Band Bios
Gerry Jonutz
-
Alto, Tenor & Bari Sax's
Steve Hoff
-
Lead Male Vocals & Background Vocals.
Rick Lawton
-
Drums & Percussion
Pete Rose
- Funk
Bass, Lead & Background Vocals.
Chris
Martinez
-
Keys, Lead & Background Vocals.
Mike Breitsprecher
- Trumpet
Steve
Gonsoulin
- Trombone
Bill
Vallair
-
Guitar & Vocals
Bob Hansen
- Bari Sax
Gerry Jonutz -
Alto, Tenor & Bari Sax's
Email Gerald
Gerry was the original sax for the group "Cold Blood". Working with Lydia Pense,
Cold Bloods lead vocalist, Gerry traveled and shared the stage with such greats
as Elvin Bishop, Santana, Vanilla Fudge, 3 Dog Night, Janis Joplin, Jimi
Hendrix, The Who, Deep Purple, Blood Sweat & Tears, the Doors, Big Brother and
the Holding Company, Kenny Rogers & First Edition, the list goes on and on.
Jammed with Tower of Power. When Gerry hits the stage with his horn he sets the
tempo and with the energy generated by Aftershock's rhythm section his melody's
energize the room with an excitement that just makes you want to move and groove
with the music. AfterShock. with Gerry Jonutz is an experience you can't afford
to miss.
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You can read more about Cold Blood at
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist5/cblood.html
From Haven's Court Baptist Church in Oakland to filling in for Lydia Pense of
Cold Blood Steve brings 4 decades of Soulful, high energy vocals to Nuvo Funk
Inc. and is the nuclease through which the rest of the band is linked. From the
age of 3 Steve started nurturing his vocal talents at church and at age 13
started singing in his first R&R combo, from there he ventured out and as a
member of "Tom Thumb & the Hitch Hikers perform with the Coasters, Love and the
Mo Jo Men just to name a few. In 1967 Steve joined the "Midnight Haze", a
popular group from San Jose, and would backup Little Dion, Jackie Lee and The
Crest and had shared the bill with such greats as Sam & Dave and Jackie Wilson.
Steve has also performed with many other groups such as Eddie Money with the
Jimmy Lyons Band. Steve sat in and jammed with "Mimi and the Motowns" which we
now know as "Tower of Power". Having been friends with Gerry Jonutz since 1968
Steve and Gerry have performed together in several groups. Keeping in step with
the times Steve will grab you with his soulful ballads and make you want to
getup and groove with the funk making every one of our fans feel as if they were
part of the band.
Rick Lawton
- Drums & Percussion
Email
Rick
Rick
Played with Malo, Jorge Santana, Secrets, Walter Afanasieff; currently Sony
Records #1 producer. He also played with Chris Camozzi who is Michael Bolton’s
guitarist. Rick has studied drums for over 35 years.
Pete Rose - Bass
Email Pete
Pete Rose (bass, vocals) grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio and has been performing professionally since the age of 12. As with many of my contemporaries, seeing The Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show set me off on playing rock and roll. I picked up guitar and later played tuba and bass in the Army Band at Fort Ord (Monterey, CA) during the Bicentennial celebrations. Not having a good reason to go back to Cleveland after my military duties ended (there are some, I'm sure) I stayed an California, decided that bass was the only thing I should play in public, and got a chance to play with artists as diverse as The Drifters, The Penguins, Bowzer (from Sha-Na-Na,) jazz artists Bobby Shew, George Shearing, and L.A. studio ace Chuck Findlay. I have performed at the Monterey Jazz festival and on stages throughout the U.S. and Canada. I studied privately with Southern Cal bassist Gunnar Biggs while at Dan Diego State Univ. and with studio legend Carol Kaye. Joining Aftershock several years ago has allowed me to play the music that is closest to my heart and to work with some very talented people including current and former members of Tower of Power, Cold Blood, Sly and the Family Stone, and Rubicon.
Chris Martinez
on Keys, Lead & Background Vocal
A versatile, charismatic, Musician on Keys, Organ and is an excellent lead vocalist. Chris has played with many of the well-known bands, locally and on-the-road . Chris has opened for Judas Priest, Cinderella, Deff Leppard, Ted Nugent, Jethro Tull, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Foregner, just to name a few. Chris has done several Collaborations with Frank Hannon ofTesla, & was a founding member of Moon Dog Mane. Chris has also performed in every House of Blues venue in the USA., Yoshi s in Oakland, California , and a few thousand more similar venues.
