Vocals-Lavay Smith; Piano-Chris Siebert; plus our favorite cats on the planet! Trumpet-Allen Smith, Bill Ortiz, Mike Olmos; Trombone-Danny Armstrong; Saxophone-Jules Broussard, Howard Wiley, Charles McNeal, Ron Stallings; Bass-David Ewell; Drums-Darrell Green. Plus All-Star Special Guests: Trumpet-Joel Behrman; Trombone: Marty Wehner, Mike Rinta; Saxophone-Herman Riley (LA), Rickey Woodard (LA), Matt Hong (NYC), Mark Hynes (NYC), Brad Leali (Lubbock, TX!!!), Pete Cornell, Joe Cohen; Bass-Marcus Shelby, Devin Hoff; Drums-Howard Wiley, Sly Randolph
Influences
My Musical Mentors: Vince Cattolica, Bill Stewart, Allen Smith, Jules Broussard, Ron Stallings, Danny Armstrong, Herman Riley. Favorite Music: Jazz: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Slim Gaillard, Leo Watson, Al Hibbler, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Sonny Stitt, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Johnny Griffin, Hank Jones, Sonny Clark, Hampton Hawes, Ray Bryant, Bobby Timmons, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Eddie Jefferson, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman; Blues: Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Big Maceo Merriweather, Otis Spann; Boogie Woogie: Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson; New Orleans Music: Professor Longhair, Huey "Piano" Smith, James Booker, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Johnny Adams (Check out "I Won't Cry" and "Reconsider Me"!); R&B: Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Donny Hathaway, Sly Stone, Parliament, Chaka Khan, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauren Hill; Gospel: Mahalia Jackson, Dorothy Love Coates, Albertina Walker (My favorite version of "Amazing Grace"), The Swan Silvertones (Check out the Rev. Claude Jeter's falsetto on "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep"!), The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, Mavis Staples and The Staples Singers, James Cleveland; Rock: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Beatles, The Band; World Music: African; Cuban: Chano Pozo, Cachao, Celia Cruz, Ruben Gonzalez; Afro-Cuban: Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto ; Jamaican: Toots & The Maytals (He even makes "Country Road" sound beautiful!), Bob Marley; Caribbean; Latin American; Brazilian: Jorge Ben, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Joao Gilberto; Cabo Verde: Cesaria Evoria; Pakistan: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; and zillions more cool musicians in all of the above styles and more...
Favorite Movies: Monty Python's Life Of Brian, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, This Is Spinal Tap, Ray (Charles!), Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Radio Days, Malcolm X, The Last Waltz, WattStax, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Grapes Of Wrath, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Young Frankenstein, Bridge On The River Kwai, Planet Of The Apes, Yellow Submarine...
Favorite TV: Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Chappelle's Show, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Reno 911, All In The Family, Good Times, Maude, M.A.S.H., The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Jeffersons, Saturday Night Live, Democracy Now!
Favorite Books: E.F. Schumacher-Small Is Beautiful; Malcolm X-The Autobiography Of Malcolm X; George Orwell-Down And Out In Paris and London, Homage To Catalonia, The Road To Wigan Pier; John Kenneth Galbraith-The Affluent Society, The Culture Of Contentment, The Good Society; Alexander Cockburn-Corruptions Of Empire, The Golden Age Is In Us; Larry Elliot and Dan Atkinson-The Age Of Insecurity; Noam Chomsky Manufacuring Consent; Neal Postman-Amusing Ourselves To Death, The Disappearance Of
Childhood, Technopoly; Jane Jacobs-The Death And Life Of Great American Cities; Robert
Kuttner-Everything For Sale; Barbara Ehrenreich-Nickled and Dimed; Fred Block, Richard
Cloward and Barbara Ehrenreich-The Mean Season; Fred Block-The Vampire State; Christopher Hitchens-For The Sake Of Argument; Studs Terkel-Working; Eduardo
Galeano-Upside Down, Soccer In Sun And Shadow; Howard Zinn-A People's History Of The
United States (I've gotta finish that one).
