Biographies

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Andrew Campbell’s musical development began with early exposure to the musical foundation of circus life. 7 years of lessons from a PhD-equipped midway hawker on an out of tune piano with a missing B above middle C, culminated in a desire to ‘start a band.’ Drawn to employability as well as the low sounds that his home stereo seemed to edit from all records, Andrew began studying bass in junior high school at Pedrini Music in Alhambra, CA. Within about a month, he was referred to and began playing in his local town’s top cover band, playing mostly Grateful Dead and maudlin Neil Young tunes to ungrateful but well-groomed children of San Marino socialites. While in college, Andrew began studying the guitar and found himself quite employable on both instruments.

He quit playing entirely for several years when he discovered the creative and happy pursuit of Dirac notation in quantum mechanics. While attending business school at Columbia University some years later, he resurrected his original 1976 Fender Precision bass, equipped with then 12-year-old strings, and began playing again in various settings. “I played with some really bad drummers,” he says wistfully.

While feasting on the internet bubble during the 90s, and in between suspicious trips to Eastern European countries, Andrew began in earnest to study guitar, following closely the harmonic antics of New York mofos such as Wayne Krantz and Mike Stern. Andrew studied with legendary jazz artist Steve Khan until he left New York City in 2001. He studied privately with Jeff Richman and Bill Fowler upon arrival in Los Angeles and has been steadily building a reputation for having a rare combination of harmonic sophistication and facility, a unique and compelling melodic and harmonic voice, along with tremendous time feel.

“He’s got sick pocket,” says colleague and ridiculous bass player Nando Raio, a frequent collaborator who works with numerous jazz artists around Los Angeles and who has worked with Aretha Franklin, Hilary Duff and Jesse McCartney. “When creativity and feel are of the essence, you got to have this guy. ” Steve Khan provides typically great insight: “The first thing that I recognized was that he had a great touch on the instrument. Such a gift should never be underestimated, nor undervalued. Over years, I've seen him grow into a most interesting composer as well, one with his own set of conceptual ideas for music-making.”

Andrew also leads his own electric jazz outfit called The Andrew Campbell Network, featuring musicians such as Emir Isilay, Steve Billman, Matt Starr, Ralph Humphrey, Andy Suzuki, Monk Institute graduate Gilad Ronen and others. Andrew also plays bass for 2azz1 alongside some of LA’s top drummers. A particular highlight has been playing with luminary drummer James Gadson at his church in Long Beach.

Andrew’s compositions, guitar playing and bass playing can be heard on television, film and commercials, most recently on NBC and MTV. With up-and-coming composer and pianist Emir Isilay, Andrew founded the group “Beyond Orange,” a novel ‘chillout’ electronica group with a cinematic flair. Their first CD will be released in August 2008.

Greg is a native of southern California where he began his drumming adventure at the ripe age of 11. Technically if you count banging out rhythms on pots and pans he actually started at age 4. He purchased his first professional drum set at the age of 12 (A blue sparkle vintage used Slingerland jazz kit, which he still owns). After finishing a 4-year tour in the military in the late 80’s, Greg began playing and recording all over Los Angeles and Hollywood. Greg is a graduate of the Grove School of Music and USC(like the rest of his fellow Trojans in Taxi Wisdom). He has years of recording and performing experience, including television and film work. Greg currently covers the drumming/percussion and vocal duties as a member of Taxi Wisdom. When not playing with Taxi Wisdom, Greg can be found lending support to many musical endeavors and recordings around Southern California. His current original project is working with LA based Singer-songwriter Chris Wilson.

EUREKA!!!!! An incredible voice, strong stage presence, and kind personality, Charissa is a rare and wonderful find in the music world.

Check out Charissa's Original Project Sun City Revival!!!

What else can we tell you about Charissa? Well, get comfortable as you reach for your favorite atlas. Turn to the page that shows the topography of the Western United States. Pull the book in real close, and you’ll see a tiny dot on the map labeling a town called Klamath Falls, Oregon. There is high quality gold in those hills! The name of the strike is Charissa Nicole.

Charissa is a graduate of the Musician’s Institute (MI) in Hollywood, California. She was rightfully nicknamed “Chariah” because of her undeniable vocal stylizations, which she has developed into her own fun loving and free spirited, warm, sultry, and soulful powerhouse quality.

Charissa has had the opportunity to perform and record with many different musical projects including, MI’s “Funk Divas”, a prestigious acappella performance group. She has been asked to perform the national anthem at many sporting events, including Utah’s famed Bonneville National SpeedWeeks Opening Day Race. Charissa was selected to compete in a reality band pilot for MTV, and was the lead vocalist in The Jeff Lane Band. She’s also sung in many Los Angeles bands such as Shades and The Val Diamond Band. Recently, Charissa has shown her capabilities as a captivating singer/songwriter, with the completion of This Road, her first major solo album. Recently she has been promoting her hit single Long Days a latin crossover hit.

Charissa’s wonderful personality, great sense of humor, and obvious talent, makes her an incredible find for Taxi Wisdom, and an incredible talent for everyone to enjoy. Her passion for the art of music, along with her dedication and hardwork, is evident in each and every one of her performances. Like gold, Charissa Nicole certainly does shine.