Lineup

The Big in China band, fronted by Allman Brothers’ biographer Alan Paul will pay tribute to the  ALLMAN BROTHERS band  with this special event.  The Big in China band is excited to announce this show with a very special guest – Mr. Junior Mack. Junior is the singer and guitarist in the wonderful Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band featuring founding Allman Brothers Band member Jaimoe. He is also in the excellent Heritage Blues Orchestra, has been a longtime NYC fixture and was a very regular Allman Brothers guest.  Big in China is comprised of four longtime Maplewood residents:  Alan Paul, Rick Wagner, Jonathan Kampner and David Gomberg.

Brothers in every sense of the word.  Recent Berklee College graduate and guitar prodigy PJ Brutzman and his older brother Brian have been making music together since they were children.  In the last several years they have forged a family and musical collective with drummer Sheldon Goode Jr., Tevin Palarche (bass), Jaxon Gruber (keyboards) and Darian Bravo (saxophone and bass).  Though its members have opened for and worked with some of the biggest names in the music business, Blue Tropic Soul is what they keep coming back to.  Fun, friendship and love for the project continue to be at its core allows its members to pick up and come back whenever the time is right.   Though other bands with such virtuosity have proven esoteric at best and unpalatable at worst, Blue Tropic Soul penetrates the noise with fresh, original songwriting and a cohesion unheard in even the hippest corners of New York City.  Always soulful and dripping with bluesy swag, Blue Tropic Soul has musical history on its back and doesn’t hesitate to move forward.

Digging deep into the soulful grooves dug by O.V. Wright and Wilson Pickett, the funky moves of James Brown and Maceo Parker, the old school cool of the Meters and The Neville Brothers, and the feel-good fuel of the Crescent City itself, the Soul Project brings New Orleans soul with them wherever they go. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, this group described as a “…hip group with horns…” spent 7 months building a following on the Jersey Shore and Tri-State area before returning to New Orleans to help and be part of the rebuilding process. They are planning to split their time between the two places and keep playing to as many people as they can while spreading the New Orleans culture and music wherever they can.  Currently, the band is deeply rooted in the local New Orleans music scene. From Tipitina’s to Frenchmen Street, crowds amass for serious dancing and grooving. It’s always a party when the deep bass and drum pocket and bright horn, organ and guitar melodies shimmer on top.

Regina Bonelli – Inspired by early Blues and R&B legends of the 60’s and 70’s, Regina began singing and playing piano at the tender age of five. Ten years later, after picking up a guitar, she was performing. Life and love gave Regina more than enough inspiration to sing the blues. She has written the songs, both music & lyrics, on her stunning debut recording “Open Up the Door.”  World-acclaimed bluesman Michael Hill produced and plays on the record, along with some of the country’s premier musicians. Regina’s scorching vocals, songwriting and keyboard playing are garnering worldwide attention.

Mike Griot – Raised in Orange, NJ MIKE GRIOT (pronounced “gree-oh”) grew up musically bombarded by many influences. A snap decision at age 8 started him on classical cello; this turned quickly into regular recitals and concerts by age 9 throughout NJ. As a teenager, he listened intently to records by the Isleys, Chicago, Parliament and Earth Wind & Fire. A 7th chair All-New Jersey cellist by age 13, Griot formed a neighborhood funk band, and began what would become a career-long vocation as a musical director. By high school graduation, he was playing tuba in the concert band, trombone and electric bass in the stage band, and sousaphone in the marching band. Griot’s professional career as a working musician began in college at Howard University, and he quickly found himself an “in-demand” live & session musician in the DC area. Now a full-time “bassist-student”, Griot began performing and touring while completing his undergraduate studies. After graduation, Griot returned to Jersey and expanded even further…eventually signing a publishing deal with MOTOWN RECORDS, and beginning his production company – PWI ENTERTAINMENT. The work did not slow down, however; his performance credits include a who’s who of extraordinary artists: COMMON/CARTER BEAUFORD (Dave Mathews Band)/russell gunn/guru of gangstarr/harold melvin/omar (lyefooke)/lauryn hill/michael hill/ mt hubert sumlin/stacy lattisaw/sue foley/n’dea davenport/bobbi humphrey/angie stone/

Ty Stephens & (the) SoulJaazz have gained international recognition and fan support through live performances, media interviews, and radio airplay.

Ty Stephens  – Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ty Stephens is an award-winning singer/songwriter, entertainer and recording artist (Grand Prize Winner Jazzmobile/Anheuser-Busch Solo Jazz Vocalist Competition, NYC, 2006, and First Place Winner R&B/Blues Category of the International Songwriting Competition 2002 for “Somethin’ Strange”), co-writer and original cast of “From My Hometown,” co-writer/production, choreographer and star of the long-running “Shades Of Harlem” revue show, and co-writer/production, choreographer and currently starring in the new off-Broadway hit “On Kentucky Avenue” (Songbirds Unlimited Productions/StepForward Entertainment).

He has appeared on Broadway in the original productions of “Sophisticated Ladies” and “Marilyn, An American Fable”. He has recorded with industry legends Harry Belafonte, Peggi Lee, dance music icon Dan Hartmann, disco pioneer Nile Rogers (“Beevis & Butthead”), master drummer Baba Olatunji, renowned trumpeter Chuck Mangione, singer Gwen McCrae, Def Jam premier artist Alyson Williams, among others.

Richard Cummings, Jr. – Composer/Arranger/Conductor Richard Cummings, Jr., on piano, was musical director for the legendary Harry Belafonte for nearly two decades, and has performed and recorded with Mr. Belafonte, as well as Diane Reeves, Letta Mbulu, Hugh Masakela, Wayne Shorter, Zubin Meta, Georges C. Wolfe, Sherry Winston, Iyanla Vanzant and the great Jon Lucien, among others. Mr. Cummings is co-Producer of Ty’s pending jazz CD project “Sentimental”.