MUSIC CALENDAR

VIEW WEBSITE
VIEW VIDEO

Each week Aki brings with him a special guest performer!

www.akikumar.com/tuesday-night-blues-jam

About Aki Kumar:

Dynamic frontman & harp player Aki Kumar is a bonafide star among the next generation of West Coast blues artists and the world’s first professional blues harmonica player to hail from India. A master of the hugely influential Chicago blues sound, Kumar inherits his style from the harp legends of the 1950s and 60s. Aki has a unique voice in the blues, blending elements of blues harmonica pioneers of yesteryear with a signature sound of his own.

“..old school blues at its finest by way of India. And the lad has soul to spare.”
Dan Aykroyd aka Elwood Blues

Born and raised in Bombay (now Mumbai) – India, Kumar has long established his mark on the West Coast blues scene as a top-notch frontman, vocalist , entertainer and blues harp player. The Aki Kumar Blues Band has been the culmination of his journey through American roots music and constantly showcases his ever-evolving sound. This band performs vintage blues with tremendous skill and energy and is guaranteed to entertain audiences across all venues, from intimate listening rooms to large festivals.

“(Kumar) has a natural propensity for the music, with a rich, deep tone and a sensitive, economic style that emphasizes feel over flash.”
Jonny Whiteside, LA TIMES

In recent years, Aki Kumar has performed all across the United States and internationally (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, India), collaborating with some of the top blues artists on the scene. He has also contributed his blues harmonica licks to numerous recordings produced on the West Coast in the last decade, including several albums produced at the world renowned Greaseland Studios. This year marks another exciting year for Aki Kumar, with upcoming recording projects, internationals appearances and other musical collaborations across the world.

VIEW A VIDEO
VIEW WEBSITE

Chris Cain’s jazz-tinged, blues soaked guitar and deep, warm vocals have the maturity and authenticity of bluesmen many years his senior. His expressive style is the result of a lifetime of study and the relentless pursuit of music mastery. His passion and intensity are a blend of his mother’s Greek ancestry and his father’s soulful black heritage.

“Nowadays most young blues players are Strat-wielding Stevie Ray Vaughan-a-bes. Not Chris Cain. With a voice that recalls B.B. King and a thick toned Gibson guitar sound reminiscent of Albert King, Cain is forging a unique style. With his own highly personalized songwriting, “Hall Of Shame” is a giant step in the development of one of the most compelling young bluesmen on today’s scene.”
-Larry Nager (syndicated Scripts-Howard music critic)

http://www.danielcastro.com/

Daniel was born in Ensenada, Baja California and also lived in Tijuana. The family later moved to Buena Park, California when Daniel was eight. Even as young kids, Daniel and his older brother Mario wanted to play guitar. “In Tijuana we found an old piece of plywood in a field. We took it home and cut two guitars out of it, painted on the knobs and pick guard, and strung some fishing line with nails on them.” After bugging their mother and father for years they finally got their first real guitar from Sears – a St. George electric guitar with no amplifier. The brothers shared the right-handed guitar, which was no problem for Mario who was right-handed but a huge problem for Daniel who was a lefty. Daniel’s brother would laugh at him while he tried to play it upside down, so he finally taught himself to play right-handed. Daniel’s older sister, Jypsy, who was singing in a band, introduced Daniel to all the big soul stars at the time and taught him to play Jimmy Reed riffs in the key of E. Jypsy also gave Daniel two BB King records and “when I heard that Lucille vibrato, that was it…it made me cry.”

In 1969, Daniel’s brother Mario was killed in a car accident. Daniel was fifteen at the time. “I was sitting on the curb in front of our house after my brother’s funeral and a friend came up and said ‘Daniel you take that guitar and play your heart out for Mario wherever you go.’” And that’s what Daniel’s been doing ever since.

