Geree and The Groove is from Los Angeles and reunites four talented and experienced musical friends with the voice of Geree. All have shared a connection and musical history spanning 30 years, and formed Geree and The Groove in April 2006.
Roberto Ceja on keyboards, harmonica & vocals and Rudy Garcia on bass & vocals are founding members of the group Mestizo. Roberto has many songwriting and recording credits to his name with styles as diverse as the Blues and Mexican Regional music. Rudy, no stranger to the recording studio, has played with many local greats including members of El Chicano and The Sisters.
Moses Hauffen on guitar & vocals was a member of The Knack, (one of the first local groups to bring the British Invasion to East L.A.) and That Happy Few (from East L.A.College), which was the first band to feature Geree on vocals. As a songwriter, his Moses and the Guys with Jobs CD earned a Best Rock Album nomination in the Los Angeles Music Awards 2000.
Eddie Hernandez on drums & vocals has provided the beat for countless groups over the years including Mestizo, Blue Soul,
The Bobby Z Band and Smooth (with Geree, Moses, and the late Romeo Prado of Thee Midniters). He has also performed in solo projects with members of Ambrosia and Chicago.
Then there is Geree.
Mark Guerrero, (son of the late Lalo Guerrero) singer/songwriter (“Mihijita”) and musical historian of L.A.’s “Eastside Sound”, has this to say about Geree on his web site www.markguerrero.net.
“Geree is one of the best, if not the best, Chicana female vocalist to emerge from the fertile musical landscape of East Los Angeles. She’s blessed with a world class voice and singing talent, and has sung with some of the best musicians East L.A. has produced from the late 60’s to the present.”
After That Happy Few, Geree went on to tour with The Village Callers and Poverty Train.
In 1977, she recorded the song “Manana is Now” with Los Lobos and the Salas Brothers of Tierra on the “Si Se Puede” album, a tribute to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Her solo debut album, 1982’s “Come and Get It” on MCA Records, received great reviews in People Magazine and she went on to record 2 CD’s on R-Town Records in the 90’s. Geree has appeared in concerts with El Chicano, and regularly with the Chico band and in 1997 performed in Seoul, Korea at the Korean and American Friendship Concert. After watching a 2002 performance of Moses and the Guys with Jobs (with Eddie on drums!), Geree suggested to Moses that they should get together again. That reunion became Smooth and now Geree and The Groove.
Geree says, “I have to keep singing!” We’re glad she feels that way! |
