Mike Walden (Vocals / Guitar)
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Mike Walden is a veteran of rock bands dating back to 1968. He grew up musically steeped in the southern blues of the Allman Brothers and Johnny Winter. Mike played in several memorable bands in Fayetteville, North Carolina, including Valley - one of the top Carolina bands in the early 70's.
After moving to Minot, North Dakota in 1985, he formed The Crew - a band voted "Best Rock Band in North Dakota".
In 2000, Mike and Joe LoCascio (Vocals / Drums) formed East2West - a
very popular Rock-Motown-Blues band in Tucson, Arizona playing resorts and special
functions.
Mike currently plays with East2West and Giant Blue.
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Kathy Thomas (Vocals)
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Kathy is a Tucson native and began performing in the area in the late 80's singing a wide variety of Country, Rock and Blues. She had the pleasure of performing with several of Tucson's top musicians over several years.
After a seven year hiatus, and with her Giant Blue feather boa in tow, she is thrilled to be back in the Tucson music scene and part of the extraordinary talent that is GIANT BLUE.
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Chuck Morrow (Keys)
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A native Tucsonan, Chuck has been performing in the area since the early seventies. Classic Rock was his earliest influence, inspired by groups such as The Beatles, The Doors, The Allman Brothers, Santana, Deep Purple and many others. Then came the “Funk” years; Chuck played with a “horn band”, covering groups such as Tower Of Power and Chicago, etc. Next, Chuck played with the band, Autumn, one of the most successful Lounge/Show Groups in Tucson’s history. Autumn played the best local night spots in town for 8 years, 6 nights a week, playing Pop, R&B, Funk, Disco, Light Jazz, Country and Rock. During this period Chuck and the band also played a stint on what was at that time the largest cruise ship in the world, the S.S. Norway.
Chuck’s extensive musical history also includes backing famous comic personalities Phyllis Diller and Henny Youngman, musical performers such as Johnny Lee and Ace Cannon (among others), as well as opening for Crystal Gale, Tony Orlando and other headlining acts. The last several years have seen Chuck returning to his roots and playing in various Blues, R&B and Classic Rock bands, such as George Howard’s R&B Soul Review, Steel Ribbon, and East2West. Hundreds of hours spent in many recording studios have also helped round out Chuck’s musical career.
Chuck currently plays a Korg Triton Studio, extensively re-programmed and “tweaked” to satisfy his demanding ears and playing styles. Special care is taken to make this “new” synthesizer sound as much as possible like the vintage keyboards it emulates much of the time.
Chuck is a 2008 inductee into the Tucson Musician's Museum - honoring the best Tucson musicians of all time.
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Doug Davis (Drums / Vocals)
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Doug Davis is a freelance artist/drummer in Tucson, Arizona, and Percussion Instructor at Flowing Wells High School.
He received his Masters in Percussion Performance from The University of Arizona where he studied with Gary Cook. Doug performed with The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Tucson Jazz Orchestra, The Smothers Brothers, George Cables, Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, Roger Williams, Sam Taylor and a host of local artists.
Doug recently recorded with Tejano Artist Adalberto Gallegos, Composer/Pianist Jay Lee, and Flamenco guitarist Gabriel Francisco.
He is currently performing with The George Howard Band, Reunion and Giant Blue.
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Bob Thames (Bass / Vocals)
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Robert Thames, a working man's bassist, has laid down the foundation in numerous bands and venues since the early 70's. Bob is a bass player with the unique ability, versatility and wealth of experience to cover a variety of musical styles, including Jazz, Rock, Latin, R&B, Funk, Country. As a studied musician who is proficient on both electric and upright bass, he is an in-demand player.
Bob started playing Hard Rock and doing tours in Hemlock, a very popular band from the early 70's. From there, he went on to play Funk in horn-based bands, working in nightclubs several days per week for many years. He works consistently in all kinds of bands and musical projects, performing, and doing session work in recording studios.
Bob took up double bass in the late 90's, and has worked primarily as a jazz musician ever since, but now as the bassist for Giant Blue, Bob is enjoying going back to his roots, drawing from his early experiences and playing Classic Rock, Funk, Motown and R&B.
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Jose Durazo (Tenor Sax / Horn Arrangements)
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Jose Durazo, originally from Douglas, AZ, started seriously playing music when he joined the Marine Corps in 1990 and attended the Armed Forces School of Music Basic Course. This was followed by a few years of playing hundreds of parades and dozens of jazz and pop performances up and down the East Coast as part of the Second Marine Division Band based in Camp Lejeune, NC.
Since then, Jose has played with many different bands in New York City (1994), Tucson (1995-1998), Seattle (1998-2004), and finally, back in Tucson (2004 to the present).
He is not only a creative tenor sax soloist with impeccable tone, but also Giant Blue's Horn Arranger. Jose charts horns with a beautiful style not heard much these days.
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Jason Tanner (Baritone Sax)
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Jason Tanner grew up in New York, where he was in the All-State Concert
Band/Wind Ensemble for 2 years. He went on to the University of Illinois,
where he played in the top Concert and Jazz Bands, as well as the
Marching Illini and U of I basketball band.
By his junior year, he was a founding member of My Brother’s Keeper (MBK),
a 10-piece Funk/Rock/Soul band. MBK went on to perform with Maceo Parker,
Bloodhound Gang, Jill Sobule, Mighty Blue Kings, Blue Meanies, Liquid Soul,
Brother Brother and others. MBK's CD, Shoulder To Shoulder, debuted #1 in
Champaign, IL. The culmination of the band was performing at the House Of Blues
in Chicago.
Since arriving in Tucson, Jason helped re-form Apocalypse Horns and had
the privilege of performing with The George Howard Band and The Statesboro Blues Band.
As a baritone sax player, Gerry Mulligan was an obvious musical influence,
but the Tower of Power sound is what Jason has always tried to model.
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Glen Gross (Trumpet)
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Trumpeter Glendon Gross recently moved to Tucson from Los Angeles, where he was a regular in the local Jazz and Gospel scene. In the 1980's he worked as a race track bugler in Santa Fe and Albuquerque while leading a Jazz band that played at a local Korean restaurant. He then moved to California and got a job playing on the cruise ship Fair Sea, doing 9 day cruises to Acapulco. Then Gross moved to Monterey, California, where he arranged the Pageant of the Flags for the California Rodeo Salinas, and enjoyed playing jazz at the Monterey Firehouse and on Cannery Row. During this time Gross was honored to play a memorial concert for Dizzy Gillespie at Clint Eastwood's ranch, with John Handy on the Saxophone.
In 1995 Gross moved to Los Angeles, where he became involved with the local Jazz scene and started playing improv Gospel trumpet with Motown star Blinky Williams And The Hollywood Choir, while appearing frequently at local venues playing Bebop Jazz. Now he is excited to be a part of Giant Blue, a band that takes him back to the roots of Rock, Funk, and the exciting horn bands he loves, including Chicago, Tower of Power, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.
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