2016 Artist Bio's
Lee Oskar
A Man and His Instrument: Dedicated to Excellence
There’s no one in the music world quite like Lee Oskar.
As a harmonica virtuoso, composer, producer, performer, visual artist, harmonica manufacturer and ever-evolving musical explorer, Lee is truly a creative visionary known
and loved all over the world for his unique artistic contributions to the world.
Lee is thrilled to share his signature music to loyal fans in Panama and around the world, featuring new arrangements, innovative compositions and well-loved hit material.
His iconic role as a founding member and lead harmonica player for the pioneer funk/jazz band that composed and recorded such hits as “Low Rider”, “Spill the Wine”, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”, “Cisco Kid”, “The World is a Ghetto” and many more, won him international renown for over three decades (1969-1993). Lee Oskar and his original band mates continue today as the LowRider Band. He also performs with outstanding musicians selected from the Pacific Northwest, known as Lee Oskar & Friends.
Audiences continue to be dazzled by Oskar’s improvisational wizardry, as well as his animated stage presence. In the words of Seattle Times critic Misha Berson, “The harmonica man can really blow,but he can croon, too.” In addition to playing melodies, Oskar says he loves playing hornlines and counter lines, “My harmonica playing has evolved creatively over the years. It’s important for me to create space, not fill in space, within the music. “
A renowned composer, Oskar’s compositions have been featured on movie sound tracks and television commercials around the world. He has also been the recipient of many Gold and Platinum recordings and honored with special ASCAP Writing Awards.
In addition to composing, recording and performing, Oskar runs his successful harmonica company, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, which was introduced in collaboration with Tombo Mfg. of Japan in 1983. Today, Lee Oskar Harmonicas have become a household name with sales that are well-established and growing at a phenomenal rate worldwide.
There’s no one in the music world quite like Lee Oskar.
As a harmonica virtuoso, composer, producer, performer, visual artist, harmonica manufacturer and ever-evolving musical explorer, Lee is truly a creative visionary known
and loved all over the world for his unique artistic contributions to the world.
Lee is thrilled to share his signature music to loyal fans in Panama and around the world, featuring new arrangements, innovative compositions and well-loved hit material.
His iconic role as a founding member and lead harmonica player for the pioneer funk/jazz band that composed and recorded such hits as “Low Rider”, “Spill the Wine”, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”, “Cisco Kid”, “The World is a Ghetto” and many more, won him international renown for over three decades (1969-1993). Lee Oskar and his original band mates continue today as the LowRider Band. He also performs with outstanding musicians selected from the Pacific Northwest, known as Lee Oskar & Friends.
Audiences continue to be dazzled by Oskar’s improvisational wizardry, as well as his animated stage presence. In the words of Seattle Times critic Misha Berson, “The harmonica man can really blow,but he can croon, too.” In addition to playing melodies, Oskar says he loves playing hornlines and counter lines, “My harmonica playing has evolved creatively over the years. It’s important for me to create space, not fill in space, within the music. “
A renowned composer, Oskar’s compositions have been featured on movie sound tracks and television commercials around the world. He has also been the recipient of many Gold and Platinum recordings and honored with special ASCAP Writing Awards.
In addition to composing, recording and performing, Oskar runs his successful harmonica company, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, which was introduced in collaboration with Tombo Mfg. of Japan in 1983. Today, Lee Oskar Harmonicas have become a household name with sales that are well-established and growing at a phenomenal rate worldwide.
Tommy Castro
“Funky Southern soul, big city blues and classic rock… silvery guitar licks that simultaneously sound familiar and fresh.” --San Francisco Chronicle
Over the course of his four-decade career Tommy Castro – a six-time Blues Music Award-winner – has played thousands of shows to hundreds of thousands of fans, packing seats and dance floors, always leaving them screaming for more. Hailing from the San Francisco area, Castro, along with his band, The Painkillers (featuring bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown), play music that is guaranteed to fire up fans and leave critics searching for new words of praise.
Method To My Madness finds Tommy Castro & The Painkillers at their very best. It is an instant career highlight in a lifetime full of them. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers continue to break new ground while simultaneously having an incredible amount of fun.
