6/23 Private Party, Greenwood Lake, NY. Never played in Greenwood Lake before, a good gig.

— 2006 —

1/27th > took to the stage at The Turning Point in Piermont, NY. The Turning Point has been a mecca for Rock, Folk, Blues and Jazz artist's for over 30 years and it's performers roster reads like a who's who across all these genres (Frank Messina and David Amram did their CD release for "The Long Road To Nowheresville" there in 04').

To a packed house, PH swamped n' stomped with two encores! The first PhotoBook is in from this steamin' night of Swamp Blues and Boogie, Click Here for the pix!

— 2005 —

3/28 BB King Blues Club, NYC. Opening for '60's Rock Icon Terry Reid.

4/23 Geneseo Flyday, Geneseo, NY. A yearly "mini" Woodstock with rain, mud and of course naked people running around.

6/18 Kinderstock Festival, Walton, NY. Another yearly outdoor gathering with a wonderful bonfire.

7/9 CNBC Summerfest 2005, Pamona, NY. BIG party, we were backround music but the under 15 crowd loved us.

7/9 Casa DelSol, Nyack, NY. Our first gig in this nice room with a great voodoo vibe was hours after the CNBC gig.

7/24 Rockland World Radio, Hudson House, Nyack, NY. A live webcast with live music, interviews and a Q&A session.CLICK HERE to listen to archived show.

7/27 BB King Blues Club, NYC. Opening for Another '60's Rock Icon Rick Derringer.

8/6 Coyote's Cove, West Milford, NJ. Outside gig at a former biker bar in the woods where a small percentage of the audience were bears.

9/10 Let It Grow Festival, RiverEdge, NJ. Our second year playing this benefit show to a BIG outdoor crowd.

9/26 BB King's Blues Club, NYC. Our third go round we felt right at home. This time opening with an "Unplugged" type set with Percussionist Larry McDonald joining us. We then backed Blues Legends, Louisiana Red and HoneyBoy Edwards.

12/31 Kelly's Pub, Tappan, NY. Our 9th gig at Kelly's and it was New years EVE.We shared the stage with the great George Bragg Band, a rippin' R7B band.

8/05 PH was featured in a North East in Tune article.

2005 also was a good year for composing as we rehearsed 6 or 7 new original tunes as well as putting our spin on some classic B-side type tunes from the age of Classic Rock.

— 2004 —

Well,well,well, here it is FEBRUARY 2006 and I am finally able and willing to start updating this site to a state where I feel it should be.

As previously predicted my job (which I love by the way) as well as the on going trials and tribulations of being a member of a "Band". Or as my late Father would say, "Combo" "How's the Combo coming along?" he would ask. These gifts I shall call them have not come without some neglect to my own personal direction in improvised music. Plans to record a 2nd solo CD have been on hold for a while and the world will have to wait to hear any new music from me, at least on CD. I will resume posting MP3's on the Music page of this site.

The big story is the "Band", Papa HooDoo Medicine Show.

Starting in February 2004 PH averaged 3 gigs a month in our first year. This due to the efforts of our Friend, Fan and Shrink, Phil Nazzaro, who went above and beyond to help this group of "diverse" musicians to keep on searching to find our "own"!

After our first 2 gigs original member "Cousin Dave" moved on to bigger things and we were also fortunate when ex-Stir Fried bassist Billy Cristiani was able to join us "yesterday" as you could say!

Early on we were lucky enough to get some studio time at the famous "Bennett" Studios in Englewood,NJ to record a Demo CD.

We also did some tracking/mixing at Music Machine Studios in Hackensack,NJ for the demo CD.

4/16/04 PH was featured in a Bergen Record newspaper article.

Gigs worth mentioning, Mexicali Blues, Teaneck, NJ. Played there a number of times.

Worlds Largest Tattoo Show, Meadowlands Expo Center, Secaucus, NJ. Played 2 days, opening for the Marshall Tucker Band on the second day.

Our fan base was growing and 2005 was looking to be a good year. I will add to my recollections of 2004 if and when they happen.

Also of some interest has been my slow progress on the Tabla, a gift from good friend Jim Walck given to me in 2002. I have always loved this instrument for its pure sound and incredible versatility. Since 2002 my time practicing has been sporadic at best but I must admit that the last 2 years or so I have made good progress. Technique and independence have come a long way and I find that I break down barriers when my "conscious mind" is distracted by something like watching the Simpsons. Theres also the wonderful feeling of being "One" with the instrument and finding myself easily going into a "Zone". To be honest, there have been times where I felt that this is the percussion instrument I was truly born to play.

— 2003 —

May - September, 2003. Having to get used to a 50 hour work week again did put my plans to record my second and possibly third CD's on the back burner but I did manage to spend the time finding some new avenues of exploration on the DrumKAT and the Roland HPD-15 as well. The beginning of September saw the start of a new band, The Papa Hoodoo Medicine Show, featuring Poor Bob (guitars/vocals), Doc Lane (guitars/vocals), Jay "Jbird" Roosa (keyboards/harp/vocals), Billy Cristiani (bass/vocals) and myself on Electronic Percussion. Gigs are forthcoming so check the web site for gig calendar, MP3's and mailing list info.

Saturday, April 19,FRANK MESSINA & SPOKEN MOTION'S 10th ANNIVERSARY Blowout Party! We all had a fantastic time and the Bowery Poetry Club is a great venue. Plenty of special guests and lots of music, two sets of Frank and the band and the third set a jam session that last 'till the wee hours. Pictured above is Larry McDonald, myself, Joe Isgro, Elliott Levin, and Bob Sushko. Other pics and video clips of the gig can be seen on the Cool Links page of Frank's site.

Febuary, 2003, Frank Messina and Spoken Motion begin rehearsals for upcoming gigs beginning in April. Go to Frank's Site for details.

2003, I'll be recording and collaborating with Bob Sushko, Dan "Doc" Lane, Joe Isgro, Joe Vervoordt, James Walck and others.

— 2002 —

October 8th 2002, I had a great time performing with Frank Messina and Spoken Motion at the Ristra Lounge in Hoboken, NJ. A very hip venue with lots of atmosphere, we played two sets to a very responsive audience. I not only got to groove with Joe Isgro/Bass and Bob Sushko/Guitar, and "Roll some Thunder" with percussionist Larry McDonald (Gil Scott-Heron / Soulfly) but played my Roland HPD-15 as a straight "Drum Kit" for the first time at a gig. Jpegs and video clips by James R. Walck.

Frank wants to hear Poetry

Give the Drummers Some

The Dinner Gong

I spent the evening of June 8th 2002 performing with Spoken Motion and Jamming with members of Stir Fried at Kelly's Pub in Tappan, NY to celebrate the release of Frank Messina's new book of poetry, "Disorderly Conduct". The event was filmed by James R. Walck and two video clips can be viewed here.

Frank with Spoken Motion

Wes Steps Out.

June 2001, After having a site constructed for me by Freqlab.com and signing up for DSL, I was a web presence by July.

I'd like to thank James R. Walck for his invaluable assistance with PC trouble shooting and web design for this site.

— 2001 —

May 2001, I reconnected with Chaz Jones and started recording at his ESAD Records Studio.

— 2000 —

Solo Projects

Finally finished my first CD "Like it or Not"

I'd like to thank James R. Walck for his invaluable assistance in mastering and artwork for the CD.

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