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    Posted October 21, 2012 by
    hammondcast
    Location
    Knightsen, California
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Weekends in America

    More from hammondcast

    Absolutely smokin' concert (2 sets & 2 encores) Lydia Pense and Cold Blood at M&M Farms 6th Annual Harvest Festival

     
    Knightsen California -- Absolutely smokin' concert (2 sets & 2 encores) Lydia Pense and Cold Blood at M&M Farms 6th Annual Harvest Festival - Jon Hammond Oct. 20th, 2012
    L to R: Rich Armstrong - trumpet/flugelhorn/percussion, Rob Zuckerman - tenor sax, Steve Salinas - keyboards, Lydia Pense - vocals, Donny Baldwin - drums, Evan Palmerston - bass, *unseen in this photo - Steve Dunne - guitar
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Pense
    Lydia Pense (born Lydia Jane Pense in San Francisco, California on December 14, 1947) [1] is an American rock-soul-jazz singer who since 1969 has performed with the band Cold Blood. Her style has been compared to powerful singers including Janis Joplin (who recommended the band to Bill Graham for their first audition), Aretha Franklin and Teena Marie.
    Pense's mother, the former Miss Ramos,[1] was born in Madrid, Spain, while her father came from Nebraska, United States. While attending Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California at the age of 14, Pense started singing with a band called The Dimensions, with Guitarist Fred Tatman. She was a fan of Brenda Lee and was singing her songs, but the band, formed by Fred Tatman, Larry Hatch, Paul C Saenz, and Kerry Yates encouraged her to sing R&B in the style of James Brown, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Ray Charles.
    Lydia joined Cold Blood in 1968.
    Their initial four albums, Cold Blood, Sisyphus, First Taste of Sin (produced by Donny Hathaway), and Thriller remain their best known work. The band continues to record and perform today. The band separated in the late 1970s, and Pense suspended her career in the 1980s to raise her daughter before re-forming the group.
    Cold Blood (1969)
    Sisyphus (1971)
    First Taste of Sin (1972)
    Thriller (1973)
    Lydia (1974)
    The Best of Cold Blood (1975)
    Lydia Pense & Cold Blood (1976)
    Vintage Blood: Live! 1973 (live album), 2001
    Transfusion (2005)
    Lydia Pense & Cold Blood:Live Blood "Live Album"(2008)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Blood_(band)
    Cold Blood is a long-standing soul-rock-jazz band founded by Larry Field in 1968 and originally based in the San Francisco East Bay area. They have also performed and recorded under the name "Lydia Pense and Cold Blood", due to the popularity of their lead singer, Lydia Pense.
    The band first came to prominence in 1969 when rock impresario Bill Graham signed them after an audition and they played the Fillmore West in San Francisco. Pense has been compared to Janis Joplin, and it was Joplin who recommended the audition to Graham.
    The band has often been compared to another long-standing popular Northern California group, Tower of Power, and like Tower of Power they were rare in that they featured a horn section in addition to guitar, bass and drums. The Tower of Power horn players have performed with Cold Blood on a regular basis since the early 1970s. Skip Mesquite and Mic Gillette have been members of both Tower Of Power and Cold Blood. Their fan base also overlaps with the Sons of Champlin, although their musical styles are quite different.
    Their initial four albums, Cold Blood (produced by David Rubinson), Sisyphus (produced by Fred Catero), First Taste of Sin (produced by Donny Hathaway), and Thriller (produced by David Rubinson) remain their best known work. The band disbanded in the late 1970s, reformed in the 1980s and stabilized with its current membership in the 1990s. Cold Blood continues to record and perform today, and some former band members such as Raul Matute (and some from Tower of Power) appear on the band's most recent album.
    Original band members were founder Larry Field (lead guitar), Lydia Pense (vocals), Danny Hull (tenor saxophone and songwriter), Larry Jonutz (trumpet), Pat O'Hara (trombone; born May 25, 1946 (?), died August 1977 of an overdose), Raul Matute (Hammond organ, piano, arranger and songwriter), Jerry Jonutz (baritone, alto and tenor saxophone), David Padron (trumpet), Rod Ellicott (bass), Paul C Saenz (guitar), and Frank Davis, who was replaced on drums by Sandy McKee (real name Cecil James Stoltie, born 12 July 1945, died 15 October 1995) during the Sisyphus sessions. Narada Michael Walden and Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett both mention McKee on their short list of drummers most influential in their stylistic development.
    Over the years there have been various incarnations of the band including singer/trumpet player Max Haskett (born 7 March 1947, died 15 September 1999, ex-Rubicon), Tower Of Power horn player Mic Gillette, Journey keyboardist Stevie "Keys" Roseman on Hammond B-3 organ, Sons Of Champlin drummer Jim Preston, guitar player Michael Sasaki, Tower Of Power guitarist Jeff Tamelier, Boz Scaggs horn player Tom Poole, Elvin Bishop sax player Bill Slais, bass player Michael White & others.
    Current personnel are Lydia Pense (vocals), Steve Salinas (keyboards), Steve Dunne (guitar), Mike Morgan (percussion), Evan Palmerston (bass), Rich Armstrong (trumpet, percussion), Rob Zuckerman (alto, tenor, baritone saxes) and Donny Baldwin (drums).
    Cold Blood is featured playing live in Fillmore, a documentary of the last concerts at The Fillmore auditorium.
    [edit]Discography

    [edit]Albums
    Cold Blood (1969)
    Sisyphus (1971)
    First Taste of Sin (1972)
    Thriller (1973)
    Lydia (1974)
    The Best of Cold Blood (1975)
    Lydia Pense And Cold Blood (1976)
    Vintage Blood: Live! 1973 (live album, 2001)
    Transfusion (2005)
    Lydia Pense & Cold Blood:Live Blood (live album, 2008)

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