Born in San Jose, California in 1955, Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. He fell under the spell of Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield and other blues rock players. As he got older, Castro discovered the blues guitar work of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and singers like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. By his 20s he was playing in a variety of San Francisco-area blues and soul bands.
Castro joined Warner Brothers’ artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s before forming The Tommy Castro Band in 1991. He released his debut album in 1996 on Blind Pig and began his decades of relentless, year-round, touring, and picking up new fans everywhere he went. During the 1990s and into the 2000s, Castro released a series of critically acclaimed CDs for the Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street labels as well as one on his own Heart And Soul label.
Castro joined Alligator Records in 2009, releasing Hard Believer to massive acclaim. He won four of his six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (the very highest award a blues performer can receive). His song Hard Believer took first place in the blues category of the 2012 International Songwriting Competition.
His next release, 2011’s Tommy Castro Presents The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue–Live! was a fiery collection of the highlights from a series of live performances anchored by Castro and an all-star collection of nationally recognized blues musicians, including Rick Estrin, Michael “Iron Man” Burks and Joe Louis Walker.
Tommy Castro And The Painkillers continue to tour non-stop, playing hundreds of dates at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the United States, Canada and Europe. Of Method To My Madness Castro says, “I was trying to get back to my basic ingredients: blues and soul. I went for the energy of connecting with my band. We kept everything raw, capturing the feeling of playing live. I’m not about being perfect,” he says, summing up. “I’m about being real.”
Over the course of his four-decade career Tommy Castro – a six-time Blues Music Award-winner – has played thousands of shows to hundreds of thousands of fans, packing seats and dance floors, always leaving them screaming for more. Hailing from the San Francisco area, Castro, along with his band, The Painkillers (featuring bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown), play music that is guaranteed to fire up fans and leave critics searching for new words of praise.
Method To My Madness finds Tommy Castro & The Painkillers at their very best. It is an instant career highlight in a lifetime full of them. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers continue to break new ground while simultaneously having an incredible amount of fun.
Born in San Jose, California in 1955, Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10. He fell under the spell of Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield and other blues rock players. As he got older, Castro discovered the blues guitar work of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and singers like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. By his 20s he was playing in a variety of San Francisco-area blues and soul bands.
Castro joined Warner Brothers’ artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s before forming The Tommy Castro Band in 1991. He released his debut album in 1996 on Blind Pig and began his decades of relentless, year-round, touring, and picking up new fans everywhere he went. During the 1990s and into the 2000s, Castro released a series of critically acclaimed CDs for the Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street labels as well as one on his own Heart And Soul label.
Castro joined Alligator Records in 2009, releasing Hard Believer to massive acclaim. He won four of his six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (the very highest award a blues performer can receive). His song Hard Believer took first place in the blues category of the 2012 International Songwriting Competition.
His next release, 2011’s Tommy Castro Presents The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue–Live! was a fiery collection of the highlights from a series of live performances anchored by Castro and an all-star collection of nationally recognized blues musicians, including Rick Estrin, Michael “Iron Man” Burks and Joe Louis Walker.
Tommy Castro And The Painkillers continue to tour non-stop, playing hundreds of dates at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the United States, Canada and Europe. Of Method To My Madness Castro says, “I was trying to get back to my basic ingredients: blues and soul. I went for the energy of connecting with my band. We kept everything raw, capturing the feeling of playing live. I’m not about being perfect,” he says, summing up. “I’m about being real.”
Curtis Salgado
“Triumphant, joyful blues-soaked R&B...one of the most soulful, honest singers ever” –Blues Revue
Award-winning vocalist/songwriter/harmonica icon Curtis Salgado sings and plays with soulful authority, never giving less than 100 percent. He plays each and every show like it’s the most important gig of his career. He recalls the time when his friend, the great chitlin’ circuit singer Buddy Ace, put on the show of his life, singing his heart out, making three costume changes, all while playing at a casual house party. Salgado was floored. “I was just there playing with my band, hanging out in cut-offs and a t-shirt, and there’s Buddy treating the gig the same as if he was performing at the Apollo,” he says. From that moment on, Curtis vowed that every time he got on stage he would deliver his very best shot.
