contributions from guitarist/vocalist Dave Herrero, as well as Otis Taylor, drummer/producer Steve Gillis (Filter), sacred steel guitarist Chuck Campbell (Campbell Brothers) and Billy Branch.
Alex Brown
In 1997, Alexander received his Master’s degree in Classical Music at the Instituto Superior de Artes, one of Cuba’s foremost prestigious institution. He continued at the same institution as a trumpet teacher until 2005. Alexander joined Otra Vision, the band of the influential flute player and composer, Orlando Valle, and toured extensively throughout Europe and The United States, and performed at every major jazz festival.
In 1999, he joined another group of great importance in the history of Cuban music, the Havana Ensemble. With this band Cabrera also toured worldwide and was part of a project to pay homage to the great conguero, Chano Pozo. As a special guest, Cabrera performed with the Cuban jazz pianist, Ernan Lopez Nussa.This gave him the opportunity to play with the likes of Changuito Quintana and Tata Guines, both legendary percussionists that have developed the sound of the Cuban music. In 2002 motivated by new musical ideas Alexander formed his own quartet where he experimented mixing Cuban rhythms with jazz styles. At the same time he was invited to play with saxophonist Dave Murray to record Murray’s CD “Now is Another Time”, exposing Cuban artists to audiences across the globe.
He also recorded on another of Murray’s albums entitled “David Murray and The Gwo-ka-Masters”.Alexander Brown Cabrera had the opportunity to record his own music at the unique concert, Jazz Cuba Today. Jazz Cuba Today’s recording was the first jazz DVD made in Cuba, recorded live at Studios Abdala, and awarded Best DVD of 2006 at Cubadisco International Music Fair. In 2005, Cabrera travelled to Canada to perform with his quartet at the Ottawa Blues Fest, and soon after decided to settle down in Toronto. Since his arrival in Canada, he has performed with Jane Bunnett, Hilario Duran, Archie Alleyne, DonThompson, Amanda Martinez, Luis Mario Ochoa, Andrew Graig, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Hermeto Pascual, Paquito de Rivera and many others. Alexander Brown Cabrera has become one of the most important Latin trumpet jazz players in Toronto. Since 2007 he became a member of the Evolution of Jazz Ensemble.
In 1999, he joined another group of great importance in the history of Cuban music, the Havana Ensemble. With this band Cabrera also toured worldwide and was part of a project to pay homage to the great conguero, Chano Pozo. As a special guest, Cabrera performed with the Cuban jazz pianist, Ernan Lopez Nussa.This gave him the opportunity to play with the likes of Changuito Quintana and Tata Guines, both legendary percussionists that have developed the sound of the Cuban music. In 2002 motivated by new musical ideas Alexander formed his own quartet where he experimented mixing Cuban rhythms with jazz styles. At the same time he was invited to play with saxophonist Dave Murray to record Murray’s CD “Now is Another Time”, exposing Cuban artists to audiences across the globe.
He also recorded on another of Murray’s albums entitled “David Murray and The Gwo-ka-Masters”.Alexander Brown Cabrera had the opportunity to record his own music at the unique concert, Jazz Cuba Today. Jazz Cuba Today’s recording was the first jazz DVD made in Cuba, recorded live at Studios Abdala, and awarded Best DVD of 2006 at Cubadisco International Music Fair. In 2005, Cabrera travelled to Canada to perform with his quartet at the Ottawa Blues Fest, and soon after decided to settle down in Toronto. Since his arrival in Canada, he has performed with Jane Bunnett, Hilario Duran, Archie Alleyne, DonThompson, Amanda Martinez, Luis Mario Ochoa, Andrew Graig, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Hermeto Pascual, Paquito de Rivera and many others. Alexander Brown Cabrera has become one of the most important Latin trumpet jazz players in Toronto. Since 2007 he became a member of the Evolution of Jazz Ensemble.
John Carney
John was born in Panama City and began his musical career there before moving to the U.S. He continued his career playing Country, Rock, R & B, Blues, Latin Jazz and Classical. In addition to playing in Panama, New Mexico, and Texas, John has performed in Atlantic City, Cancun, Orlando, New Orleans, and in Europe with award winning Swiss Blues guitarist, Andy Egert. John has also opened for Bo Diddley, Styx, Little Richard, Clint Black, and backed such legendary artists as Joe Cocker and Percy Sledge. In 1991 John became lead guitarist for the "Big Otis Show Band" and spent the following 8 years playing beside many of the best musicians in Texas. In 2000 John started his own smooth jazz band "Max Cat", as well as performing with the well-known Nicaraguan singer, Yelba.
