FL
Worldwide Zoo is an electrifying Tampa Bay trio that combine sounds as if it were alchemy. Some jazz, a little latin, lot's of funk, a pinch of space, with blends of world beat and rock. The band was founded in April 2005 by Michael Zabrek(keys) and Santiago Rodriguez(bass) after being asked to play a show in Gainesville, Fl at a bar called the Shamrock. Then known as "Schiavo", they played an energy filled set of songs titled "Schiavo" for a very accepting and forgiving crowd. This sparked the fire and an experiment known as Worldwide Zoo emerged. 25 more shows were played in the first year throughout the Tampa-St Pete. area including a win at a battle of the bands, "based on talent" at the Orpheum, and they're own 15+ act "Zoo Fest" which was held at The Bank in St. Petersburg. In Jan. 2006 the Zoo met drummer Jason Stander and the trio was formed. Switching to live drums gave them the freedom to improvise in a new way. Since then they've done 60+ performances and show no sign of stopping. They've packed houses in Tampa, Gainesville, St. Petersburg, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs, even a music festival in Brooksville. Many of their shows have been featured in local scenester rags and the Tampa Tribune decided to do a feature article based on their day to day lives. All have found different things to say about the sound: "Attention-grabbing, jazzy-funky and eclectic as all get out, Worldwide Zoo doesn't cage up its creative beasts, it loads 'em up on a party-cruise ark and floats them ingeniously into your psyche.", "Worldwide Zoo is more of a stylistic salad, a crunchy toss of world beat, folk, rock and jazz."-Julie Garisto(Tampa Bay Times/St. Pete Times) "Sophisticated, jam-intensive brand of funk/jazz...", "Fusing elements of jazz, funk, jam oriented rock and what we will simply call experimental, local organ trio Worldwide Zoo offer forward-thinking sonic explorations that mesmerize....WWZ plays with a sense of purpose, taking the listener around unexpected turns that prove both surprising and pleasing.", "a spacey brand of funk-jazz that's by turns propulsive and exploratory."-Wade Tangelo(Creative Loafing Magazine) "Like George Duke, early Santana (sans Carlos), Herbie Hancock, late Mothers of Invention/Beefheart, maybe some Bernie Worrell and Stevie Wonder. The rhythm section wore huge boots made of bloody granite."-Otolathe "Very now. Crisp. Lots of tinsel. A grooovifonic sound explosion. I dig the vibe. Keep it vague you barbarian freak masters!"-Rob the Canadian "Mix up some traditional jazz, acid jazz and some funk, and you've got a good idea of the sounds. Killer jazz drum solos, Rhodes keys and some crazy bass lines."-Dave Sammon
Bahamas Junkanoo Revue is one of Miami's most famous junkanoo groups. Formed in 1993 as an offshoot of Miami's first formally organized group, the legendary Sunshine Junkanoo Band formed in 1957. Junkanoo has its roots in the Christmas season celebrations held in the Bahamas during the pre-emancipation era. Once practiced in many areas of the Caribbean basin, the practice went into decline after slavery was abolished. It is now only in the Bahamas that the tradition continues in a spectacular annual festival of national significance. Junkanoo has evolved into a highly organized parade with elaborately costumed groups that compete for the prizes awarded in different categories. The highly spirited performances feature rich, finely crafted costumes and dance-like body movements accompanied by vibrant, percussive music. Traditional instruments of Junkanoo include whistles, bells and the goatskin-covered goombay drum which is suspended around the neck and played with both hands, with the recent addition of brass instruments such as trumpets, trombones and sousaphones. The 15-piece Bahamas Junkanoo Revue will lead parades and stage impromptu performances throughout the festival site.
Lou Gramm (born Louis A. Grammatico on May 2, 1950 in Rochester, New York) is an American rock vocalist and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist for the rock band Foreigner for over 27 years and also had a successful solo career. Lou is now recording and touring with the Lou Gramm Band. Gramm began his musical career in his mid-teens, playing in local Rochester bands, including St. James Infirmary (later The Infirmary), and PHFFT. He later sang harmony vocals in another local band, Poor Heart; then went on to sing and play drums, and to eventually become frontman for the band Black Sheep. Black Sheep had the distinction of being the first American band signed to the Chrysalis label, which released their first single, "Stick Around" (1973). Soon after this success, Black Sheep signed with Capitol Records, releasing two albums in succession S/T (1974) and Encouraging Words (1975). With his powerful vocals, Lou Grammatico became Lou Gramm as frontman for the band initially known as "Trigger," and later renamed Foreigner and became one of the most successful rock vocalists of the late 1970s and 1980s. Gramm was the lead vocalist on many of Foreigner’s hit songs, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Urgent", "Double Vision", "Juke Box Hero", "Head Games", "Dirty White Boy" and "Say You Will". The band achieved two of its biggest hits with the ballads "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at 2 on the 1981 American singles charts, and "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a number 1 hit internationally in 1984. In 1987 Gramm released his first solo album, Ready or Not, which received critical acclaim and contained a top five hit single with "Midnight Blue". This was followed by a late 1987 Foreigner album Inside Information and, eventually, a second solo effort, Long Hard Look, that included the top ten hit, "Just Between You and Me", and "True Blue Love", which reached the Top 40. Gramm also performed the title song from the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, titled "Lost in the Shadows." Shadow King was another of Lou’s projects which released its self-titled album on the Atlantic label in 1991. It remains a cult classic among hard rock and heavy metal fans worldwide. With its evocative hooks and melodies, outstanding keyboards and guitars, and the ever powerful vocals of Lou Gramm, it is truly one of the best hard rock releases of the 90s. Gramm returned to Foreigner in 1992 to record three new songs for the compilation, The Very Best of ... and Beyond, bringing a new energy back into the mix. In 1994, the group released the album Mr. Moonlight on the Rhythm Safari label. In April 1997, two months after providing vocals for Christian rock band Petra’s Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, and on the eve Foreigner was to leave for a Japan tour, Gramm was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Surgery was successful and Lou continued to tour with Foreigner until late 2002. In 2003, Gramm once again split from Foreigner to rejuvenate his solo career. Following the death of both his father and mother, Bennie and Nikki Grammatico (he a trumpeter and bandleader, she a singer for his Big Band, The Gateswingers), Gramm fulfilled a lifelong wish of his parents that their three musical sons might someday make their music together. Gramm and his brothers, Ben and Richard, formed the current lineup of the Lou Gramm Band (also known as "LGB"). The band has been touring the U.S., Canada, and Mexico steadily since January 2004, as well as occasional dates off the continent...and the touring continues. Lou, Ben, and Richard, with friends Don Mancuso and Andy Knoll, play a retrospective of Gramm’s work with Foreigner, his solo material, plus a few personal favorites of their own. In addition, the band has taken on Christian rock. The Lou Gramm Band will soon release a Christian rock album, which is currently in production, on the Spectra label.