Mike
Breitsprecher - Trumpet
In his last two years of High School in Sacramento Mike was selected to play 1st
Trumpet , in the "House Backup Band" at the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he
played with, and learned from Artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Desmond,
Blue Mitchell, Don Menza,The Heath Brothers, Bill Evans, and many other world
famous Jazz Artists. After Monterey Mike was Invited by two Trumpet players(
Bobby Shew, and Cat Anderson of Duke Ellingtons Band) to move to Los Angeles and
pursue a music carrer, and he did so ,turning down a music scholarship to the
University of Nevada, Reno . Both Bobby Shew and Cat Anderson took him under
their wings and helped him. He studied privately with Cat Anderson for 2 years
until his untimely death. While attending a private Music School in Studio City
on a scholarship Mike met Trombonist Steve Gonsoulin. While working and going to
School Mike played around the LA area working for many Salsa Bands, a few
radio/TV jobs doing commercial jingles,Musical shows, casuals, and other styles
of musical work. Also, as many talented musicians did, Mike worked on a few
cruise ships , working with Robert Goulet, Florence Henderson, Rita Moreno,
Sigfried and Roy, Etc. After moving back to Sacramento in 1991 Mike and Steve
Gonsoulin re-united and became Sacramento's Dynamic-Duo play with such great
local acts like Funkengroovin and now Aftershock. Make has become a major asset
to the dynamics of the Atershock sound........... "can you feel it"
Steve Gonsoulin
- Trombone
Email Steve
Trombonist Steve Gonsoulin's professional musical career has been both extensive and diverse. He began with a four year tour in the United States Air Force Band, after which he returned to California to study with some of the top musicians in the Los Angeles area. He honed his skills by playing salsa and big band music in the Hollywood clubs. Steve also took his talents abroad, playing in bands on cruise ships in Mexico, the Caribbean and Alaska. He has played in many Broadway musicals such as; West Side Story; 42nd Street; Man of La Mancha, to name a few and has back up Vegas stars Rita Moreno, Jim Nabors, Pat Boone, Tony Bennett and Robert Goulet. In 1985, Steve returned to Sacramento and soon joined the Mardi Gras Jazz Band. After leaving the band in 1992, Steve started his own business and continued working as a free lance musician; including, a two-year stint with Fulton Street Jazz Band. In 1997, Steve started playing in three bands extensively; Orquesta Salsa Monumental (for the latin groove); Swing City (for the jazz) and Funkengruven (for the Funk and R&B) and continues to play with other bands in the area.
Bill Vallaire - Guitar
and vocals Email Bill
Bill Vallaire is originally from the very musical town of Monterey, CA He
picked up
the guitar at age six and was playing clubs by the age of twelve. Bill has
studied
under the late great Jazz composer/arranger Don Schamber at Monterey Peninsula
College. He has played with many well known bay area groups such as Roger Eddy
Group, Blues at Eleven and recently Sista Monica Parker ...and many others. He
is
currently playing with Blues at Eleven, Aftershock and Sista Monica Parker. He
is
well versed in many styles of music and an in demand session player in the
Northern California area.
Bob hansen - Baritone Sax Email Bob
Robert (Bob) Hansen’s
first instrument was the accordion when he started taking lessons in the 4th
grade. After moving to California
from Detroit, he began playing his father’s alto saxophone and joined his first
rock band in Jr. High. His first
“serious” band in high school, “The Session” was an early prototype for
AfterShock with a 3, sometimes 4 piece horn section playing old school R&B,
including a healthy dose of Otis Redding and James Brown (this was well before
Tower of Power). Bob arranged for
the band, working out segues between songs, resulting in 45 minute sets of
non-stop, high energy music.
“Looking back, that may have been the best rehearsed band I’ve ever played in,
and we were just kids!” Hansen states.
Bob led both the pep
band and marching band in high school then went on to major in music at
Sacramento State University. There
he focused on arranging and composing while performing classical music as well
as jazz and rock in the stage band.
After leaving college and moving to El Dorado County, Bob played throughout
northern California with several groups including Late For Dinner and The Deb
Smith Band - on bass and saxophone;
The Pickups - on keyboards, bass and
saxophone; and Years Later, a predecessor to AfterShock.
As a multi-instrumentalist, producer, live sound and recording engineer,
Bob now plays baritone saxophone and arranges for Aftershock.