Willie Waldman Project

Back at the Boom Boom Room: trumpet-driven jazz/funk and hard grooves with the Willie Waldman Project!

Willie Waldman and his trumpet are boldly taking free-form oriented jazz to new heights and foreign lands. His signature "spacelines" can be heard on albums by superstar artists as diverse as Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Jane's Addiction, and Ratdog. Though Waldman comes from a background of Memphis blues and jazz, his relocation to Los Angeles in 1994 led to a series of collaborations and a degree of underground notoriety.

Waldman started his journey in Memphis moonlighting with Herman Green & the Green Machine at Club Handy while studying music at Memphis State. He got his first taste of the road while touring with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King, Joe Cocker and the Robert Cray Band. Willie's next test would be to tackle studio work in the fertile LA jazz scene. Strangely enough, his first studio gigs came from none other than Death Row Records. Waldman can be heard on recordings for Snoop Dog, Tupac Shakur, K Ci & Jo Jo and many other Death Row artists. After just a short time in LA Willie was the most requested brass man in the business. His seasons were including work for the Wu Tang Klan, Sublime and Eastsidaz and he could be found on credits everywhere. His solo projects include the Jane's Addiction "punk funk" sideband Banyan, and his newest jazz-fusion ensemble, the Willie Waldman Project.

The Willie Waldman Project is Willie Waldman (Jane's Addiction, Banyan) on trumpet, Rob Wasserman (Ratdog, Bela Fleck, Davis Grisman) on bass, Woody Aplanalp (Banyan) on guitar, Jim Loughlin (moe.) on vibes, Tony Austin on drums, and the live painting of Nort Wisdom.

Willie Waldman on JamBase | Willie Waldman's official website

Zydeco Flames

NoCal's acclaimed Cajun blues sensations the Zydeco Flames will perform a one-night-only exclusive engagement at the Boom Boom Room!

The Zydeco Flames have rightfully gained a reputation as the West Coast's premiere Zydeco band. Their fourth CD release, Smokin' at The Plant, appeared in stores in 1998, providing fans with hot Zydeco in the tradition of such masters as Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Queen Ida.

The Flames consistently pack the house in venues ranging from contemporary clubs to major festivals to traditional dance halls. Their infectious rhythms and soulful lyrics have recently ignited crowds at such Bay Area clubs as the Boom Boom Room, the Velvet Lounge, and Ashkenaz. Festival appearances include Bill Graham's New Orleans by the Bay, Bumbershoot, the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, and the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. The Flames have made numerous television and music festival appearances, including Bill Graham's New Orleans By The Bay, and have performed for the likes of former president Bill Clinton, Mayor Willie Brown and Senator Barbara Boxer.

The Zydeco Flames began as a duo formed by Bruce Gordon and Lloyd Meadows, performing for events such as Les Blank's documentary release party for J'ai Ete au Bal (I Went to the Dance), held at Arhoolie Records. The current quintet formed some ten years ago, and has played together ever since.

Zydeco Flames on JamBase | Zydeco Flames' official website

Finis Tasby & the Texas Twisters

Southern blues legend Finis Tasby is back in SF with the Texas Twisters blues band at the Boom Boom Room!

Tasby prefers "off-meter stuff, blues with kind of a groove to it." As a songwriter, he says, his goal always is to "try to get one song to hang on for years and years, something that will linger with people." In live performances or on CD, Finis Tasby has a sound that people remember. He shows you a good time, every time.

"Finis Tasby knows his jump - not the synthetic and over produced sound that's becoming all to familiar... This is the stuff: solid blues a.k.a. Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, and Frankie Lee Sims. Tasby's vocals are strong and soulful. Interesting enough, he started out as a bass player with the Thunderbirds. The band dissolved in the late '60s, and a young Jimmie Vaughan created the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Vaughan was a big fan and paid homage. Finis became a weekend musician and auto mechanic. He was also told by a record label representative that he couldn't sing. Finis quit singing for ten years - and what a pity. Well, he's back with a five-star salute from yours truly. Highly recommended."
~ Blues On Stage

"Finis Tasby… has worked with some of the great names in Texas blues - Clarence Carter, Freddie King, Z. Z. Hill and Lowell Fulson, to name a few - before heading west in the '70s. 'Reconsider Baby' is a cover of a Lowell Fulson number with Finis doing ample justice to this wonderful piece. 'Kansas City' gets an updated, if not a somewhat different treatment, to an old favorite, and the original 'Victim Of Circumstances' is a slow smoky ballad of false accusations. Tasby's relaxed, velvety vocals and vibrant delivery make his contributions to this already solid collection a pure delight."
~ Blues Bytes

Finis Tasby on JamBase | Finis Tasby's official website

Swivel Hips Smith

First Boom Boom Room appearance for these Boulder funk-trance favorites, on their first West Coast tour!

Combining elements of rock, funk, jazz, groove and trance, Swivel Hips Smith has an original and exciting sound that slides smoothly from solid grooves to blissful peaks, engaging the audience on an improvisational musical roller coaster with pure, ecstatic energy.

SHS originally formed in the spring of 1998 at Chautauqua Institution, a world-renowned center for the arts in southwestern New York State. The band's first live performance put them in front of a capacity crowd, and from that night on SHS played regularly to full, energetic rooms around the area. With the goal of a musical career and a desire to be near some major mountains, SHS packed its bags in the fall of '98 and moved to the great state of Colorado, settling first in Denver. For the next few years the band began to build a following around the Front Range and throughout the state by regularly visiting ski towns such as Telluride, Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen.

In the summer of 2001 the members of SHS relocated to Boulder to fully immerse themselves in that town's rich musical environment. Since then, SHS performed at Boulder's Fox Theatre supporting Russell Batiste, Jr. (The Funky Meters), Fred Wesley (Mike Clark, JB horns), Merl Saunders (JGB), and Robert Walter's 20th Congress.

Through the group's variety of influences (including Phish, Blues Traveler, John Scofield, Maceo Parker, Led Zeppelin and Thelonius Monk) Swivel Hips Smith has created a sound unique yet familiar to even newcomers. With each member's ear for improvisation, the band's live jamming reflects contemporaries in the jamband scene such as moe., The String Cheese Incident and The Disco Biscuits, among others. Through it all, SHS creatively composes and comprehensively performs, providing each audience with a fresh, enthusiastic experience.

Swivel Hips Smith on JamBase | Swivel Hips Smith's official website