| THE DUO In February 1998 at a Blues Jam session, destiny brought together two musicians who were searching for new ways of fusing Blues with Jazz, Hip-Hop and even House Music - a potent cocktail of styles - in fact, Blues for the 21st Century! As a result, Dr Ika joined Grapevine Blues. In November 1998 the first album 'Neo Blues' was born. This album contains not only original material, such as the darkly humorous and semi auto-biographical 'Immigration Blues', but also an outrageous arrangement of 'Cross Roads Blues' that would make Robert Johnson spin in his grave. Also included are other favourite Blues standards done in Grapevine's unique style. Dr.Ika (pronounced Eeka) comes from Georgia in the former Soviet Union and was twice voted top guitarist in the U.S.S.R. before coming to the West. He has played with top jazz and blues musicians such as Jimmy Smith, Vagif Mustapha Zade, Richard Roberts, Tom Levin and has twice (once in Georgia and again in Sweden) performed with the legendary B.B.King - an unusual claim to fame from an ex- neurosurgeon. Mike Chase was previously the lead singer with the Mid Life Crisis Blues Band and has performed throughout the U.K., France, Spain, Belgium as well as Zimbabwe and South Africa, where he lived for several years, performing with artists such as Dollar Brand (better known now as Abdullah Ibrahim) THE BAND As well as playing as a duo, Mike & Ika are joined by fellow musicians Dave Ashcroft on Drums, & Dave Troy on Bass to form the Grapevine Blues band. Dave Ashcroft not only works as a drum teacher and session musician, performing with the likes of Hazel O'Conner but also has a BSc Honours degree in Applied Marine Biology - the essential ingredient lacking in most Blues Bands. Dave Troy on bass, is the newest member of the band. Dave previously played with, amongst others, the Bernie Devine Blues Band and we are glad to have him on-board. The Future "Neo Blues" was just the tip of the iceberg. Dr Ika has just completed an album of entirely original material called "Dr Ika's Blues..." featuring not only Mike Chase but the superb Helen MacDougall and the fabulous 'Papa' George. This album has just been released on the new 'Blues Matters' record label. Other recent collaborations include recordings with Danny Bryant and Ritchie Milton. The Band has always enjoyed playing with other artists including Tenor Sax player Andy Thompson (Dire Straits, Sting & Elton John Bands) and recently, while Andy was back in Australia, with top international keyboard player Dave Lennox. The band has just released the lovely new CD "Live at The New Crawdaddy Club" featuring Andy Thompson. Recent highlights include a meeting with the legendary Peter Green (Mike is extemely proud of his beloved Telecaster since Peter signed it for him), playing several major festivals and alongside people such as Wilko Johnson, Stan Webb (Chicken Shack), Kenny 'Blues Boss' Wayne and twice with the fantastic Gary Moore. This year, as well as several festivals both in Europe and the UK, and some fabulous new venues, they've also been booked to support the 60's supergroup 'Canned Heat'. In the meantime, Grapevine continue to gig, either as a band, or more frequently as a duo, up to six times a week. They have been repeatedly featured on radio programmes such as Paul Jones' 'Jazz me Blues' on Jazz F.M. &'The Voice of America' plus many other radio stations in countries around the world including Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, U.S.A., and on both national radio and television in Ika's native Georgia They have recently performed their 1800th gig - always being rebooked at every venue. Not suprising when they sound this good! |
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| THE BAND BIO |
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