People I admire and love: My girlfriend; My Dad, Mom, Brother and Sister, Granparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. A few of the many people who have influenced my thinking: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Gahndi, , E.F. Schumacher, Alexander Cockburn,
Christopher Hitchens (but not on the war in Iraq!!!), John Kenneth Galbraith, Jane
Jacobs, Neal Postman, Howard Zinn, Eduardo Galeano, Marshall Berman, Bob Herbert,
Frank Rich, Michael Harrington, Robert Lekachman, Robert Reich, Robert Kuttner,
Paolo Freire, Jonathan Kozol, Barbara Ehrenreich, Mark Twain, Ralph Nader, Ron
Dellums, Jesse Jackson, Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Molly Ivins, zillions of other
writers and thinkers; Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Slim
Gaillard, Stuff Smith, Leo Watson, Nat King Cole, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,
Thelonious Monk, Tadd Dameron, Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sonny Clark, Hampton
Hawes, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, George Clinton, Parliament, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Pete Johnson, Big Maceo Merriweather, Otis Spann, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Chano Pozo, Ruben Gonzalez, Toots Hibbert and The Maytals, Bob Marley, zillions of other musicians; Monty Python (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin), Neil Innes and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Richard Pryor
The Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen...
Sounds Like
All of your favorites: Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Helen Humes, Little Esther Phillips, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Illinois Jacquet, Dizzy Gillespie, Tadd Dameron, James Moody, Quincy Jones, Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Professor Longhair, and more...
About me: I live in San Francisco with my girlfriend, Lavay Smith. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, and she is the love of my life. We live a wonderful life playing music, travelling around the world and spending time with each other and our friends and families. Our band is called Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, and I am the Piano player, bandleader/musical director, arranger, tour manager and webmaster. We are lucky to work with an incredible group of cats who are beautiful people and extremely soulful musicians. For more about our band, check out lavaysmith.com.
You can hear me on Lavay Smith's albums "One Hour Mama" and "Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing", which I produced with Lavay. You can also hear me on "Blues, Ballads & Bebop" by Bill Stewart, "Big Mama's Door" and "Territory" by Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, "Twentieth Century Negro" by Howard Wiley, "That's Big!" and "Nine Lives" by Little Charlie & The Nightcats, and "Shakin' A Tailfeather" by Taj Mahal and Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir.
Who I'd like to meet: I love meeting other musicians, and I'm especially interested in Jazz,
Blues, New Orleans Music, Gospel and R&B. I also listen to a lot African music, Afro-Cuban music and Brazilian music, although I can't play a lick in any of those styles. I'm always interested in corresponding with Piano players who are exploring Jazz (Stride, Swing, Bebop and beyond), Boogie Woogie, New Orleans Piano, R&B, Gospel and Afro-Cuban Piano styles. I'm also into talking to people who would like to see the United States and the rest of the world become more progressive, just, fair and ecologically- oriented, and less racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic. And I love playing and talking about soccer-if you're up for kicking a ball around in the Mission district in San Francisco, let me know.
Celebrate the “Soul Tub!”! Thanks for the add, thanks for listening & thanks for the music! You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter now. -The California Honeydrops
have a ball at the Barns! we forwarded the email to family friends out that way with a big thumbs up. wish y'all would play down here some time - we're thinking you should get in touch with Katz 21 maybe? xxxooo - g & Max
Actually, I relocated to the SF area. We should be running into each other soon. Thinking about taking your Sax player's inprov' class for kicks. See ya.
Hi there! I am really sorry I missed the chance to see you guys for lunch! I just couldn't make it out of bed till 3:30 !! I guess l'll have to try again next time. It was a real pleasure to hear you swingin at Enricos, all the best, Rachael
Chris, Remember when I didn't know how to stop the band? You and Lavay gave me a CD of Louis Armstrong sings WC Handy, well thanks that was the beginning. Love, Rhonda
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