GOOD TIMES!
Exciting times hear in the Groove Jones camp. A few personnel changes… a lot less drama, HAPPY PEOPLE EVERYWHEREJ). First, we parted ways with Ian Ashanti. It seems his growing family made the demands of being in a band… uhhh, not very practical. We understood, and we wish he and his family success, health and happiness.
As many of you know, Jose Johnson (our trumpet player) has been recovering from cancer. The good news is, his surgery was a success. What's more, Jose made the step up from trumpet backup man to lead singer, instigator, trumpet-god. Honestly, I couldn't be happier. WE couldn't be happier. Jose was the leader, lead singer, and trumpet man for Life On Mercury (who I played with both as a bass player and guitar player). We had pretty good songwriting partnership going… and creating new funk is important to us, so the partership is a good thing. Last, but certainly not least… Jose's the coolest guy I know (Mike Burton, a very close second), and anything he invests his energy toward is better because of his contributions.
Recording, we're back in the studio…. more on this later.
Ralph Real… he talks of a funk mob that MUST be assembled. This area NEEDS it, the musicians NEED it!!! FUNKATEERS UNITE!! In this spirit, we're doing some very special gigs with an extended FUNK MOB... area local musicians who we love. First is the very talented and beautiful Amaryllis Santiago (R&B/Jazz/Latin songstress),who will be the featured guest on more than a few gigs in the coming months. We're excited!!!. In addition, Michael Burton will be on hand for an unknown amount of gigs. Michael is probably the best funk guitar players/vocalist/instigators I've had the privilege of playing with. And he's anti-drama. AND RALPH REAL, I don't know…. but something cool HAS to happen with GJ and Ralph. He's the real deal…literally... check him out!
Exciting Times!!
Rod/Groove Jones