THUMP
Over the last 40 years the San Francisco Bay Area has been a musical evolutionary pool that has given rise to such super groups as Santana, Tower of Power, Cold Blood, Yellowjackets, Alphabet Soup, Zero, and TJ Kirk. From this creative force a new sound is being forged by THUMP. Each of its members brings a genre of style and influence to create music that is uniquely his own. The result is music with harmonic interest and infectious groove.
Drummer, Mark Bernfield, a Bay Area native, has performed and/or recorded with John Vanderslice, Mark Karan (The Other Ones/Ratdog), Rich McCulley, Laughingstock, Adam Levy (Norah Jones), Noe Venable, Will Bernard (TJ Kirk, Motherbug), Michael LaMacchia, Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco), Flowtilla, Jill Knight, Caroline Aiken, and many others. He has toured extensively and has played at most major Bay Area venues including Slim's, The Great American Music Hall, Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord, Bruno's, Sweetwater, The Boom Boom Room, and Freight and Salvage. Mark has studied drums locally with Peter Magadini, Robert Kaufman, and Scott Amendola, and at the Berklee College of Music with Joe Hunt and Ed Kaspik. In addition to an active drum teaching practice, Mark is also the Music Director of East Bay Harmony, an Oakland-based community chorus.
Bassist, Edo Castro, is a SF Bay Area native who grew up in The Haight-Ashbury during the 60’s. “ I was influenced by Sly Stone, Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and Santana. There was so much music going on, it was practically oozing out into the neighborhood. You couldn’t help not being affected.†He was initially a self-taught bassist, but he later attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. “ My Teachers were not only schooling me, they’d recommend me for gigs." During his stay in Chicago he played with some of the finest young bloods of the music scene at that time: Jim Trumpeter, Fareed Haque, Mark Walker and Hassan Khan. Of course there were the jazz icons, Miles Davis guitarist, Pete Cosey, and drummer, Roy Haynes, with whom Edo was fortunate enough to play. "After playing a set with Roy Haynes, there were a bunch of us standing around talking to him and out of the blue Roy handed me his card and said, 'Man when you’re ready, come to New York and give me a call.' That was the greatest stamp of approval in front of all my peers. I’ve yet to get to New York and collect on that call.†He completed his studies, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1987, and continued to hone his craft in Chicago. Since his return to the Bay Area, Edo has put his signature on 18 albums by various local artists around the SF Bay Area, including Jill Knight, Eva Jay Fortune, Deborah Pardes, and Percy Howard.
Guitarist/Synthesist/Songwriter, Chris Stafford, has been in the background of the Bay Area music scene for over ten years writing and producing. He trained formally for four years with the head of the guitar department at the University of Pittsburgh, one year with the head of the jazz department at Duquesne University, and five more years with some of the top jazz players in the country. He has been a member of the West Coast Songwriters Association since 1997 and has placed songs in TV and independent film. He co-wrote and produced the CD, “Strip Mall Beauties,†available at Amazon.com, as well as his own solo CD entitled “Trip to Neptune,†available on HYPERLINK "http://www.cdbaby.com/" www.cdbaby.com and Amazon.com. While living back East, Chris performed with a variety of seasoned New York jazz musicians, such as Red Rodney, Tito Puente, and John Defrancesco. More contemporary musicians included Alex Daque (Florida keyboardist with Jaco Pastorius), trumpeter Ira Sullivan, and keyboardist Scott Holman. Bay Area musicians who have recorded with him include Frank Martin, Mark VanWageningen, Paul VanWageningen, and Dolly Rappaport.
Guitarist Richard Gee was born and raised in San Francisco. His style of playing is heavily influenced by the 70's and 80's "San Francisco Music Scene." The sound is funky and soulful, paying tribute to bands like Tower Of Power and Cold Blood from the 70's. His solos pay homage to classic blues/rock guitarists like Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton. Richard has been gigging in the San Francisco Bay Area for a number of years, and he can be found frequently in and around the blues clubs in North Beach. He has shared the stage with notable local blues artists Johnny Nitro, Daniel Castro, and Freddie Roullette. Past and current projects include The Eva Jay Fortune Band, Thump, Soul Patrol, Pack of Blues, and Leela
Percussionist, Henry Hernandez, was born in Lodi, California and presently resides in Petaluma. Henry has performed with smooth jazz recording artist, Slimman, and has played an array of music from rock to salsa. Currently he is performing with Batacha, a Sonoma County based salsa band. Henry has twenty plus years experience with the conga drums and various hand percussion instruments.