Salgado’s been perfecting his craft since he first began playing professionally in the late 1960s. He fronted his own group, The Nighthawks, inspired John Belushi to create The Blues Brothers, was co-star of The Robert Cray Band and sang and toured with Roomful Of Blues. He released his first of eight solo albums in 1991, hitting the road hard year after year. Salgado and his band toured with The Steve Miller Band and Curtis spent a summer singing with Santana before being sidelined by serious health issues in 2006. He’s battled all the way back, and, after a full and complete recovery, has been tearing up concert stages all over the country.
Winner of the 2010 Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Artist Of The Year, Salgado effortlessly mixes blues, funk and R&B with a delivery that is raw and heartfelt. He moves with ease from the tenderest ballads to the most full-throated stompers.
As a hungry-to-learn teenager, his musical abilities grew by leaps and bounds. He played his first professional gigs when he was 16, and by 18 he was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding to O.V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Spann and Magic Sam. With his band The Nighthawks, he became a must-see act in Eugene and throughout the Northwest. Salgado earned a reputation for high-intensity performances and a repertoire that was informed by his encyclopedic knowledge of blues, soul and R&B music.
In 1973, Salgado met Robert Cray and the two became fast friends. They jammed often, sometimes sitting in with each other’s bands, often playing double bills. In 1975, Salgado had the idea to start a blues festival in Eugene in order to meet and play with as many established blues stars as possible. The festival became an annual event, allowing Curtis to back up, befriend and occasionally house legends including Floyd Dixon, Frankie Lee, Luther Tucker, Otis Rush, Clifton Chenier, Sonny Rhodes and Albert Collins. In fact, it was Salgado—whose Nighthawks backed Collins locally—who crowned the blues legend with the title he would carry for the rest of his career: “The Master Of The Telecaster.”
As Salgado was getting more serious about his career, he realized some of his band mates were not. It was then that Salgado joined forces with Cray and formed a new, more forceful Robert Cray Band.
After Salgado and Cray parted ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon, he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was once again tearing it up on the club scene. He wrote many new songs, and honed his band to a razor’s edge before releasing his first solo album in 1991 on the fledgling JRS label. The group toured the country and began developing a strong following. His friend and fan Steve Miller invited Curtis and his band to open for him on a summer shed tour in 1992. Two years later, Salgado spent the summer on the road singing with Santana. In 1997 he toured with Miller again and performed in front of an audience of millions on NBC television’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Salgado then joined forces with Shanachie Records in 1999, putting out four critically acclaimed albums over the next nine years and finding his biggest audience yet.
In 2006 Salgado was sidelined when he underwent a successful liver transplant and then shortly afterwards was diagnosed with and then beat lung cancer. Like so many musicians, Curtis had no health insurance. His medical expenses were paid for in part by a huge outpouring of love and money from his fellow musicians and his huge Northwest fan base. He bounced back with a perfect bill of health in 2008, releasing Clean Getaway. Billboard said the album was a “tour-de-force, showcasing Salgado’s range and power as a vocalist” and that it featured “hard-nosed blues, beautifully nuanced phat and funky R&B.” Blues Revue called it “one of the best records of the year.”
Now, with Soul Shot, Salgado is ready for more, tougher and more focused than ever. He will again hit the road hard, proving his reputation as a fire-breathing live performer night after night. And that’s just how he likes it. “Always give it your best,” he says. “Be honest and be real. Treat every show like it’s the biggest night of your life.” With Soul Shot and a long list of tour dates already planned, the biggest performances of Curtis Salgado’s life are surely yet to come.
Award-winning vocalist/songwriter/harmonica icon Curtis Salgado sings and plays with soulful authority, never giving less than 100 percent. He plays each and every show like it’s the most important gig of his career. He recalls the time when his friend, the great chitlin’ circuit singer Buddy Ace, put on the show of his life, singing his heart out, making three costume changes, all while playing at a casual house party. Salgado was floored. “I was just there playing with my band, hanging out in cut-offs and a t-shirt, and there’s Buddy treating the gig the same as if he was performing at the Apollo,” he says. From that moment on, Curtis vowed that every time he got on stage he would deliver his very best shot.
