Bianca Grooves with Sammy Wags
Funkified covers and groovy originals that blend jazz, funk, sultry blues and smooth soul that keep your head bopping and your booty shaking!
Bianca Grooves:Do what you love, love what you do – this has always been her motto. Music is her greatest love and the one constant through a life that has included various reincarnations as an astrophysicist, project manager, wife, mother, fundraiser, belly dance teacher, and now performer, writer, and producer. This variety has influenced and shaped Bianca Grooves – a dynamic blend of deep funk, sultry blues, smooth soul, and jazzy neo-soul. Originally steeped in the jazz world, once she started writing, recording, and producing original music, she never stopped. She loves all music and draws inspiration from an eclectic mix of songs and sounds from all decades. The minimalistic jazz sounds of Miles Davis in the ’50s, the bluesy, soul-stirring lyrics of Nina Simone in the ’60s, the funky rhythms of ’70s idols Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder, the ’80s beat-driven hip-hop like RUN-DMC and Salt-N-Pepa, the ’90s blend of hip-hop and jazz groove of Mos Def, and all of the pop influences of the 2000s – it’s all fair game and part of her playground of inspiration.
Sammy Wags: Steadily making his mark as a leader, and a unique voice in modern World/Jazz/Groove based music, there is a remarkable diversity in his offerings to the current creative musical landscape. He is the Composer/Producer/Drummer of the critically acclaimed Afrobeat/Jazz group; The Brighton Beat, the Composer/Producer/Keyboardist for the modern Soul/Funk quartet; Mr. Clifford and leads an ever-evolving group under his own name in which he performs on a hybrid Guitar/Bass instrument of his own creation.
An accomplished educator, with roots in the Hudson Valley, Sam has a passion for music education, and has extensive experience working with students of all ages. Both alone, and with a variety of ensembles he has given clinics, workshops, and master-classes on rhythm, improvisation, creativity, composition and Jazz history.
