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Rainforest Band
The Rainforest Band was an American jam band that spans several genres, including jazz, rock, world music, R&B, and funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m .... Founded in 1990, it produced four albums and performed for ten years. History The Rainforest Band began in 1990 with the Grammy Award-nominated album ''Blues From the Rainforest'', a collaboration between jazz keyboardist Merl Saunders, percussionist Muruga Booker, and Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, with Shakti Booker (vocals), Eddie Moore (percussion), Melvin Seals (sound effects) and Bill Thompson (drum & sampled sound midi-technician). This fusion of world music and jazz was an early hit in a genre which became a category for the Grammys that same year. The music itself was written by Saunders and Booke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jam Band
A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cross genre boundaries. Most jam band sets will consist of variations on songs that have already been released as studio recordings. Jam bands are known for having a very fluid structure, often having one song lead into another without any interruption. The jam-band musical style, spawned from the psychedelic rock movement of the 1960s, was a feature of nationally famed groups such as the Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band, whose regular touring schedules continued into the 1990s. The style influenced a new wave of jam bands who toured the United States with jam band-style concerts in the late 1980s and early '90s, such as Phish, Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, The String Cheese Incident, and Col. Bruce Hampto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a grassroots organizing campaign that in 1987 succeeded in convincing Burger King to cancel $31 million worth of destructive Central American rainforest beef contracts. Protecting forests and challenging corporate power has remained a key focus of RAN’s campaigns since, and has led RAN into campaigns that have led to transformative policy changes across home building, wood purchasing and supplying, automobile, fashion, paper and banking industries. History Rainforest Action Network was founded in San Francisco, California in 1985 by Mike Roselle and Randy "Hurricane" Hayes. Early on, RAN worked with Herbert Chao Gunther, the founder of the Public Media Center in San Francisco, a marketing firm exclusively on social justice and environmental is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djembe
A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose. In the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace." The djembe has a body (or shell) carved of hardwood and a drumhead made of untreated (not Liming (leather processing), limed) Rawhide (textile), rawhide, most commonly made from Goatskin (material), goatskin. Excluding rings, djembes have an exterior diameter of 30–38 cm (12–15 in) and a height of 58–63 cm (23–25 in). The majority have a diameter in the 13 to 14 inch range. The weight of a djembe ranges from 5 kg to 13 kg (11–29 lb) and depends on size and shell material. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steel Drum
The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Description The modern pan is a chromatically pitched percussion instrument made from 55 gallon industrial drums. ''Drum'' refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the steel drum is more correctly called a ''steel pan'' or ''pan'' as it falls into the idiophone family of instruments, and so is not a drum (which is a membranophone). Some steelpans are made to play in the Pythagorean musical cycle of fourths and fifths. Pan is played using a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber; the size and type of rubber tip varies according to the class of pan being played. Some musicians use four pansticks, holding two in each hand. This grew out of Trinidad and Tobago's early 20th-century Carnival percussion groups known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju (born 10 November 1950) is a Nigerian percussionist and recording artist, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles. Background A master of the talking drum, Adepoju comes from a musical family from Eruwa in western Nigeria. He and his brothers Saminu and Lasisi were taught drumming very early by their father, Chief Ayanleke Adepoju, whose very name, Ayan, means "descended from drummers." While still in his teens, Sikiru toured with and recorded several albums with the Inter-Reformers Band, the band of one of the pioneers of Afro-beat, Nigerian Juju artist Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey. Musical career In 1985, Adepoju came to America to play with O. J. Ekemode's Nigerian All-Stars, and three months later met Babatunde Olatunji. He became an integral part of Olatunji's Drums of Passion, and through Olatunji met Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. Since then he has frequently been a gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elvin Bishop
Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. An original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that group in 2015 and the Blues Hall of Fame in his own right in 2016. Bishop feels that the limitations of his voice have helped his songwriting. Early life and education Bishop was born in Glendale, California, the son of Mylda (Kleege) and Elvin Bishop, Sr. He grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa when he was 10. There he attended Will Rogers High School, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar. He moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend the university, where he majored in physics. Career In 1963, Bishop met harmonica player Paul Butterfield in the neighborhood of Hyde Park, joined Butterfield's blues band, and remained with them for five years. Bishop was original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Castro
Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955, San Jose, California, United States) is an American blues, R&B, and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked by his winning the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year. According to ''The Chicago Sun-Times'', Castro plays "Memphis soul-drenched R&B…top-of-the-line blues."Johnson, Jeff. ''The Chicago Sun Times'', August 9, 2009 Tom Callahan of ''Blurt'' added, "Castro has a soulful voice, searing guitar and is an excellent songwriter and vocalist. If you close your eyes you will be convinced that you are listening to Otis Redding singing in 1967…tremendous."Callahan, Tom. Blurt OnlineReview of ''Hard Believer'', August 17, 2009 Biography Castro began playing guitar at the age of 10 and was influenced and inspired by electric blues, Chicago blues, West Coast blues, soul music, 1960s rock and ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Hinton (guitarist)
Michael David Hinton (May 4, 1956 – August 1, 2013) was an American guitarist, residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. During his career, he played with numerous bands, including Norton Buffalo and the Knockouts, High Noon, Merl Saunders & the Rainforest Band, to name a few. He appeared on several albums with the Rainforest Band and other Merl Saunders projects, including ''It's In The Air'', ''Fiesta Amazonica'', ''Still Having Fun'', ''Merl Saunders With His Funky Friends - Live'', and ''Still Groovin' ''. Career Hinton played with Country Joe and Friends, and recorded with Rick Danko on ''A Tribute To Jerry Garcia: Deadhead Festival in Tokyo, Japan, 1997''. He was also on the Roky Erickson albums, '' Don't Slander Me'' and ''You're Gonna Miss Me: The Best Of Roky Erickson''. Among his other credits are his involvement in the Mickey Hart and Merl Saunders band, High Noon, and Freddie Roulette and Friends. He co-wrote the music for the films ''Stacy's Knights'' (1982) and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Popper
John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immigrant who left Budapest in 1948. Through him, Popper is related to David Popper, a 19th-century European cellist whose many solo works for the cello are staples of the instrument's repertoire. Popper's mother and brother are lawyers. Popper was raised in Stamford, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. He attended Davenport Ridge School, Stamford Catholic High School (now Trinity Catholic High School), and Princeton High School, from which he graduated in 1986. He took lessons on the piano, the cello, and the guitar, but none of those instruments appealed to him, and he hated being forced to practice. He originally wanted to become a comedian, finding he could use humor to make friends and avoid bullies, but when he and a friend perfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock (born October 5, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands Zero and KVHW. His tone and some of his playing approach has been compared to Jerry Garcia, who was a friend of his, and he has been affiliated with musicians connected to Grateful Dead, including the bands the Other Ones, RatDog, and Phil Lesh and Friends. Garcia cited Kimock, along with Frank Gambale and Michael Hedges, as his favorite guitar players during the later part of his life. Early life and education Kimock was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania on October 5, 1955. In the mid-1970s, he moved to San Francisco to play guitar with the folk-rock group the Goodman Brothers. Career In 1979, after working with Martin Fierro in the salsa band the Underdogs, he joined the Heart of Gold Band with Keith Godchaux, Donna Jean Godchaux, and drummer Greg Anton. Other groups that Kimock has played with include KVHW, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Hinton
Michael David Hinton (May 4, 1956 – August 1, 2013) was an American guitarist, residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. During his career, he played with numerous bands, including Norton Buffalo and the Knockouts, High Noon, Merl Saunders & the Rainforest Band, to name a few. He appeared on several albums with the Rainforest Band and other Merl Saunders projects, including ''It's In The Air'', ''Fiesta Amazonica'', ''Still Having Fun'', ''Merl Saunders With His Funky Friends - Live'', and ''Still Groovin' ''. Career Hinton played with Country Joe and Friends, and recorded with Rick Danko on ''A Tribute To Jerry Garcia: Deadhead Festival in Tokyo, Japan, 1997''. He was also on the Roky Erickson albums, '' Don't Slander Me'' and ''You're Gonna Miss Me: The Best Of Roky Erickson''. Among his other credits are his involvement in the Mickey Hart and Merl Saunders band, High Noon, and Freddie Roulette and Friends. He co-wrote the music for the films ''Stacy's Knights'' (1982) and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