Salgado’s been perfecting his craft since he first began playing professionally in the late 1960s. He fronted his own group, The Nighthawks, inspired John Belushi to create The Blues Brothers, was co-star of The Robert Cray Band and sang and toured with Roomful Of Blues. He released his first of eight solo albums in 1991, hitting the road hard year after year. Salgado and his band toured with The Steve Miller Band and Curtis spent a summer singing with Santana before being sidelined by serious health issues in 2006. He’s battled all the way back, and, after a full and complete recovery, has been tearing up concert stages all over the country.
Winner of the 2010 Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Artist Of The Year, Salgado effortlessly mixes blues, funk and R&B with a delivery that is raw and heartfelt. He moves with ease from the tenderest ballads to the most full-throated stompers.
As a hungry-to-learn teenager, his musical abilities grew by leaps and bounds. He played his first professional gigs when he was 16, and by 18 he was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding to O.V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Spann and Magic Sam. With his band The Nighthawks, he became a must-see act in Eugene and throughout the Northwest. Salgado earned a reputation for high-intensity performances and a repertoire that was informed by his encyclopedic knowledge of blues, soul and R&B music.
In 1973, Salgado met Robert Cray and the two became fast friends. They jammed often, sometimes sitting in with each other’s bands, often playing double bills. In 1975, Salgado had the idea to start a blues festival in Eugene in order to meet and play with as many established blues stars as possible. The festival became an annual event, allowing Curtis to back up, befriend and occasionally house legends including Floyd Dixon, Frankie Lee, Luther Tucker, Otis Rush, Clifton Chenier, Sonny Rhodes and Albert Collins. In fact, it was Salgado—whose Nighthawks backed Collins locally—who crowned the blues legend with the title he would carry for the rest of his career: “The Master Of The Telecaster.”
As Salgado was getting more serious about his career, he realized some of his band mates were not. It was then that Salgado joined forces with Cray and formed a new, more forceful Robert Cray Band.
After Salgado and Cray parted ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon, he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was once again tearing it up on the club scene. He wrote many new songs, and honed his band to a razor’s edge before releasing his first solo album in 1991 on the fledgling JRS label. The group toured the country and began developing a strong following. His friend and fan Steve Miller invited Curtis and his band to open for him on a summer shed tour in 1992. Two years later, Salgado spent the summer on the road singing with Santana. In 1997 he toured with Miller again and performed in front of an audience of millions on NBC television’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Salgado then joined forces with Shanachie Records in 1999, putting out four critically acclaimed albums over the next nine years and finding his biggest audience yet.
In 2006 Salgado was sidelined when he underwent a successful liver transplant and then shortly afterwards was diagnosed with and then beat lung cancer. Like so many musicians, Curtis had no health insurance. His medical expenses were paid for in part by a huge outpouring of love and money from his fellow musicians and his huge Northwest fan base. He bounced back with a perfect bill of health in 2008, releasing Clean Getaway. Billboard said the album was a “tour-de-force, showcasing Salgado’s range and power as a vocalist” and that it featured “hard-nosed blues, beautifully nuanced phat and funky R&B.” Blues Revue called it “one of the best records of the year.”
Now, with Soul Shot, Salgado is ready for more, tougher and more focused than ever. He will again hit the road hard, proving his reputation as a fire-breathing live performer night after night. And that’s just how he likes it. “Always give it your best,” he says. “Be honest and be real. Treat every show like it’s the biggest night of your life.” With Soul Shot and a long list of tour dates already planned, the biggest performances of Curtis Salgado’s life are surely yet to come.
Ronnie Baker Brooks
In the Olympic tradition, when the torch gets passed on, the flame transfers from one sure hand to the next -- keeping it burning, while at the same time moving forward. It's a fitting image for young Chicago guitar hero RONNIE BAKER BROOKS on his aptly titled third release, THE TORCH. Not only does he sing with soulful fire and play with a white-hot intensity; he's also carrying the torch from the previous generation of soul and blues greats and moving the music into the future.
