The Jaguars are a blues band based out of northeast Connecticut and Rhode Island. All the members are seasoned musicians with a love of the blues that really shows in their music. The band shows their diversity for all things blue by covering west coast swing, Chicago blues, Texas-style blues, rockabilly, and a little bit of soul.
In the interminable words of Stu, our bassist:
In the year 1950, my dad got horny; to make a long story short, here I am! Now let's jump ahead to puberty! It was 1965, almost the summer of love. While recording a friend's band, I became enraptured with the sound and groove of the bass guitar. Unfortunately for all my past and future band mates, I started playing the bass and was in my first band six months later. Since then, I have been playing steadily in all sorts of settings from hard rock, soft rock, blues, country, wedding bands, blues, bluegrass, blues, jazz, fusion, blues and anything else I could get into. Once the summer of love hit the east coast, I played a lot, both part time and full time, although most of it is a blur. It appears that the summer of love lasted for over 20 years, and then sobriety hit. What a rush! I continued playing, only now I could remember it—OK, some of it. I hope that you enjoy the band as much as I do. Let's all keep the blues alive, it has soul.
Stephen says:
I was exposed to all kinds of music from when I was itty-bitty. My first guitar "hero" was Roy Clark. Under the Hee-Haw schtick is a true virtuoso. My pivotal guitar moment, though, was seeing B.B. King on TV. I'd never seen or heard anything like it, and I was instantly hooked on the blues. I bugged my folks for a guitar nonstop until they finally gave in. I got a guitar when I was 14, and I ain't never looked back. Probably my biggest blues influences are Ronnie Earl, Albert Collins, B.B., Albert, and Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. I took a break from playing in bands for awhile to become a professional drinker, but since I got sober, I have spent time playing with a few local blues bands. These days, I split my playing time between The Jaguars and The Phantoms . I believe this here band has so much to offer, and I love playing with these cats. I hope y'all dig the music as much as I do playing it.
Drummer John Souza, keeping the beat with his hands and his feet. John, aka Big John Rage and John Rage adds a touch of funk and New Orleans second line flavor to the group. John has toured with numerous recording artists, including Patti LaBelle, Jeffrey Osborne, Tavares, BJ Thomas, and Johnny Winter, to name a few. He continually strives to help the Jaguars "own" whatever song they are playing, through his innovative beats and perspective.
To book The Jaguars for your club, bar, or party, contact either Mike at music4sparky at sbglobal dot net or (860) 680-1218 or Stephen at bluesrider99 at yahoo dot com or (860) 639-8174.