Recently, John and Yelba played a concert in Houston with award-winning Blues musician Deanna Bogart. Currently John can be seen performing regularly at the Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall Hotel in Panama City, Panama. In February, 2015 John performed at the 9th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival with his band "Gato Maximo" as well as joining in with Yelba and her band. John was invited back to Boquete to open for the 10th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2016. John is looking forward to performing at the 11th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2017 with Marshall Keys, Alex Brown and Scott Ambush (Spyro Gyra).
Recently, John and Yelba played a concert in Houston with award-winning Blues musician Deanna Bogart. Currently John can be seen performing regularly at the Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall Hotel in Panama City, Panama. In February, 2015 John performed at the 9th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival with his band "Gato Maximo" as well as joining in with Yelba and her band. John was invited back to Boquete to open for the 10th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2016. John is looking forward to performing at the 11th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2017 with Marshall Keys, Alex Brown and Scott Ambush (Spyro Gyra).
Rigoberto Coba Big Band
Rigoberto Coba is a native of David, the capital city of the Panamanian province of Chiriqui located just 38km away from Boquete. Being a professor of music at a David university he is working with various musical formations featuring various musical styles from jazz to salsa, bossa nova and merengue.
His show with a 18 piece Big Band that he had specially put together for the 2012 Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival (it was their first-ever public show!) earned so much praise and applause that we just had to invite him back again and again for more great shows. This band is now a permanent staple of our festival. We're happy to support great local musical talents by giving them exposure to national and international audiences!
His show with a 18 piece Big Band that he had specially put together for the 2012 Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival (it was their first-ever public show!) earned so much praise and applause that we just had to invite him back again and again for more great shows. This band is now a permanent staple of our festival. We're happy to support great local musical talents by giving them exposure to national and international audiences!
Charlie Marré
Charlie Marre (60) is a conga player born in Panama City, Panama. Has played with several salsa and latin jazz bands in Cuba and Panama. Director of his own salsa group "Son Pa Ti". Formally works as a lawyer in Panama City.
Associate Producers for the
2017 Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival
Deanna Bogart
"blusion...it all grows out of the blues...just doesn't always end there..." db
When it comes to Deanna Bogart, everyone wants to claim her as their own -- her hometown, her fans, her fellow musicians and even her instruments. She's that good–and that good-natured.
Born in Detroit, Deanna spent her early years in Phoenix and New York City, climbing on any available piano bench to plunk and play with preternatural panache. Around the age of six, she was "gently removed" from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music for playing piano by ear instead of learning to read music. While in middle school, Deanna yearned to play the saxophone. Typical of those times though, she was told, "Girls play the clarinet, not the sax." Thankfully for us all, that tide has changed.
Today, Deanna Bogart is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and multifaceted musician whose fans value the diversity of her genre-free zone. As a bandleader/singer/songwriter/producer/pianist/sax player, Deanna combines the best of boogie-woogie, contemporary blues, country and jazz into a splendid blend she calls “blusion.”
Deanna's fusion of blusion -- spontaneous, sophisticated, fearless and fun -- has garnered her three consecutive Blues Music Awards' Horn Instrumentalist of the Year for 2008, 2009 and 2010 and an endorsement contract with Rico Reeds. She has won, at last count, more than 20 Wammies, the music awards for the hotly contested Washington, D.C. region.
Recognized for her dazzling keyboards, soulful saxophone, smoky vocals and cut-above songwriting, Deanna easily wins the hearts of fans on land and at sea on chartered cruises. She is a featured player in the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue, jamming with Tommy Castro, Magic Dick (founding member of the J. Geils Band), as well as prominent guitar slingers. Deanna remembers well her early years as a budding musician and is an avid educator and mentor, sharing her insight and wisdom with students of all ages.
Perennially popular with a knack for engaging her audience, Deanna has played for U.S. troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt as part of the “Blues on the Nile” tour, including performances at Cairo University, the Cairo Opera House and even a historic concert at the Great Pyramids.
Deanna Bogart's latest ventures include Blind Pig Record's "Pianoland," a newly minted DVD called "Everybody Has A Story," and “11th Hour,” a CD released on Vista Records, a company she co-founded.
WHAT OTHERS SAY:
"...possesses a gift for approaching blues, soul and R&B material with warmth and firmness. Her originals here, in particular the beautifully sung, intelligent ballads, "Blue By Night" and "Tender Days," sound as fresh as if she'd magically plucked them out of the air. "
– Downbeat
"... Bogart reveals the intersections between genres that have fed off one another for decades."
