Blues Kitchen
My latest project is a band called Nancy’s Blues Kitchen. We are cooking up some really great rhythm and blues. The Blues Kitchen project is a way for me to get back to my blues roots and pay homage to some of the great blues players who inspired me over the years. We have written a bunch of new songs that are soon to be blues standard (jk) and we also cover some of our greatest inspirations such as SRV, Jimi, and of course the man himself, BB. Here are some of the key ingredients we are cooking with.
Nancy
Vocals and Guitar
I’ve been a professional musician for 30 years playing and singing rhythm and blues, jazz, rock and country and touring and recording with many Bay Area bands. I was the lead guitarist with the Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, (13 Souls Out Of Control/Hubbub Records) a premiere (I think) R&B band out of San Francisco. I’ve had the chance to rock on stage with such Bay Area greats as the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Chris Isaak, and Big Brother and the Holding Company, and opening for such acts as Huey Lewis, Joe Cocker and Elvin Bishop. The Blues Kitchen is another way for me to express my blues roots and rock the house.
Jan Martinelli
Bass Guitar
Jan is a native of the SF Bay Area and has been playing in local bands for the past 25 years. Although she started playing and studying piano and guitar at age 7 it was at age 13 that she discovered the bass and never looked back. She played with the Wild Mangos until a couple years ago and has appeared on more than two dozen albums and has worked with Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Terry Garthwaite, Robin Flower, and the Blazing Redheads. You may have seen Jan over the years at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, or maybe at the Bottom Line (NYC-opening for Jeff Lorber).
Brad Catania
Horns
Brad Catania (Lead Trumpet and Arranger) hails from Chicago and started playing in 1977 free-lancing with big bands, show bands, and Elvis shows. On scholarship at Georgia Southern (where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance) he often played lead trumpet at Hilton Head South Carolina with such greats as Bob Hope, Jack Jones, Frankie Avalon and Buddy Greco. Since moving to the Bay Area, Brad became a regular at the Venetian Room and the Circle Star Theater performing with James Brown, Lou Rawls, Mel Torme’, Patti LaBelle, The Temptations, the Four Tops, Frankie Vali, Rosemary Clooney and others. He has played with Full Faith and Credit, Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, Dick Bright’s Orchestra, and Harry Denton’s Starlight Orchestra.
Brad currently leads Apollo, a popular Bay Area society band, with his guitarist wife, Nancy. He also works as a sideman for such groups as the Fundamentals and Aja Vu, a Steely Dan tribute band. Brad’s trumpet and flugelhorn expertise is of the old school, refined and classy, yet his sound is fresh and original. As a member of Centerville Presbyterian Church in Fremont, he is a regular featured performer in their renowned annual Christmas concerts. Brad is undoubtedly one of the Bay Area’s best lead trumpet players who is always in demand.
Guido Fazio
Sax
Guido is a San Francisco Bay Area native and has played professionally since 1968. He studied music at San Jose State University and with prominent teachers locally on tenor sax, woodwinds, and composition. He teaches privately full time on Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute and performs regularly throughout the San Francisco bay area. He has recorded with various artists and styles including horn arrangements for Christian Gospel artists. Along with composing and arranging for big band, he has backed celebrities and jazz artists such as Mel Torme, Steve Allen, Phyliss Diller, Sarah Vaughn, Patsy Cline, Rich Little, Wayne Newton, Raphael Mendez, Phil Woods, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Poncho Sanchez, Gordon Goodwin, Ledisi and The Temptations.
Guido has co-authored a book with the late jazz guitarist, Warren Nunes, on jazz improvisation technique and, is continuing a series of books on improvisation and, conducting clinics at music camps, high school and collegiate jazz festivals
Kendrick Freeman
Percussion
Kendrick’s continuing study of the drums has resulted in a versatility that crosses borders. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1974 he has crossed paths with a broad range of music. Originally a drumset player, Kendrick encountered African music in 1976, and started an association with handdrumming that continues today. He has studied and performed with artists from Congo, Ghana, Brasil, Haiti and the Caribbean. He worked for five years with San Francisco’s premiere Haitian dance company Group Petit La Croix, and maintains a connection to Haitian culture in New York City. With this background he continues to develop a voice on the drums where rhythmic and melodic material is blended, and traditional percussion parts inform his musical conversation. As an American drumset artist, Kendrick’s early influences included study with the great Bay Area drummers Eddie Moore and George Marsh. The work ethic of these mentors has led to a life of passionate exploration of music and drumming. He has been a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient in Jazz Studies.
A glance at some of Kendrick’s recorded work provides an idea of his range: Michael Barclay and Nancy Catania (blues), Rob Ickes, Alison Brown, Stevie Coyle, John Salz, Holly Near (Americana), Tony D’Anna, Kit Walker, The Big Trio (jazz), Groundation (world beat/reggae). His own recording, ‘Intangibles’, is due out in 2010, as well as work with the Pakistani singer Sukhawat Ali Khan. Kendrick has been a member of the Joe Craven Trio since 1996.
Sarah Baker
Keyboards
Sarah Baker comes from a long tradition of Americana music. Born near Memphis, Tennessee to a musical family, her southern musical roots run deep, beginning with her father, a gospel singer, whom she accompanied to country church revivals from the age of five. With her extended family, she learned boogie-woogie, and her interests turned to blues, jazz and rock. As a bandleader, songwriter, vocalist, and pianist, she fuses elements of New Orleans traditions, swamp boogie, Memphis blues, and country to create an original, accessible style that resonates with a wide variety of musicians and bands. Dr. Baker (Ph.D) has recorded for London Records and Firenze Records as well as for various compilations. Her bands have appeared with artists such as Lou Rawls, Charles Brown, Etta James, Taj Majal, Charlie Musselwhite, and John Lee Hooker. Presently, she plays keys for Nancy Wenstrom’s Blues Kitchen and teaches at Sonoma State University while continuing her performance practice. For more info on Sarah and to check out some of her recordings visit her my space page at http://www.myspace.com/sarahbakermusic