As he grew up in the L.A. area, Daniel was heavily influenced by the blues greats Albert KIng, B.B. King, and Albert Collins. As a kid, Daniel would hang outside clubs like the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach to hear these blues legends perform and wait for a glimpse of them through the curtains. After cutting his teeth in South Central L.A. blues clubs with “Mighty Mouth” Delmar Evans, who worked with the Johnny Otis Show, Castro backed other great artists from Otis’ band, including Pee Wee Crayton and Little Esther Phillips. He also recorded and toured with many other artists including legendary Small Faces singer-bassist Ronnie Lane.

Moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995, Daniel formed The Daniel Castro Band and quickly became a hot draw in the burgeoning local blues scene. In 1999, Daniel recorded his first release, No Surrender, followed in 2003 with Live at The Saloon, a double CD recorded at San Francisco’s oldest bar and mecca for the blues faithful. Both CDs highlight the talents of Daniel’s playing, songwriting, and arranging and feature stellar performances by some of the Bay Area’s best sidemen.

In 2011, Daniel began looking to form a new band. He had always been surrounded by great players but wanted to focus on his original material, which required working with musicians that shared his passion, would commit to strenuous rehearsals, and had the natural chemistry needed to help him realize the music’s potential. Daniel began getting together with bassist Johnny Yu, whom he had played with in the past and who had recorded several cuts on his “No Surrender” CD. They quickly became a team, working out arrangements to many of Daniel’s new original tunes and forming the nucleus of the new band. Daniel and Johnny began performing as a trio, using a platoon of drummers as they searched for the elusive third member of the band. In early 2012, Johnny reconnected with drummer David Perper, whom he had worked with in a variety of settings over many years. David got together with Daniel and Johnny at their rehearsal space and it soon became obvious to all that they collectively had something unique. With Johnny and David, Daniel has an intuitive and explosive rhythm section, able to anticipate each others moves and support Daniel’s music as it deserves. “We have something special. It’s hard to describe, but we feel it and so do our audiences. We’ve all come from different backgrounds and our personal stories vary. We all come to this band with our past and are forming our future.”

Biography
As a singer, he is by known by many as a “bourbon-esque” crooner, performing standards from the Great American Songbook, to others he is a curious oracle of soul and the blues. A pianist and songwriter since childhood, Johnny has arranged and produced two CD’s of his original compositions.
Currently hosting “In the Pocket with Johnny Fabulous” on SCTV, a Santa Cruz television show featuring music and art, Johnny Fabulous also is a performing artist with the Young At Heart Project which provides one hour music shows for senior communities throughout the Bay area. As a vocal coach and piano instructor, Johnny draws upon decades of experience to nurture the growth and development of his students. Johnny Fabulous continues to perform his unique and very distinctive style of music in the Bay area club scene.

VIEW WEBSITE
VIEW VIDEO

Each week Aki brings with him a special guest performer!

www.akikumar.com/tuesday-night-blues-jam

About Aki Kumar:

Dynamic frontman & harp player Aki Kumar is a bonafide star among the next generation of West Coast blues artists and the world’s first professional blues harmonica player to hail from India. A master of the hugely influential Chicago blues sound, Kumar inherits his style from the harp legends of the 1950s and 60s. Aki has a unique voice in the blues, blending elements of blues harmonica pioneers of yesteryear with a signature sound of his own.

“..old school blues at its finest by way of India. And the lad has soul to spare.”
Dan Aykroyd aka Elwood Blues

Born and raised in Bombay (now Mumbai) – India, Kumar has long established his mark on the West Coast blues scene as a top-notch frontman, vocalist , entertainer and blues harp player. The Aki Kumar Blues Band has been the culmination of his journey through American roots music and constantly showcases his ever-evolving sound. This band performs vintage blues with tremendous skill and energy and is guaranteed to entertain audiences across all venues, from intimate listening rooms to large festivals.

“(Kumar) has a natural propensity for the music, with a rich, deep tone and a sensitive, economic style that emphasizes feel over flash.”
Jonny Whiteside, LA TIMES

In recent years, Aki Kumar has performed all across the United States and internationally (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, India), collaborating with some of the top blues artists on the scene. He has also contributed his blues harmonica licks to numerous recordings produced on the West Coast in the last decade, including several albums produced at the world renowned Greaseland Studios. This year marks another exciting year for Aki Kumar, with upcoming recording projects, internationals appearances and other musical collaborations across the world.