– Blues Revue
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTE:
— 2008/2009/2010 BMA’s Horn Instrumentalist of the Year
— 22 Wammies (Washington area music awards)
— Featured in the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue w/Tommy Castro Band and Magic Dick (J. Geils Band)
— “Prairie Home Companion,” Keyboard Magazine, Jazziz, the Washington Post, Blues on the Nile Tour....
When it comes to Deanna Bogart, everyone wants to claim her as their own -- her hometown, her fans, her fellow musicians and even her instruments. She's that good–and that good-natured.
Born in Detroit, Deanna spent her early years in Phoenix and New York City, climbing on any available piano bench to plunk and play with preternatural panache. Around the age of six, she was "gently removed" from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music for playing piano by ear instead of learning to read music. While in middle school, Deanna yearned to play the saxophone. Typical of those times though, she was told, "Girls play the clarinet, not the sax." Thankfully for us all, that tide has changed.
Today, Deanna Bogart is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and multifaceted musician whose fans value the diversity of her genre-free zone. As a bandleader/singer/songwriter/producer/pianist/sax player, Deanna combines the best of boogie-woogie, contemporary blues, country and jazz into a splendid blend she calls “blusion.”
Deanna's fusion of blusion -- spontaneous, sophisticated, fearless and fun -- has garnered her three consecutive Blues Music Awards' Horn Instrumentalist of the Year for 2008, 2009 and 2010 and an endorsement contract with Rico Reeds. She has won, at last count, more than 20 Wammies, the music awards for the hotly contested Washington, D.C. region.
Recognized for her dazzling keyboards, soulful saxophone, smoky vocals and cut-above songwriting, Deanna easily wins the hearts of fans on land and at sea on chartered cruises. She is a featured player in the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue, jamming with Tommy Castro, Magic Dick (founding member of the J. Geils Band), as well as prominent guitar slingers. Deanna remembers well her early years as a budding musician and is an avid educator and mentor, sharing her insight and wisdom with students of all ages.
Perennially popular with a knack for engaging her audience, Deanna has played for U.S. troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt as part of the “Blues on the Nile” tour, including performances at Cairo University, the Cairo Opera House and even a historic concert at the Great Pyramids.
Deanna Bogart's latest ventures include Blind Pig Record's "Pianoland," a newly minted DVD called "Everybody Has A Story," and “11th Hour,” a CD released on Vista Records, a company she co-founded.
WHAT OTHERS SAY:
"...possesses a gift for approaching blues, soul and R&B material with warmth and firmness. Her originals here, in particular the beautifully sung, intelligent ballads, "Blue By Night" and "Tender Days," sound as fresh as if she'd magically plucked them out of the air. "
– Downbeat
"... Bogart reveals the intersections between genres that have fed off one another for decades."
– Blues Revue
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF NOTE:
— 2008/2009/2010 BMA’s Horn Instrumentalist of the Year
— 22 Wammies (Washington area music awards)
— Featured in the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue w/Tommy Castro Band and Magic Dick (J. Geils Band)
— “Prairie Home Companion,” Keyboard Magazine, Jazziz, the Washington Post, Blues on the Nile Tour....
Lance Anderson
Lance Anderson won the Maple Blues Award for Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year Monday, January 20, 2014, in Toronto.
Anderson was named Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year at the 17th annual Maple Blues Awards gala in Toronto after being nominated in the category eight times in the past 12 years. "What I enjoy the most is playing the piano and the Hammond organ, so this is the first time I was really recognized for that, for actually playing," Anderson said Tuesday.
The Maple Blues Awards is Canada’s national blues awards program. Its goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.
Lance is a successful producer, with recording credits such as Leahy (double Juno, Platinum Virgin Music recording artists) and a number of recent recordings under his own label, Make It Real Records. These include the internationally acclaimed 2B3 the Toronto Sessions, Live at the Wolf by Garth Hudson (The Band), Brotherhood by Blackburn, and All Play and No Work by the Cameo Blues Band. Lance also initiated and co-produced the Oscar Peterson Multimedia CD ROM, now treasured by jazz fans and players worldwide.
The Montreal Jazz Festival and the Mont Tremblant International Blues festival are two of the prestigious festivals Lance has performed at with both his critically acclaimed duo Anderson & Sloski and as keyboardist for MBA Entertainer of the Year’, Shakura S’Aida. He also toured Europe, Australia and the US last summer and recorded her smash CD Brown Sugar in Memphis Tn. and her new CD Time was released May 2012.
