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Darrell Lombard - is a renowned singer and B3 organ player who is referred to today by some as “B3 Daddy.” Darrell was the featured leader of STREAMS, Who had a little bit of that Ray Charles or Billy Preston swagger sitting behind his beautiful and powerful Hammond B3 organ with a tall Leslie speaker on each side of the stage.
Darrell would sing with passion and expression to his audience on the mic while tapping and running his feet across the bottom base pedal keys with ease while also running his fingers across both sets of staggered keys on top.
Darrell was known for his dynamic left hand. These maneuvers were all while pulling and manipulating various levers and switches while rocking from side to side on his wood bench as only a select few could.
Leo Robinson - harmonizing was the perfect complement to Darrell’s voice. Almost like a Phillip Bailey to Maurice White (Earth Wind & Fire). That’s how this all started. Leo then added the base guitar with Darrell teaching him a lot of his runs and timing early on alongside the organ. Darrell was a master of the base keys on his B3.
Leo became an excellent bassist excelling quickly. He had excellent stage presence stepping back and forth with those deep red Gibson base tones that complimented his silky-smooth voice, which almost seemed unparalleled with his unique style and delivery.
Karl Peters - on drums had the ability to play any style or groove you could throw at him, with unprecedented timing and dynamics. Karl would look over at each one of them for cues to control the tempo or tag any accents while playing his classic brown Ludwig drum kit. He would always have a couple of strategically placed pieces of duct tape placed on the face of his base drumhead, with an old pillow placed against the back of the head from the inside of the shell.
This would give him that crisp pop every time his foot was bouncing on the base drum foot pedal. His high-hat was continuously closing crisply keeping the band on time. His ride cymbals were always played tastefully and with purpose. He had unique Zildjian and Paiste crash cymbals. One had various metal rivets loosely embedded into the cymbal itself for that extra sizzle, another was cut like a triangle when struck by every type of stick or malate or brush available.
Karl's breathing techniques, and his unique gadgets like the two cow bells mounted on top of his base drum also dampened with tape, were cool and effective.
Mark Whitman - was unparalleled as a rhythm and blues guitar player. He could sink up with any player. Mark would lean back and take those deep breaths while working through progressions on his very cool pink paisley Fender Telecaster guitar.
Mark would occasionally stand on his trendy wah wah pedal to bend his notes during rhythm pieces as evidenced on the “Midnight Sky” selection intro and throughout. Mark could play anything with personality and poise. One of the best to ever do it.
Ron Hendee - is an incredible horn player who could lock in with Darrell and Mark on song rhythms actively tagging accents and stabs that would make his horn sound much bigger than one player. His timing and intricate chops were next level. Ron could keep any song moving in between riffs with his transition to his percussion gadgets.
Ron’s raspy vocals brought a great contrast to Darrell and Leo’s vocal style. Ron’s body of work on stage was a 3-course meal as a riveting brass trumpet player (with mutes), and a vocalist with tasteful percussions (dual maracas and tambourine).
During this time Darrell’s older brother Lawrence Lombard, was a Garfield High School football player standout. Soon after Lawrence graduated, he helped form and was a member of the hit acapella group The 5 Checks. This added to Lawrence’s popularity keeping him well connected.
After Darrell graduated from Garfield High School in 1964, Lawrence was able to pull some strings which got Darrell a dishwashing position which soon lead to a bussing position at The Golden Lion, a popular and high-end American food restaurant at the Olympic Hotel. There were lots of talented staff there which included Kenny McDougal (comedic drummer and entertainer), Frank Ferguson (the singing wine steward) and various others.
Darrell first built a friendship with Leo Robinson, who held the same positions. Leo and Darrell would sing and create songs together whenever they were able during their shifts. Leo introduced Darrell to “Big Bill Leritz,” who was a great drummer with a dynamic and expressive personality on and off stage. Bill sat in with many of the top local artists. Soon after, Darrell and Big Bill became a hit Duo (B3 & drums) creating the band Natural Peopl. Then they added Leo for harmonies and lead vocals. After that they brought in the dynamic John Day (guitar). Darrell also had a trio with NW great Danny Hoefer, and Karl Peters before forming 7thWave, with Billie Burns (singing drummer) for harmonizing before adding Ron Hendee on trumpet.
These were at venues that had housed headliners like, David Lewis, Ronnie Height, Barnie Hillyard, Jimmy Pipkin (Galahads) etc. When in town, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones would frequent these locations as well as others. Some of the other venues frequented were the famous Mardi Gras, The Checkmate, My Place or Adair’s afterhours club. All historical venues. Mark Whitman played with Springfield Rifle, before connecting with Darrell, Leo, Karl and Ron to debut STREAMS early in the 1970s.
Some of the music greats who have graduated from Garfield include Ernestine Anderson, Quincy Delight Jones Jr, David Lewis, and James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix to name a few. All purple and gold “Bulldogs” for life (alma mater 60s mascot & colors).
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