Voodoo Blues band bio page

Raul Consuegra (guitar/vocals)
Raul fell in love with blues when he moved to St. Louis in 1981 and heard legendary blues disc jockey Lou “the Fatha” Thimes on St. Louis’s old KATZ radio station. After getting his start with Alvin Jett in “No Exit,” Raul has played with Rondo’s Blues Deluxe, Bennie Smith and “Big George” Brock, and still frequently shares the stage with Bennie and “Big George.” Raul is constantly on the local blues scene and is often invited to sit in anywhere, especially with his good friend Paul Bonn and the Shakey Ground Blues Band.

Raul leads the Voodoo Blues Band with reckless abandon. Constantly scouring his countless recordings for long lost blues gems and horn-laden tunes you don’t often hear with other bands, Raul also is a talented song-writer. Many of the band’s most popular numbers (The Hammerstone’s Shuffle, You Better Run, The Blues Ain’t Sad or “that one thing I do in A”) were penned by Raul – that is, if he ever bothered to write them down (now if only he could remember the words). He also is that rare band leader who encourages his members to bring in tunes they think will work for the band. On any given Sunday, Raul may call a wild Herbie Hancock funk tune, a Jaco Pastorius groove or a traditional Albert King blues classic—or anything in between. The only rule is that the crowd has to dig it, and they have been for the 9-plus years that Raul has been involved with the band.

Birthday: January 1 (Happy New Years!)

Musical influences:
• Albert King
• Elmore James

What else you need to know about Raul:
• Loves tequila shots—but watch out, you’ll mess up his system if you buy him a shot of the good stuff
• Leads the band in broken guitar strings
• Leads the band in various other categories that we can’t mention on advice of legal counsel

:: back to top ::

Will (“Blind Willie”) Dineen (tenor sax and flute)
Born in Middletown, Ohio, his “Royal Blindness” has been a St. Louis boy ever since graduating from Chaminade High School in St. Louis (even the Voodoo Blues Band plays the “Where did you go to high school?” game!). Willie received a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Central Methodist College, a Masters in Special Education from Webster University and a Masters in Counseling University of Missouri-St. Louis. Face it, the man can teach, and he’s doling out lessons in groove and funk every Sunday from 4 until 8 at Hammerstone’s!

Willie claims he uses his horns of choice (sax, flute, trumpet, valve trombone, baritone) depending on the type of music being played—but we think he just can’t see what he’s picking up, but he’s got so much education he knows how to play them all! In addition to the blues, Willie digs bebop, swing and traditional jazz.

Birthday: August 21 (Ike makes Hawaii the 50th state in 1959)

Musical influences (we mean besides Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and George Shearing):
• John Coltrane (Trane)
• Charlie Parker (Bird)
• Sun Ra
• Archie Shepp
• Pharoah Sanders
• Louis Armstrong
• Roy Eldridge
• Buddy Rich
• Jimmy Scott
• Alberta Hunter

What else you need to know about Blind Willie:
• Boasts the world’s largest black t-shirt collection
• Has never been spotted sans chapeau
• Father to Cara (vocals and bari sax), one of the band’s all-time favorite sit-ins. Cara is studying music at the famed Berklee School of Music in Boston

Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_visual_disabilities#Blind_musicians

:: back to top ::

Rob Endicott (trumpet)
“Radar Rob” started playing the cornet in hometown Carmi, Illinois in third grade at the age of 9, switched to the trumpet in his sophomore year of high school, and hasn’t looked back (he apparently hasn’t looked for a new horn either—he’s still playing that same trumpet!). Rob received a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Illinois in Champaign (studying with Ray Sasaki), followed by a master’s in music from the Juilliard School in New York (studying with Mark Gould). He freelanced for several years in and around the Big Apple, doing some crazy gigs (for example, over 100 shows of Damn Yankees at the Darien Dinner Theater). He also spent a year in the Netherlands studying with Ed Carroll at the Rotterdam Conservatory and “sitting in” with the Rotterdam Symphony in the late ‘80s, including several television broadcasts and recordings.

After taking a brief hiatus (getting a law degree, moving back to St. Louis), he started playing jazz around the area with sax-man Neal Connors, a fellow U of I jazz band alum. Now away from the “classical scene,” Rob has done a lot of jazz and blues work, including with the Johnnie Johnson Band, Tim Green, John Farrar and other members of the Park Avenue Jazz group. He has also shared the stage many times with Eric Marshall on jazz gigs. Raul discovered Rob toiling away on some jazz gigs with former Voodoo-er Rich Hensley, and, after teaching him to drink tequila properly, invited him to join the band.

Birthday: April 9 (Happy Appomattox Day!)

