Bio

This band started at a party. Two musicians living about 4 houses away from each other started talking music and thought playing together might be fun. They were right. One was a bassist and the other played sax. The bassist, not wanting to waste the horn player’s time as he was in two active bands already, thought he should get a guitarist and a drummer first. That took a while. Many moons, CL ads, auditions, passed. Many guitarists later, the guitarist and bassist went through about 14 drummers. It was a good idea and plenty fun. Initially we were Gozstnotes. At the end of 2024 the guitarist and drummer left. We started again. That was then. This is now.

Groove Alchemy plays what we call Rock/Ska/Funk with a side of Jazz. We try to be accurate but like a lot of bands, we love styles from around the world so describing us would be a paragraph of its own. We also improvise together as well as solo, so what do you call new music that you invent which changes every night? (Groove Alchemy)

Musicians in the band have deep experience playing in local tribute bands – the bassist played in Who Too (The Who) and our sax player still plays in Slinky Thing( Steely Dan). We also all have played in original and cover bands from a wide range of styles from New Orleans Funk to Blues to Jazz and what people call Latin but we all have Rock in common. At times we develop a huge sound for just four players, other times dropping it down to more subtle, nuanced playing but we always keep the focus on dance music. The bassist got a book published: The Bassist’s Bible: How to Play Every Bass Style from Afro-Cuban to Zydeco which took the better part of a decade to complete. Before writing this book he could probably play 4 styles well and fake perhaps another 4. After completing the book he realized that he could incorporate his knowledge and love of many styles into his compositions accurately or hybridize them a bit to make them fit within the compositions. Playing such varied music in a primarily dance oriented format helps us create our own sound. 

Well seasoned Bay Area bassist, songwriter and author of The Bassist’s Bible; a book of Bass styles. …MORE

Elusive Sax player with syncopated lines and excursions to elsewhere. …MORE

Blues Rock guitarist from London and the East Bay diving straight into new grooves. …MORE

Swamp Voodoo drummer bringing everything he’s gotten from a long list of genres. …MORE