Reflections of Ray

Music:

Member Since: 12/18/2007
Band Members: The Band - Reflections of Ray ------------------------------------------ //Grover Kemble - Vocals, Guitar, Percussion, Leader // // Regan Ryzuk - Piano, Organ, Synth, Vocals, Arranger // // Bob Marks - Guitar, Vocals // // Tim Metz - Upright Bass, Electric Bass, Vocals // // Russ "Styles" DiBona - Percussion, Buckets, No Vocals // // Marty Fogel - Woodwinds, Vocals // // Richadr Reiter - Woodwinds, Vocals and he won an Emmy Award // ------------------------------------------
Influences: This band carries a world of influences but the one common thread through the ensemble is groove. The feel of the music, the soul, the heartbeat is what makes this band different than most. We draw from so many different sectors that it almost defies logic.

Grover Kemble started with his roots in the 50's and grew up on the Brother Ray groove. He first heard Ray at the age of 11 and it was all over but the playing. He eventually went on to tour with Sha-Na-Na, the Everyman Band and went on to develop his own projects including Grover Kemble and Za Zu Zaz and Blow Daddy-O to great acclaim. Grover is not only an amazing musician and guitar player; he is an entertainer in every sense of the word. There is nothing dull in spending an evening with this master. Grover Kemble is a consummate crossover artist and well known interpreter of jazz, Latin, and R&B, Grover Kemble has performed at NYC’s The Bottom Line, The Other End, in the Newport Jazz Festival, at LA’s The Roxy, the Spoleto Arts Festival, Wolf Trap Jazz Festival and at the famous Jazz Keller (Frankfurt, Germany). In addition to his national tours with Sha-na-na, and the band Za Zu Zaz and has played duo and group concerts with John Pizzarelli, including at the 2005 JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall.

Regan Ryzuk was into everything from 60's deep cuts to heavy Be-Bop to hard core classical piano to Broadway. Being from a family of artists, music was just one of the paths that were followed in the New Jersey home were he grew up. With a father that was a recognized commercial artist and cartoonist, and a mother that sings, acts, directs and is a published author, Regan knew at a very young age that music was going to be his to master. He went on to study composition at Manhattan School of Music and Julliard Conservatory as well as studying with some of the greatest jazz pianists in the world. His music can be heard on television, radio and on the stage on virtually every continent in the world. He has written original scores for several of the Brothers Grimm fairy tails and has published several full staged musicals including "Joe's Bar" and the much acclaimed "Jack the Ripper".

Russ "Styles" DiBona is a guy who is truly a drummer’s drummer. Drawing on the traditional percussion influences of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Elvin Jones Louie Belson, Max Roach and the Latin Master, Tito Puente, Styles (which is a nickname he has truly earned), continued into the rock styling of John Bohnam, Ginger Baker and Carmine Apice. From the squarest two beat to the hippest groove, from rock to swing and from country to Latin, he plays it all musically and with the time of a metronome. As a graduate of Burklee College of Music, he has had the privilege of studying with Alan Dawson, Gary Chaffee, Dave Samuals, Gary Burton, Joe Morello and Keith Copeland. Not bad for a little Italian fella from Boston.

Tim Metz comes from a family of musicians and was raised in a world of traditional jazz, swing, dixieland and all things old school. With a father that was, and still is a world class jazz pianist, and a brother who is a world class drummer (he played with Basie...need I say more), Tim had no choice but to play bass and complete the rhythm section. As a kid he has memories of Ray being on the stereo quite a bit. Along with Louis Armstrong, Billy May, Mitch Miller, Al Hirt and many more of the 60's iconic bands and musicians that seemed to fit the "conservative" side of music. When he started playing it was the Beatles, The Monkeys, Chicago, and a lot of Motown (Being he was in Ann Arbor, MI). He got serious about playing in college and started seeking out gigs on his own, away from the family environment. He has been featured at jazz festivals around the country including; Monterey CA, Fresno CA, Mamouth Lakes CA, Sisters OR, Davenport IA, Madison WI, Pocono PA, Dekator IL, Detroit MI and many more. He has also had the privilage of performing in Carnegie Hall with Connie Francis. From Show Tunes to Country & Western to Rock and Roll and all things Jazz, Jump and Swing he has taught himself to play with a groove and a feel rarely found in today’s bass players.

Richard Reiter is a nationally acclaimed jazz performer and composer whose music has also reached international audiences. He improvises exciting solos that are emotional, adventuresome and thoughtfully structured. The four CDs by his contemporary jazz group received rave reviews and steady national airplay. The fourth CD "I Hear Africa" and the recording "Swing This!" by The Richard Reiter Swing Band are both on Reiter's label City Pigeon Records, as is his latest CD "Live at China Gourmet." Of Reiter's playing, Bill Milkowski wrote in Downbeat: "Richard Reiter has forged an expressive and personal sound." George Kanzler wrote in the Newark Star Ledger: "Reiter is a resourceful soloist who composes exceptionally melodic compositions."He was on-stage soloist in Bob Fosse's Broadway musical "Dancin'" (performing Benny Goodman's clarinet solo from "Sing Sing Sing") and backup for such notables as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett (playing the "jazz tenor sax" chair), Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, Linda Hopkins, Temptations and Supremes. Reiter has recorded with such artists as Marshall Hawkins, Buck Hill, Jimmy Hopps, Stan Rubin, Joe Carson and Mother Scott.In 1979 Reiter received an EMMY Award for Best Musical Score for an Independent Production for his music to "Generation on the Wind," an Academy Award nominated feature documentary. In recognition of his talent, and with a support letter from legendary jazz artist Sonny Rollins, he has been awarded three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Reiter is listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Entertainment."

Sorry...I am out of time...more to come! ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------
Sounds Like: This band sounds like no other band around. Although we are a "Tribute" band, we make no attempt to imitate or replicate the Ray Charles Experience. We play the songs of Brother Ray in our own style, format and within our own arrangements. The band also puts forth its own interpretation on music by the Beatles, Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkle, many Motown Artists and much, much more. The band is something that must be experienced live!

Type of Label: Major