Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums with Miss Carmen Getit

September 3, 2010

Time(s): 8:00 p.m.
Location: Balloon Park | Map & Directions
Free Admission, Parking $10
Free Dance Instruction at 7:30 p.m.

Lucky us that Steve Lucky is returning for a Great Park dance party this season. It’s probably lucky for local shoe stores, too, since last year singer/pianist Lucky, singer/guitarist Miss Carmen Getit and Lucky’s rambunctious Rhumba Bums definitely helped dancers wear out their soles with a hot mix of swing, West Coast jump blues, R&B and other feet-pleasing musical styles.

The San Francisco-based outfit has spent a lot of time in Hollywood, as the house band at the fabled Derby, and appearing in the film Be Cool and in a number of TV shows. On the road, they’ve played venues as far flung as Ukiah, Athens and Beijing, and have gone over especially well among discerning audiences at such venues as the Montreux Jazz Festival and New York’s Lincoln Center.

As a keyboard player, Lucky has worked with a who’s who of the blues, including Johnny Copeland, John Hammond, Odetta, Kim Wilson and Paul DeLay. He’s led his own bands ever since he was a teenager. Ms. Getit joined the band in 1994, and has won accolades for both her voice—which shades from Dinah Washington’s refined style to Etta James’ fierce R&B growl—and for her blues guitar playing. The remaining five Bums have backed wide range of artists, including Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney and Dizzy Gillespie, so it’s no wonder that their musicianship has been praised in the hard-to-please Downbeat magazine. Official Website