Jimi Hazel is an American guitarist, who was born in the Bronx, New York City. He gets his name from his guitar idols, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Hazel. [1] He was childhood friends with Ronny Drayton, [2] who joined the group Hazel founded, 24-7 Spyz. In 2009, Hazel formed a supergroup with Doug Pinnick of King's X, and members of Fishbone. [3] In April 2002, he released a solo album, 21stCenturySouthBronxRockStar. [4] [5]
On working with 24-7 Spyz: "With the first version of the Spyz I have to say on a given night we could give any band a run for their money. I mean the bands we toured with would freak out at how crazy their fans would get when we hit the stage. Some of the bands loved it. The Ramones and Jane's Addiction loved it. PIL, not so much, ha! That first version was like dynamite on stage. The second version of the band was more like a fine wine! HA! Seriously, the second version of the band was my chance to write for a singer who could really sing. Peter was a great frontman but it got to the point where he would rather be doing cartwheels on stage than actually sing! Jeff was a real singer and I got to write better songs for a better band.". [6]
King's X is an American rock band formed in Springfield, Missouri in 1979. They were first called the Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on their current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for more than four decades, consisting of vocalist and bassist Doug Pinnick, drummer Jerry Gaskill and guitarist Ty Tabor. Their music combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. Despite a largely underground reputation as the "musician's musicians", King's X was pivotal in the early development of progressive metal, and produced a series of early records considered essential within the genre. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance. King's X was ranked No. 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
24-7 Spyz are an American rock band from the South Bronx, New York, formed in 1986, originally consisting of Jimi Hazel (guitars), Rick Skatore (bass), Kindu Phibes (drums), and P. Fluid (vocals). The band plays hard rock, heavy metal, funk metal and rap metal songs which incorporate elements of jazz, R&B, soul, reggae and hardcore punk. The fact that they are African Americans playing variations of heavy metal led critics to compare them to bands such as Living Colour and Bad Brains. After several lineup changes, the band broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2003 before releasing their first new album of original material in over a decade in 2006. As of 2021, the lineup of the band includes Hazel, Skatore, and drummer Tobias Ralph.
David Thomas Mason is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic, and went on to play and record with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and Cass Elliot.
Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with R&B musicians Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, a grouping frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. The album mixes funk and R&B elements with Hendrix's psychedelic rock guitar and wah pedal-based jamming, an approach which later became the basis of funk rock. It contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death six months later.
Douglas Theodore Pinnick, sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's X. He has performed on 15 albums with King's X and recorded four solo albums. Pinnick has also participated in numerous side projects and has multiple guest appearances to his credit. He is recognized for his unique vocals, and heavily distorted bass tone. Pinnick often plays bass with a guitar pick, though he has also been seen using his fingers.
Robert "Bob" Khaleel, better known by his stage name Bronx Style Bob, is an American rapper from the Bronx, New York City.
Christian DuVal Nesmith is an American musician from Los Angeles, California, and the eldest son of Michael Nesmith of the Monkees and Phyllis Gibson.
Live All Over the Place, released in 2004, is the first official live album by King's X. A double CD set, it was also the band's final album for Metal Blade Records. It was the twelfth King's X album release.
Live at Woodstock is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released on July 6, 1999. It documents most of his performance at the Woodstock Festival on August 18, 1969, and contains Hendrix's iconic interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and other songs from the original festival film and soundtrack album.
Heavy Metal Soul by the Pound is the fifth full-length album by 24-7 Spyz. Released through the What Are Records? label, it is the first album to feature the band as a trio. Former drummer Joel Maitoza returned to replace Anthony Johnson, but the band decided not to replace departed vocalist P. Fluid. Instead, guitarist Jimi Hazel also became the lead singer.
Face the Day is the sixth album by 24-7 Spyz. It is the first Spyz album in more than a decade, recorded two years after their reformation in 2003. Guitarist and vocalist Jimi Hazel and bassist Rick Skatore return with a new drummer, Tobias Ralph.
Rusty Anderson is an American musician best known for his work as lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001. He has worked with an extensive list of other artists in addition to his own solo career.
Thomas Armon Pridgen is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from 2006 until 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band Trash Talk, as well as his own project The Memorials. In 2023 he joined Fever 333.
Kristen Vigard is an American actress and singer. She is known for being the first actress to play the title role in Annie in its pre-Broadway run and for her two-year run as Morgan Richards on Guiding Light (1980–81). She also had a two-year run on One Life to Live (1984–85).
"Maggot Brain" is an instrumental by the American band Funkadelic, released on their 1971 album of the same name.
John Antonopoulos, known professionally as Johnny A., is an American musician, guitarist, and songwriter.
Black Tide was an American heavy metal band from Kendall, Florida. Formed in 2004, the band last consisted of Gabriel Garcia, Austin Diaz and Cody Paige (drums). They released their debut album, Light from Above, in 2008 through Interscope Records when Garcia was 15 years old. Their second album, Post Mortem, was released in 2011. Black Tide's EP Bite the Bullet was released in 2013 by InnerCat Music Group, a Miami-based boutique label. In 2015, the band released their last album Chasing Shadows. In July 2016, Garcia announced that the band is over and he is concentrating on his solo project.
Eric Gales, also known as Raw Dawg, is an American blues rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. As of 2022, Gales has recorded nineteen albums for major record labels and has done session and tribute work. He has also contributed vocals on several records by the Memphis rap groups Prophet Posse and Three 6 Mafia under the names Lil E and Mack E.
Ronny Drayton was a guitarist based in the New York City area and Monroe, New York.