Lance will release a CD of his own songs in 2014. This CD has been years in the making and features performances by Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Canadian Hall of Fame members Domenic Troiano and Garth Hudson (The Band) and a who’s who of the Canadian Blues scene, including: Amos Garrett, Bucky Berger, Dennis Pendrith, Denis Keldie, Mitch Lewis, Amoy Levi and more.
In addition to his work as a producer and keyboard player, Lance has an extensive credit list of original compositions and arrangements for TV, fi lm and orchestra. He arranged 4 songs and conducted the world premiere of Shakura S’Aida’s ‘Symphony in G Minor’ with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra in April, 2012. His Maple Blues nominated solo piano CD, Shorthanded showcases his talents as a Blues piano artist. And his recording Footwork by Anderson & Sloski, features his virtuoso playing on the Hammond B3 organ.
Lance toured Canada in 2005 as the musical director for international recording artist Roger Whittaker and spent many years touring as keyboardist with CBC children’s icon Mr. Dress-up.
In 2009 Lance performed and recorded with Canadian Gospel/Blues great Danny Brooks, and produced 2009 Blues Juno award winning Fathead’s latest CD, Where‘s the Blues Taking Me. His recording credits also includes the latest Ian Gillan ( Deep Purple) CD One Eye to Morocco.
His shows include, the All Star Genius+Soul - a Celebration of the Music of Ray Charles and The Last Waltz- The Music of The Band. Lance has performed as far away as Darjeeling India, in the Himalayas and from Dubai to Austin Tx.
Anderson was named Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year at the 17th annual Maple Blues Awards gala in Toronto after being nominated in the category eight times in the past 12 years. "What I enjoy the most is playing the piano and the Hammond organ, so this is the first time I was really recognized for that, for actually playing," Anderson said Tuesday.
The Maple Blues Awards is Canada’s national blues awards program. Its goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.
Lance is a successful producer, with recording credits such as Leahy (double Juno, Platinum Virgin Music recording artists) and a number of recent recordings under his own label, Make It Real Records. These include the internationally acclaimed 2B3 the Toronto Sessions, Live at the Wolf by Garth Hudson (The Band), Brotherhood by Blackburn, and All Play and No Work by the Cameo Blues Band. Lance also initiated and co-produced the Oscar Peterson Multimedia CD ROM, now treasured by jazz fans and players worldwide.
The Montreal Jazz Festival and the Mont Tremblant International Blues festival are two of the prestigious festivals Lance has performed at with both his critically acclaimed duo Anderson & Sloski and as keyboardist for MBA Entertainer of the Year’, Shakura S’Aida. He also toured Europe, Australia and the US last summer and recorded her smash CD Brown Sugar in Memphis Tn. and her new CD Time was released May 2012.
Lance will release a CD of his own songs in 2014. This CD has been years in the making and features performances by Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Canadian Hall of Fame members Domenic Troiano and Garth Hudson (The Band) and a who’s who of the Canadian Blues scene, including: Amos Garrett, Bucky Berger, Dennis Pendrith, Denis Keldie, Mitch Lewis, Amoy Levi and more.
In addition to his work as a producer and keyboard player, Lance has an extensive credit list of original compositions and arrangements for TV, fi lm and orchestra. He arranged 4 songs and conducted the world premiere of Shakura S’Aida’s ‘Symphony in G Minor’ with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra in April, 2012. His Maple Blues nominated solo piano CD, Shorthanded showcases his talents as a Blues piano artist. And his recording Footwork by Anderson & Sloski, features his virtuoso playing on the Hammond B3 organ.
Lance toured Canada in 2005 as the musical director for international recording artist Roger Whittaker and spent many years touring as keyboardist with CBC children’s icon Mr. Dress-up.
In 2009 Lance performed and recorded with Canadian Gospel/Blues great Danny Brooks, and produced 2009 Blues Juno award winning Fathead’s latest CD, Where‘s the Blues Taking Me. His recording credits also includes the latest Ian Gillan ( Deep Purple) CD One Eye to Morocco.
His shows include, the All Star Genius+Soul - a Celebration of the Music of Ray Charles and The Last Waltz- The Music of The Band. Lance has performed as far away as Darjeeling India, in the Himalayas and from Dubai to Austin Tx.
The Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival is supported by the Panamanian Tourist Authority and the city of Boquete