VIEW WEBSITE
VIEW VIDEO

The Bay Area’s own Chrome Deluxe is a unique and talented band of musicians who share a passion for music and performance. The band provides high quality entertainment for private and public functions; including top Bay Area nightclubs, corporate events and festivals.

Chrome Deluxe has gained a reputation as one of the most diverse R&B, Swing and Blues based bands in the Bay Area with their own special take on both classics and current favorites. Particularly popular with fans who like to dance. The group draws from the innovators of American music while translating the music into their own sound and bringing the audience quality entertainment and a truly fun musical experience.

VIEW WEBSITE
VIEW VIDEO

“The stunning California axe slinger has seen the doors of recognition open up to her exhilarating electric blues guitar style. Laurie found out the hard way that it often takes time for a female blues guitarist to be taken seriously. But ultimately, unbiased listeners have come to recognize the true authenticity and devotion in her music and in her guitar playing. Laurie’s fluid licks, incredible tone, and the emotion she exerts in her songs are evidence enough of just how serious she is.” Modern Guitars

“Morvan is a flashy, fast-fingered picker that recalls Stevie Ray Vaughan to my ears. “Wiggle Room” is a cousin to SRV’s “Scuttle Buttin”. I kid you not – testosterone-dripping Blues fans will riff off Morvan big time. Dig her solos on the slow blueser “Keep On Believin”. Fitting is “Where Are The Girls With Guitars”, a hit-worthy roadhouse stomper all those Country-Rock wannabe women wish they’d written. ” BluesCritic.com

Lindell grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began playing in bands at the age of 15. Among his early musical influences were Fishbone and Black Flag.[3]

Lindell started playing in Northern California bars, first with the guitar, and later moving to bass, while working as a baker during the day to make ends meet. After a few years he had decided to move to New York City briefly, then moved in 1999 to New Orleans, where his creativity was able to flourish further. In New Orleans he often played with well-known drummers Johnny Vidacovich and Harold Ray Brown (formerly of War) as well as members of Galactic, including Galactic’s Stanton Moore and Ivan Neville[1] (with whom he now occasionally plays in a side project called Dragon Smoke.) By 2005, he was well-known on the New Orleans music scene, having appeared in local clubs and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and had gained enough attention to have Alligator Records sign him.

Alligator’s initial release by Lindell was Change In The Weather,[1] a compilation of tracks from his various self-produced albums and EPs, some released on his own Sparco Records label. Notably the self-titled album and Piety Street Sessions with Marty Joyce on drums, Cass Faulconer on bass and Marc Adams on B3 as well as others. “Change In The Weather’ yielded the radio single “Give It Time” which received major play on Adult Album Alternative-formatted stations around the country and was featured in an episode of the Boston Legal TV show. His second Alligator release was produced for the label by Lindell. The radio single, “Lay Back Down,” was again well received by AAA, and also appeared in the TV shows True Blood and Friday Night Lights. Gulf Coast Highway, his third Alligator release (also self-produced), found him accompanied by members of Galactic as well as members of Lindell’s touring band. “If Love Can’t Find A Way” was the featured radio track.

He typically performs about 100 live performances a year. He has made recent trips to perform in Europe and made his first Australian appearance in 2007. He made his network television debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in February 2008.

VIEW WEBSITE
VIEW A VIDEO

Forged in the blood of brothers Tommy and Paddy Marsh, Crooked Eye Tommy casts a spell on the listener with the joy and melancholy of a lifetime of playing music together. Searing guitar work and passionate, powerful vocal lines will call you in. Southern Hearts in a Tide Pool of sonic dancing where you are the special guest of honor. Making Music and Making Friends around the globe Crooked Eye Tommy is a sure thing in a world of uncertainty… Listen and feel What a Crooked Eye can do…