Members: Vaughn Collins (vocals), Derek Graham (drums), Jean Sandoval (guitar), Wayne Brown (keyboards), Luis Rivera (bass), Mike Michaels (banjo), Jeff Gitelm...
Sounds Like: Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, Gil Scott-Heron, KRS-One, Sly & The Family Stone
Label: Retro City Records
Manager: Vaughn Collins, Derek Graham
Boogie Chillun has been rockin' and funkin' the CT music scene since 1991, performing at nightclubs, theatres, outdoor festivals, schools, parties, weddings, and other events throughout CT and the US Northeast. That's over twenty years of good music satisfaction!
Boogie Chillun plays funk, rap, rock, jazz, blues, classic soul, R&B, Afro-folk, reggae, gospel, spirituals and disco.
Boogie Chillun has performed in over 3000 concerts, including opening for major artists such as The Spinners, WAR, Ziggy Marley, Vanilla Fudge, and The Sugarhill Gang.
After surviving numerous personnel changes over the years, the band has stabilized and it continues to evolve and flourish. Boogie Chillun still performs at clubs, parties, and outdoor festivals, but the band does its most satisfying work in schools, presenting the "American Roots Music" program to children all over Connecticut.
Boogie Chillun released two albums, "Live Together" (1993) and "Funky Haven" (1999), as well as two singles in 1999, "Make It Happen" and "Be A Rock," which received major local airplay on WYBC and WPLR.
Boogie Chillun will release a new album in 2012, "Funk Upon A Rhyme," which chronicles 20 years of songwriting and recording by the group's principles, Vaughn Collins and Derek Graham. The band will also release the single "Read, Baby, Read" to young audiences, and will begin work on it's fourth studio album, "Worldfunkhiphopsoul," which will further demonstrate the band's unique hybrid style.
Boogie Chillun was founded in 1991 by Vaughn Collins, a New Haven-based hip hop artist, poet, teacher, and songwriter. In searching for musicians who shared his vision, Vaughn met funk guitarist Kenny Burgess and teamed up with some old friends - the sibling rhythm section Mike Franzman (bass) and Steve Franzman (drums), as well as hip hop turntablist DJ Snake. This was the first Boogie Chillun lineup (1991-92).
Derek "Stodie G" Graham (drums, vocals) and Wendell Jones (bass) joined the group in late 1992, and, along with Vaughn Collins and Kenny Burgess, became the second Boogie Chillun lineup (1992-1994).
Keyboardist/vocalist Sam Oliver came along in 1993, and truly helped the group dominate the New Haven club and party scene from 1993-2000. Collins, Graham, Burgess, Oliver, and bassist Steve Clarke (and sometimes either Chris Stabile, Jon Clarke or Fred Sargolini on bass) formed the third Boogie incarnation.
Derek Graham left the group in 1996 to help raise his newborn daughter, but continued to write and record songs with Collins. The remaining trio of Collins, Oliver and Burgess sought replacements and came up with the powerful hard rock combo, Pete McNeil (drums) and Brendan Malone (bass). This fourth, high-energy Boogie Chillun lineup was short-lived and signaled an end to the heavy funk-rap-original music-driven era of Boogie Chillun.
Suddenly, Kenny Burgess also left the group in 1996 and returned to his native Colorado. George Baker (guitar, vocals), Jerry Langley (bass, vocals), and Derrick Tappin (drums) stepped in and joined Collins and Oliver to form the fifth Boogie Chillun lineup. Often joined by Chris Rhodes (trombone) and Jeremy Bonin (trumpet), this became a very popular and durable B.C. unit, lasting from 1996-1999.
The sudden departure of keyboardist Sam Oliver in 2000, along with scheduling conflicts and other obstacles, forced more personnel changes... stalwart bandleader Collins tinkered with various lineups, including experimenting with female lead singers, but decided in 2001 to take a break from performing to concentrate solely on writing and recording more original songs, some with Graham and some with bassist/guitarist/producer Jon Clarke.
In 2002, Collins and Graham slowly began performing together again as Boogie Chillun, first at weddings, parties, and a select few nightclubs. In 2004, Collins and Graham embarked on their greatest collaboration yet: a music education program for Connecticut schoolchildren, entitled "American Roots Music." With this program, Boogie Chillun is able to introduce a wide variety of American music art forms to a fantastic, inquisitive, and fresh new audience: kids!
The current (and eighth) Boogie Chillun group is comprised of Vaughn Collins (vocals, percussion), Derek Graham (drums, vocals), Wayne Brown (keyboards, vocals), Jean Sandoval (electric guitar), Luis Rivera (bass guitar), and Mike Michaels (on school gigs only, playing acoustic guitar, harmonica, and banjo). George Baker (guitar), Damone McCollum (bass), Earl Whitaker (guitar), and Jeff Gitelman (guitar) also play with the band on occasion.
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