As the 17 original songs on THE TORCH make clear, RBB is the right man for the job. Brooks grew up steeped in American music tradition yet his focus remains resolutely on the future. As well as anyone of his generation, he knows the transcendent release at the heart of soul, blues and rock. He knows because, as the son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, he came of age watching the fieriest guitar players and most soulful singers of a previous era express their deepest feelings through their music.
"I like to think of how Muddy Waters took the Mississippi blues he heard in his youth and modernized it for his times by making it electric and harder," Brooks explains. "That's what I'm trying to do for my generation. I want to take what's authentic and powerful about the music I grew up loving and bring in other influences without losing the heart and conviction of it."
Brooks' personal touch also shines through in the concise, colorful songs for THE TORCH, all of which he wrote. He draws on the choppy, hip-shaking rhythms of funk, the emotional truth of soul and the forcefulness of rock to bring a distinctive dimension to his groundbreaking sound. Who else would, or could, record a song featuring classic Chicago artists Lonnie Brooks, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson and the late Willie Kent with another highlighting rapper Al Kapone.
"I wanted to do something that would bring young people to the blues, and then give them the real hardcore thing at the same time," Brooks says. "When I grew up, all my friends listened to rap and funk, and I listened to the blues. So I heard their music and they heard mine. I think we both saw some connection between them. I like that line in the movie "Hustle & Flow" when they say this new rap song ain't nothing but "Backdoor Man" written for modern streets. It's a hip-hop world right now, but I want to bring a little blues to the party."
Indeed, Brooks' collaboration with Kapone on "If It Don't Make Dollars, Then It Don't Make Sense" shows a streetwise philosophy that could've fit in next to the Three Six Mafia on the "Hustle & Flow" soundtrack. On the other hand, Brooks sings like a Memphis soul king on the open-hearted "Be a Good Man" a pledge that he'll always try to live honorably and treat his woman with respect.
Brooks has earned his spot on the front lines. He spent a dozen years backing his father, watching how the master entertainer drew enthusiastic responses night after night. For years, the younger Brooks put his lessons on stage every night, opening his father's show to great response. With his father's blessing, he left the band to strike out on his own shortly after releasing his own debut album, Golddigger in 1998.
Like his father before him, Brooks became a Chicago blues mainstay, playing regularly in Chicago area clubs. After the release of his second album, 2001's Take Me Witcha, he hit the road for what turned out to be a seemingly non-stop three-year tour, picking up devoted new fans all along the way. And while he hadn't planned to take five years between recordings, he did want to do it right. He made up for lost time by packing as many tunes as possible on THE TORCH.
Indeed, the album celebrates all that Ronnie Baker Brooks is -- a man with both a legacy and a vision, a man uniquely suited to carry THE TORCH.
As the 17 original songs on THE TORCH make clear, RBB is the right man for the job. Brooks grew up steeped in American music tradition yet his focus remains resolutely on the future. As well as anyone of his generation, he knows the transcendent release at the heart of soul, blues and rock. He knows because, as the son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, he came of age watching the fieriest guitar players and most soulful singers of a previous era express their deepest feelings through their music.
"I like to think of how Muddy Waters took the Mississippi blues he heard in his youth and modernized it for his times by making it electric and harder," Brooks explains. "That's what I'm trying to do for my generation. I want to take what's authentic and powerful about the music I grew up loving and bring in other influences without losing the heart and conviction of it."
Brooks' personal touch also shines through in the concise, colorful songs for THE TORCH, all of which he wrote. He draws on the choppy, hip-shaking rhythms of funk, the emotional truth of soul and the forcefulness of rock to bring a distinctive dimension to his groundbreaking sound. Who else would, or could, record a song featuring classic Chicago artists Lonnie Brooks, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson and the late Willie Kent with another highlighting rapper Al Kapone.
"I wanted to do something that would bring young people to the blues, and then give them the real hardcore thing at the same time," Brooks says. "When I grew up, all my friends listened to rap and funk, and I listened to the blues. So I heard their music and they heard mine. I think we both saw some connection between them. I like that line in the movie "Hustle & Flow" when they say this new rap song ain't nothing but "Backdoor Man" written for modern streets. It's a hip-hop world right now, but I want to bring a little blues to the party."
