"Nice chops mixed with a cool groove played by some more cats that know their way around a cool tune." - Chuck Schiele, San Diego Troubadour
"The Journeymen" is a web collaboration between two top-notch recording artists living on opposite ends of California.
Drummer Bill Ray, originally from Mississippi, has toured the world with various bands and is best known for his position as Ike Turner's drummer during the last 7 years of his illustrious life. He currently resides in Ocean Beach (San Diego) and performs with The Kings of Rhythm and Earl Thomas, among other local groups. In 2007 the album "Risin' With The Blues", Ike Turner's final release that Bill played on won a Grammy for "Best Traditional Blues".
Neil MacPherson holds a degree in piano performance from UNC-Colorado and has performed with John Popper, Marc Ford, Bobby McFerrin and others. He now hails from Santa Cruz, CA and is active in the bay area jazz scene.
The music is formed as such- Relying upon nearly 40 years experience of drumming, Bill records a "nonexistent song" . Vis-a-vis he sits down, plays through a "form" extemporaneously (like, whatever falls out of the brain at that moment in time) then pipes it to Neil, after which a melody and hook are created. Any "mistakes" by BR are navigated by Neil musically and the whole thing gets mixed down into what you hear.
While this project is "internet only" at the present moment, the possibility of live dates is a very stark reality, so keep your eyes peeled for the random show here & there.
Greetings fellow human... Soundin good. But then again im always a sucker for the old Hammond B3, Rhodes and Moogish sounds being used for funky jazz weirdness...
..
