C.H.KYO
Meet the Band
Calvin Howell, Bass
I first started playing Bass by default when my best friend at the time, Dino, beat me to the punch and bought a guitar after working summer jobs. Our agreement was that the first one to save up enough bread gets to play guitar. The rest is history. I was twelve then and played the heck out of that first bass.
I'd say my playing style on electric bass has been influenced by Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorious, Marcus Miller, Chuck Rainey, Lewis Johnson, Bootsy Collins, and Larry Graham. In recent years, I picked up acoustic upright when I got an Eminence - 5 String Portable Acoustic bass. My influences on upright include Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, and Rufus Reid. Currently, on electric I'm using a Warwick Streamer LX -5 String and I continue to play the Eminence Upright.
My goal is to become one of the best bass players on the planet. I've got a lot of work to do, but this is my challenge. I can say that my good fortune has come from my Buddhist Practice of Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. This is where the KYO in C.H.KYO II comes from. It was my wife Diana's suggestion and I jumped on it tweaking it with my initials. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo loosely translated means: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Universe through Cause & Effect and Sound.
The KYO or sound that I generate is meant to touch the heart, to create a vibe or vibration that permeates the universe, to create a life to life dialogue through music. This for me is a life-long undertaking. I hope to personally meet every one of the people who come and see us play, to share in heart to heart dialogue, and to create and foster peace through music. And to be "able to move people without uttering a single word".
Devrick Bell, Tenor, Alto and Soprano Sax
Devrick is a gifted musician born in Germany and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He has played with countless artists and musical performers. His early roots in music started at the age of 10. He began playing the saxophone with strong encouragement from his mom. With so many Jazz, Motown 60's, funk and soul influences present in his environment, he developed into the player he is today. Influences include Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin, Ronnie Laws, Grover Washington, and Michael Brecker.
Moving to Orlando from Los Angeles in 1996, Devrick has been carving a niche into the Orlando music scene. Devrick is a talented multi-instrumentalist and accomplished composer, arranger and producer. Devrick has also previously performed in the Jazz at Drew Festival in Los Angeles. He truly plays a mean and sophisticated horn.
Myron Thompson, Guitar
Basically, I'm a self-taught musician who was influenced by 60's local radio. By that, I mean; on Sunday's WOKB am radio used to play Coltrane, Nancy Wilson, Gene Ammons, Wes Montgomery, Lou Rawls, Cannon Ball Adderley etc. From 1pm to 4pm on Sunday afternoons. I got on-the-job training from being a set-up man for a dormitory band at N.C.A & T V. in the later 60's.
In the mid 70's I picked up guitar seriously by working with the Hill Bros. out of Eustis, FL. The rest was a stint with "Chemistry" band led by The Otto Gomez. A couple of years with C.L. West on the Chitlin' Circuit and a lot of practice and music theory with Trumpeter Bill Moss. The Guitar is a multi-faceted instrument of playing style and approach. I try to add my voice in a sea of musical voices.
JR Avila, Drums
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