wide range of jazz styles that can fit into a variety
of venues. With a wide repertoire that ranges
from straight-ahead bebop, to acoustic-oriented
Brazilian compositions with acoustic bass,
acoustic guitar and percussion, to acid jazz/funk,
they can easily fit into an intimate club setting, a
large outdoor concert or pretty much anything in
between. The band?s instrumentation includes
trombone, fretless and acoustic bass, electric and
acoustic guitar, percussion, drums as well as
acoustic piano augmented with synthesizer which
allows them to perform with a variety of different
feels and sounds to keep the music interesting and
entertaining.
Randy Whiting and guitarist Lee Donnelly to solo
over. Other songs that are performed by the
band include Blue & Brown by Pancho Sanchez,
Claudia by Irakere, Povo by Freddy Hubbard,
and the bluesy Willow Weep for Me. The band
also stretches out on a number of traditional
shuffles such as Mercy-Mercy-Mercy, Sugar, and
Union Pacific.
current form since 1998. The members of the
band include: Martin Manley on piano and
keyboards, Lee Donnelly on guitar and vocals,
Jim Guetzkow on trombone and percussion,
Grant Smith on drums and percussion, and
Randy Whiting on bass.
original songs composed and arranged by band
members. These include a number of selections
off of the band?s first CD -- About Time. Their
original compositions are much like their
arrangements of traditional tunes varied and fun.
They include Fat Cat Blues, a 6/8 version of the
traditional jazz blues which features Martin
Manley on acoustic piano, the funky Here's to
Horace done as a tribute to the great Horace
Silver, and Lucy Leaps In, a bouncy swing tune
that features trombonist, Jim Guetzkow.
Over the last few years, the band has performed
for a number of corporate and private events in
addition to dates at the Mountain Winery
Capital Club, the POPS
2000 Jazz Festival in
Woodside, and various
art festivals in the bay
area. They recorded
their first CD in the
spring of 2000 at Prairie
Sun Studios in Cotati,
California.
including bebop, cool, fusion, Latin and acid jazz.
Many of the tunes have been rearranged by the
band to create their own unique sound. For
example, the classic "Yesterdays" has been
redone by the band in a modern cool funk
approach that maintains the lyrical feel of the
original while the rhythm section lays down a
funky, almost reggae, groove. Another unique
approach is their rendition of the classic Miles
Davis "So What." They have taken this classic
cool song and gone up-tempo to create an urban
acid jazz
jazz@brownstone-ventures.com
or call 408.772.2428