Musical Influences:
• Miles Davis
• Blue Mitchell
• Kenny Dorham
• Art Farmer
• Clifford Brown
• Wynton Marsalis
• Sonny Rollins
• John Coltrane
• Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis
• Maynard Ferguson

What else you need to know about Rob:
• He’s a lawyer—so watch out if you insult him, could cost you big time
• Called “Radar” because—check it out—he latches on to every groove Blind Willie lays down
• Mike’s nickname for Rob: “Counselor”
• Wants to play like Brian “Big B” Casserly when he grows up

:: back to top ::

Michael Howell (drums)
Michael started playing with his uncle, blues guitarist James DeShay, as a youngster, and has played with some serious dudes. Together with Craig (in some cases sharing the bandstand with Craig), Mike boasts the baddest list of famous cats they’ve played with. Michael has played with such luminaries: Albert King, Chuck Berry, Al Kemp, Silver Cloud, Robert T. (“Piano Slim”) Smith, and of course, Rondo’s Blues Deluxe. (Check out Raul and Craig’s resumes—see a pattern here?) Don’t play “Oh, yeah, well I’ve played with …” with either Craig or Michael—they will leave you in the dust!

Birthday: April 8 (Buddha’s Birthday in Japan!)

Musical Influences:
• Miles Davis
• Tony Williams
• Chick Corea
• Al Kemp

What else you need to know about Michael:
• Plays the world’s longest song endings—he just likes to see the horn section turn purple
• Because of his shades, has been made an honorary member of the horn section

:: back to top ::

Eric Marshall (piano)
Eric graduated from Bradley University in Peoria Illinois in 1976 with a Bachelor of Music degree and then completed two years of graduate study at The Washington University here in St. Louis. “Il Professori” has been giving private piano and music lessons ever since, primarily out of Tower Music in Fenton. The former keyboardist for Buffalo Bob and the Bedroom Blues band from 1989-1991, he has been with Park Avenue Jazz from 1997 to the present. The Park Avenue Band plays every Wednesday night at Hammerstone’s—Eric is now part-time with the band, but come on down, and you’ll get a taste of what Eric can do as a “jazzer”!

Together with Raul, Eric is one of the long-standing members of the Voodoo Blues band, having been with the band since 1997.

Birthday: February 24 (Happy Anniversary to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love!)

Musical Influences:
• Herbie Hancock
• Chick Corea
• Bill Evans
• Keith Jarrett

What else you need to know about Eric:
• Resident beer expert for the band (he don’t like the cheap stuff)
• Check out Eric’s chops when he switches over to electric piano on tunes like “Mister Magic” and “Chameleon”—you don’t hear that kind of blues piano playing much anywhere else
• Eric lives in Columbia, Illinois and was coming over to Hammerstone’s twice a week for nearly 10 years—time to buy the man a gold watch.

:: back to top ::

Craig Thornton (bass)
Craig has played bass with a number of notables in the business, including both national and local acts, including Chuck Berry, Albert King, B.B. King, Doc Terry, Oliver Sain, and Rich McDonough. He also toured in Budapest[, Germany, Austria and Norway] with local blues, jazz and R&B legend, Kim Massie.

Birthday: January 29 (Whale spontaneously explodes in Taiwan in 2004!) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale)

Musical influences:
• Jaco Pastorius
• Nathan East
• Johnnie B. Gate
• Victor Ruben

What else you need to know about Craig:
• Met Raul playing in Rondo’s Blues Deluxe
• Cool drinking game—take a pool at your table how long Craig can go into the set without quoting “Amazing Grace” or “Dixie”—the loser buys a round!

:: back to top ::

Special friends of the band:

Bennie Smith (guitar, blues legend)
Bennie, the “Master of the Stratocaster,” has been hailed as “one of the city’s patriarchs of electric blues.” In addition to being a performer and recording artist, he has also served as a mentor to many aspiring blues musicians, including our own Raul Consuegra. Due to his significant contribution to blues music in St. Louis, in October 2003 he received a proclamation from Mayor Francis Slay marking October 5, 2003 as “Bennie Smith Day.” The board of alderman similarly honored Mr. Smith, recognizing him as the “dean of St. Louis electric guitarists”. Bennie was a long-standing member of the Voodoo Blues Band, and still sits in with us every other week with his good friend Harry Simon (see below) on tenor. Bennie’s musical heritage is firmly rooted in St. Louis. He recorded “Box Top” with Ike Turner and has played with a virtual “who’s who” of blues and R&B artists: Little Milton, Aretha Franklin, Albert King, Billy Peek, Little Herbert, Q.T. Macon, Larry Davis, Oliver Sain, Billy Gayles, BB King and Bobby Bland.

Harry Simon (tenor sax)
Harry’s professional playing experience spans over 48 years starting with Jules Blattner and the Teentones in 1958, recording 11 records with Jules. He started working with the Blues Poet of St. Louis, Billy Peek, in 1961 and has recorded extensively with Billy. Over the years he has worked with such local notables as Jimmy Lee, Johnny Johnson, and Bob Kuban, and led his own band for 15 years. Harry can be heard on Bennie’s “Shook Up” CD (check out his solo on Bennie’s signature tune, “Drown In My Own Tears”). Harry takes the stage whenever Bennie plays with the band, and routinely blows the roof off the joint.

Earl Gibson (vocals, singing legend)
Earl sang and toured with the Sensational Ink Spots from 1960s to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and along the West Coast. He regularly performs at Hammerstone’s on weekends—stick around for Erik Brooks after the Voodoo Blues Band’s jam

:: back to top ::