4 players - Baker, Burns, Prester, Strum (* Njoroge was initial bassist)
Darryl was born in the midwest and is a self taught drummer who started playing at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing and playing since. Darryl’s background in music is all about progress and the desire to play all the songs he loves. His performance resume includes numerous projects, including sit-ins with the Goshorn Brothers in Cincinnati,OH, and The Noodles, HUE, The Hammertoes, RUN, and The Dark Knights in Tempe, AZ. Now relocated to New York City he has been in weekly showcases at American Trash with Justin Jordan playing with Uncle Carl Vreeland, Paul Page, and Steve Holley to name a few. Darryl has played in two off broadway musicals The Killer News (music director, Mikel Prester), and The Lady and the Ladle in 2005 (music director, Marc Trachtenberg). His band resume in NYC includes, The Meathookers, Elevator, Seryn, and currently, Juneteenth, Blues for Challah, and The Dirty Boogaloo. Darryl is establishing himself as one of the most diverse and useful musicians in the business with a dynamic style that is unique and remarkable. Darryl looks forward to adding many of his theatrical compositions to Blaakkgodd.
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_________________________Michael Sterling Burns has been playing bass since 1989, when a knee injury ended a promising basketball career (yeah, right!). His influences span all
genre of music, from Fishbone and Fugazi and Bad Brains, to BDP and Public Enemy, to New Order and My Bloody Valentine, Herbie Hancock, The Weather Report, Prince and John Coltrane. Michael has been involved in projects with a variety of artists including: John Legend (reining king of neo-soul), Imani Coppola(alterna pop diva), Martin Luther (underground soul brother ..1), Chocolate Genius(Poetry lives in him), Tamar Kali (Black is as Black does), Shaka Zulu Overdrive(post traumatic slave disorder gets up off the couch), and d'flo (the cornerstone of Bleecker St. improv groove). Michael's main bass is a 1994 Fender Jazz fretless(Japan) with some kind of flatwound string, the Digitech BP8 Bass effects processor, and a broken down Hartke 1410 Combo amp. It is with much pleasure and delight that he holds down the bottom in Blakkgodd.
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_____________________________Born in Philadelphia and raised in Meadville, Pa., Mr.Prester has had a love affair with music since the early age of 8. His musical roots are deeply planted in Blues and Gospel music, via Dutches Overton at Bethel A.M.E. church. Mikel's talent was then fostered and cultivated by his vocal and band teachers, MaryLynne Peters and Scott Cressley. Mr. Prester was then guided even further in the world of Jazz by his mentor, Floyd A. Williams, who played with legends such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Mikel has been a saxophonist and musician for nearly 25 years. In 1991 earned his Bachelor's degree in Music at the University of the Arts . While there, Mikel's top teachers were Ron Kerber and Greg Osby. Mr. Prester has performed with world class talent such as the Vienna, Harlem and American Boy's Choir, Walter Blanding Jr., and Wynton Marsalis. He moved to NY in 1998 where he has been an educator and performer ever since. He has performed for large companies such as Hennesey while in NY and has led several ensembles. He currently resides in Brooklyn and performs with Jsan and the Analog Sons and his own band D'flo. Mikel Prester is well on his way to becoming one of the New Masters of Jazz.
"Mikel, you have a natural and great capacity for making music."
-Ron Kerber, sax teacher at the Philadelphia College of Performing arts, University of the Arts.
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_____________________________They say that variety is the spice of life, and for Adam Strum, fledgling musician, the maxim is wrought with more than its share of truth. Born to Bruce and Ronnie Strum, young Adam could not seem to escape the inevitable foreshadowing of the family’s surname - in 1982, at the tender age of 6, he picked up a guitar for the first time, putting it down only briefly in the 20 years since. Graduating from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production and Engineering, Adam Strum plays a unique mix of funk-tinged blues, 70’s-inspired lounge rock, and roots-of-acid-jazz-induced compositions. His arrangements vary from slower-burning guitar grooves, heavy with spacey electric piano, to straight-ahead funk jams, peppered with slap bass and textured with the occasional 5/4 time signature. Not surprisingly, Adam’s influences are equally diverse, ranging from the iconoclastic psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead, to the subtler virtuosity of Frank Zappa and Grant Green. Most recently, Adam has shown his versatility by delving into the pop world, gigging and/or recording with Pink, Angie Stone, N'Dea Davenport (formerly of Brand New Heavies), grammy-nominated Jeni Fujita (sang with Wyclef Jean), Ultra Nate, and others.
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