Indeed, Brooks' collaboration with Kapone on "If It Don't Make Dollars, Then It Don't Make Sense" shows a streetwise philosophy that could've fit in next to the Three Six Mafia on the "Hustle & Flow" soundtrack. On the other hand, Brooks sings like a Memphis soul king on the open-hearted "Be a Good Man" a pledge that he'll always try to live honorably and treat his woman with respect.
Brooks has earned his spot on the front lines. He spent a dozen years backing his father, watching how the master entertainer drew enthusiastic responses night after night. For years, the younger Brooks put his lessons on stage every night, opening his father's show to great response. With his father's blessing, he left the band to strike out on his own shortly after releasing his own debut album, Golddigger in 1998.
Like his father before him, Brooks became a Chicago blues mainstay, playing regularly in Chicago area clubs. After the release of his second album, 2001's Take Me Witcha, he hit the road for what turned out to be a seemingly non-stop three-year tour, picking up devoted new fans all along the way. And while he hadn't planned to take five years between recordings, he did want to do it right. He made up for lost time by packing as many tunes as possible on THE TORCH.
Indeed, the album celebrates all that Ronnie Baker Brooks is -- a man with both a legacy and a vision, a man uniquely suited to carry THE TORCH.
Marshall Keys
“Marshall Keys’ dulcet tones and earthy compositions conjure the spirits of jazzmen past and future.” From mainstream to contemporary, from bebop to hip-hop, he plays the saxophone with a sense of grace and emotion that is wholly without cliché.
Marshall has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and was commissioned by the Smithsonian to perform the works of Wayne Shorter. He was guest performer and lecturer at the Romare Bearden Exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. He has enjoyed two collaborations with Mexican jazz pianist Juan Jose Calatayud at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC and at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California. He has toured Central and South America twice for the State Department as a Jazz Ambassador and In May of 2005 traveled to Guinea, West Africa to perform and to lecture on the history of jazz in the US.
In August of 2009 he was guest soloist at the Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood, California playing music from the Harlem Renaissance. He joined Jason Moran’s Bandwagon at the Kennedy Center for two performances in 2012, and backed Stevie Wonder at the Howard Theatre in February 2013. The Marshall Keys Group performs at the DC Jazz Festival every year it is held
He has worked with many of the world’s greatest musicians including: Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Scott, Lionel Hampton, Stevie Wonder, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Groove Holmes and Jimmy Witherspoon. He has played in jazz festivals in the US, Germany, Ireland, Holland, Mexico, Indonesia, The Virgin Islands and was a featured performer on the 17th Annual Norway Jazz Cruise, and the East Coast Jazz Festival in Washington, DC.
Marshall has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and was commissioned by the Smithsonian to perform the works of Wayne Shorter. He was guest performer and lecturer at the Romare Bearden Exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. He has enjoyed two collaborations with Mexican jazz pianist Juan Jose Calatayud at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC and at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California. He has toured Central and South America twice for the State Department as a Jazz Ambassador and In May of 2005 traveled to Guinea, West Africa to perform and to lecture on the history of jazz in the US.
In August of 2009 he was guest soloist at the Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood, California playing music from the Harlem Renaissance. He joined Jason Moran’s Bandwagon at the Kennedy Center for two performances in 2012, and backed Stevie Wonder at the Howard Theatre in February 2013. The Marshall Keys Group performs at the DC Jazz Festival every year it is held
He has worked with many of the world’s greatest musicians including: Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Scott, Lionel Hampton, Stevie Wonder, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Groove Holmes and Jimmy Witherspoon. He has played in jazz festivals in the US, Germany, Ireland, Holland, Mexico, Indonesia, The Virgin Islands and was a featured performer on the 17th Annual Norway Jazz Cruise, and the East Coast Jazz Festival in Washington, DC.
Scott Ambush
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?
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?
Alexander Brown Cabrera
In 1997, Alexander received his Master’s degree in Classical Music at the Instituto Superior de Artes, one of Cuba’s foremost prestigious institutions. 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.
Brown was also 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, Don Thompson, Amanda Martinez, Luis Mario Ochoa 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.
Matt Schofield
Though he holds a British passport and is an inductee of the British Blues Hall of Fame, Matt Schofield has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds.
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, ‘ In Schofield, the UK has produced the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades… head and shoulders above the herd’, while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12.
“My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video”.
“It was like; I’ve got to do this. There’s something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didn’t think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dad’s great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and I’ve been doing it ever since”.
At age 18 he left the countryside and moved to London. There, as a sideman, he was able to hone his skills as backing a great variety of experienced and well known artists of the British Blues scene, visiting American artists, as well start touring internationally. The introspective, well read (lover of science, history and philosophy) and passionate Schofield said, “this enabled me to stay close to my roots while learning my trade and exploring a variety of musical frontiers.”
“By age 25 I was starting to explore my own band projects. Although my formative guitar influences are the largely the old school blues players, I never wanted my own music to be constrained by a rigid formula, or even genre. I just want to play ‘Matt Schofield music’. Classic Jazz, funk, soul and rock and all the music I love have all found their way into it. The process of writing and singing has become increasingly important to me, and I feel it’s those other aspects of creativity that helped define my own voice on the guitar. It’s always been important to find a context for the guitar to be part of, so that it’s not just guitar solos for their own sake.
“I remain a music lover first and foremost. The recognition I’ve received from both fans and peers is humbling and inspiring, and those ‘pinch me’ moments where I found myself trading licks with heroes like Robben Ford and Buddy Guy are still the biggest thrill.”
“Now after five studio albums and a solid 10 years of touring with my own band, I have definite broader concepts I want to explore. Remaining open to where the music might take me while maintaining the excitement that improvising and collaborating with talented musicians allow, is key to me. My inspiration and goals came from many places: My influences old and new, including musicians I have wanted to collaborate with for years. Things I still feel I hadn’t fully realized on previous studio records, and a need to keep pushing myself. It all meets at the place where I’m heading now. I’m always aiming to go as far as possible to capturing the same connection with the listener that I aim to make at a live show or on record. That’s the goal. Capturing that special moment.”
Matt is signed to the Mascot Label Group, which is home to some of the world’s most respected guitarists.
(photo courtesy of Same Hare)
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, ‘ In Schofield, the UK has produced the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades… head and shoulders above the herd’, while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12.
“My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video”.
“It was like; I’ve got to do this. There’s something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didn’t think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dad’s great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and I’ve been doing it ever since”.
At age 18 he left the countryside and moved to London. There, as a sideman, he was able to hone his skills as backing a great variety of experienced and well known artists of the British Blues scene, visiting American artists, as well start touring internationally. The introspective, well read (lover of science, history and philosophy) and passionate Schofield said, “this enabled me to stay close to my roots while learning my trade and exploring a variety of musical frontiers.”
“By age 25 I was starting to explore my own band projects. Although my formative guitar influences are the largely the old school blues players, I never wanted my own music to be constrained by a rigid formula, or even genre. I just want to play ‘Matt Schofield music’. Classic Jazz, funk, soul and rock and all the music I love have all found their way into it. The process of writing and singing has become increasingly important to me, and I feel it’s those other aspects of creativity that helped define my own voice on the guitar. It’s always been important to find a context for the guitar to be part of, so that it’s not just guitar solos for their own sake.
“I remain a music lover first and foremost. The recognition I’ve received from both fans and peers is humbling and inspiring, and those ‘pinch me’ moments where I found myself trading licks with heroes like Robben Ford and Buddy Guy are still the biggest thrill.”
“Now after five studio albums and a solid 10 years of touring with my own band, I have definite broader concepts I want to explore. Remaining open to where the music might take me while maintaining the excitement that improvising and collaborating with talented musicians allow, is key to me. My inspiration and goals came from many places: My influences old and new, including musicians I have wanted to collaborate with for years. Things I still feel I hadn’t fully realized on previous studio records, and a need to keep pushing myself. It all meets at the place where I’m heading now. I’m always aiming to go as far as possible to capturing the same connection with the listener that I aim to make at a live show or on record. That’s the goal. Capturing that special moment.”
Matt is signed to the Mascot Label Group, which is home to some of the world’s most respected guitarists.
(photo courtesy of Same Hare)
John Carney
John "Kiko" Carney-Diaz
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 most recently 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 Houston. In 2000 John started his own smooth jazz band "Max Cat", as well as performing with the well-known Nicaraguan singer, Yelba. Currently John can be seen performing Thursdays and Sundays at the Tryp Hotel, Albrook. 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 has been invited back to Boquete and will be opening for the 10th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2016. “Gato Maximo”, is a smooth/latin jazz band featuring John’s beautiful classical guitar.
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 most recently 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 Houston. In 2000 John started his own smooth jazz band "Max Cat", as well as performing with the well-known Nicaraguan singer, Yelba. Currently John can be seen performing Thursdays and Sundays at the Tryp Hotel, Albrook. 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 has been invited back to Boquete and will be opening for the 10th Annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in February, 2016. “Gato Maximo”, is a smooth/latin jazz band featuring John’s beautiful classical guitar.
The 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!
Shakura S'Aida - Associate Producer BJBF
Born in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in Switzerland. A long-time Canadian who lives in Toronto. That’s Shakura S’Aida, a truly international artist whose involvement in the Canadian music scene has been ongoing for the almost 25 years. Along the way, she has enriched the jazz, blues and classic R&B communities with her soulful voice, enthusiastic personality and commitment to her deep soul music.
Now she’s released Time, a double CD that gives her growing international audience tastes of her different musical approaches to blues, soul and rock and roll.
And Shakura takes her music wherever there’s an audience in the past two years alone she has performed in the Caribbean, Moscow, Dubai, Romania, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Australia, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Macedonia, Switzerland and helped organize a festival in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Whether she’s speaking Swiss-German, French or English, Shakura instantly connects with her audience — and at the same time richly demonstrates the multiculturalism that Canada prides itself on.
After playing the 2015 festival she is coming back as an associate producer and a host of our grand final Jam.
Now she’s released Time, a double CD that gives her growing international audience tastes of her different musical approaches to blues, soul and rock and roll.
And Shakura takes her music wherever there’s an audience in the past two years alone she has performed in the Caribbean, Moscow, Dubai, Romania, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Australia, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Macedonia, Switzerland and helped organize a festival in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Whether she’s speaking Swiss-German, French or English, Shakura instantly connects with her audience — and at the same time richly demonstrates the multiculturalism that Canada prides itself on.
After playing the 2015 festival she is coming back as an associate producer and a host of our grand final Jam.
Deanna Bogart - Associate Producer BJBF
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.
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.”
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 withTommy 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.
After playing the 2015 festival she is returning as associate producer and as a host of our grand final jam.
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.”
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 withTommy 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.
After playing the 2015 festival she is returning as associate producer and as a host of our grand final jam.
Special guest show: The Luca Ciarla Quartet
One of the most original Italian jazz ensembles in recent years, the Luca Ciarla Quartet has performed everywhere at an international level, from Montreal Jazz Festival to Melbourne Jazz Festival. With Carmine Ioanna on accordion, Maurizio Perrone on double bass and Francesco Savoretti on percussions, jazz violinist Luca Ciarla has developed a unique sound, giving birth to charming and irresistible compositions and arrangements, natural synthesis between contemporary jazz and the familiar sounds of the Italian folk tradition and the Mediterranean area. Their latest album, ViolinAir, mostly recorded in Thailand during a long tour in Asia, presents original works and astonishing arrangements of classics such as A Night in Tunisia or Caravan. “…a gem of a record from a violinist who has clearly absorbed the history of his instrument from Joe Venuti to Michal Urbaniak to become very much his own man.” Duncan Heining, All About Jazz
The Luca Ciarla Quartet will appear at the BJBF garden party at the Panamonte hotel on Friday, February 27. This will be their only show during the festival. In cooperation and with support by the Italian Embassy in Panama. We thank the embassy staff and band management for their immense support to make this show possible!
The Luca Ciarla Quartet will appear at the BJBF garden party at the Panamonte hotel on Friday, February 27. This will be their only show during the festival. In cooperation and with support by the Italian Embassy in Panama. We thank the embassy staff and band management for their immense support to make this show possible!
The Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival is supported by the Panamanian Tourist Authority and the city of Boquete
