We all know that Sheila E is the baddest chick on percussions and there has been no one since!

But the girl had the sense to surround herself with equally talented musicians which made up the Sheila E band.

Does anyone know or have any updates on the members like Susie Davis, Eddie M., Stef Birnbaum, or even her brother Juan. Also what ever happened to the guy who played keyboards, Ken Gray? And the guy on the horns in Glamoros Life? There was also a dark haired guy in Glamoros Life and but he wasn't around by the time Romance 1600 came out.

Here's what I know so far----I heard Eddie M has his own website and is releasing an album soon. And I think I read awhile back that Juan Escovedo is still playing live with various bands around the Bay Area. Stef Birnbaum is playing with Alice Cooper (I think) and changed his name to Stef Burns. He was the real good guitar player, so I'm sure he's doing something.

Anyone know what's up with these talented people?

Sheila was like a scout for Prince's band often, it seemed. I don't have any info on what all those band members are doing now, but I loved seeing the Romance 1600 band at the Family Jamm, and Eddie M. played with Sheila at a lot of La Va Lee gigs in L.A. a couple years ago.

Wow, you went to the Family Jamm? That must have been wonderful. I saw the website for it and the pictures, which were cool. But I didn't see Levi Seacer (bass) in the pictures.

A review of that said they sounded tight!
What do you think?

From the Elevate Hope Foundation website
They look the same, except for Stef used to have blonde hair!

Eddie M also played on Jesse Johnson's 1988 LP/CD "Every Shade Of Love"

OK, I have prepaired myself for the possible rath.

I always thought Sheila's band could give The Revolution a run for their money. There was some talent in that band and was one of the tightest of the time IMO. Eddie M is still one of the funkiest Sax players I've heard. And technically speaking I loved Karl Perazzo abilities.

Talk about a reunion and tour, I would love to see those folks together again.

VelvetJ said:

Now we're talkin'!! YES---Karl Perazzo---that man bled rhythm.

I just watched the live Romance 1600 tape and talk about tight! These guys rocked harder than the best of them. I really loved Stef's playing and he also has a really good voice.

I'm about to post a couple of clips on an internet program we are not supposed to mention on this forum They were live and tight as hell!
I agree totally and would LOVE to see these guys together again. Rock it OUT!

Actually, the Bassist, Beny Reitvelt has probably had the most action. He's played with Santana for years now. I've worked with him briefly.

Here's his discography:
Santana:
All That I Am
Shaman
Supernatural
Milagro
Spirits Dancing In The Flesh
Miles Davis:
Miles In Paris (video)
Miles Around The World
Dingo (with Michel Legrand)
John Lee Hooker:
Mr. Lucky
Chill Out
Sheila E:
Romance 1600
Rita:
Time For Peace
Elisa:
Pipes And Flowers
Zucchero:
Blue Sugar
Francesco De Gregori:
Prendere e Lasciare
Claudio Baglioni:
Viaggiatore Sulla Coda Del Tempo
Paolo Rustichelli:
Capri
Marc Russo:
The Window
The Dramatics:
A Dramatic Reunion
Bonnie Hayes:
Bonnie Hayes
Empty Sky
Ray Obiedo:
Sticks And Stones
Zulaya
Alex Murzyn:
Alex Murzyn
Cross Currents
For All People
David Garibaldi:
Tower Of Groove (video)
Tower Of Groove Pt. 2 (video)
Larry Coryell:
Cause And Effect
[Edited 1/10/08 14:28pm]

BENNY RIETVELD HAS PLAYED W/SANTANA.....SO HAS KARL PERRAZO!!!!!

Susie Davis has a pretty good resume as well, she's worked with Mick Jaggar, Melissa Etheridge, Billy Idol and I seen her live with Pat Benatar.

Family Jamm was the SHIT by the way but I think Sheila's set at the 2002 Celebration was way tighter. When she opened with Shortberry Strawcake we all just looked at each other like "it's ON!!!"

Thanks for all the great information. I am so happy to hear that these great musicians are working continuously.

I got this information about Stef Birnbaum (Burns). He works alot in Italy and speaks perfect Italian now. Huey Lewis is a far stretch from Sheila E!!!!


Stef Burns & Peppino D'Agostino "Bayshore Road" 2005
Benny Rietveld "Mystery Of Faith" 2001
Bonnie Hayes "Love in The Ruins" 2002
Stef Burns "Swamp tea" 1998
Alice Cooper "The Last Temptation" 1994
Alice Cooper "Hey Stoopid" 1991
Y&T "Endangered Species" 1998
Y&T "Musically Incorrect" 1997
Y&T "Yesterday & Today Live" 1991
Y&T "Ten" 1990
The VU "Phoenix Rising"/ VU 1987
Vasco Rossi "Buoni o Cattivi" 2004
Vasco Rossi "San Siro 2003 DVD" 2001
Vasco Rossi "Stupido Hotel" 2001
Vasco Rossi "Rewind, Live in Imola" 1999
Vasco Rossi "Canzoni per me" 1998
Vasco Rossi "Rock" 1997
Vasco Rossi "Nessun pericolo per te" 1996
Vasco Rossi "Gli spari sopra" 1993
Narada Michael Walden "Sending Love to Everyone" 1995
Narada Michael Walden "Tribute to Curtis Mayfield" 1994
Temptations "Emotionally Yours" 1997
Marc Russo "The Window" 1994
Sheila E. "Sheila E" 1986
Sheila E. "Romance 1600" 1985
Pablo Cruise "Out Of Our Hands" 1983
Jesse Colin Young "Makin' It Real" 1993
Sheena Easton "My Cherie" 1995
Barbara Higbie & Teresa Trull "Playtime" 1997
John Lee Sanders "World Blue" 1997
Greg Rolie "Gringo" 1988
Peter Elman "Race Point" 1994
Peter Elman "First Take" 1999
Pamela Polland "Heart of the World" 1994
David Denny-Diesel Harmonics "Louisiana Melody" 1997
Alex Murzyn "Cross Currents" 1992
Glassmaker "heh hey Yeah" 1998
Kim Baker "On Her Dream" 1997
Ron Romanovsky "The Perfect Crime" 1992
Mary Paulson "Just Because" 1993
Jennifer Berezan "Borderlines" 1992
Deirdre McCalla "Everyday Heros and Heroines" 1992

MOVIES
"Wayne's World" 1991 Featured in the Alice Cooper segment
"Krush Groove" 1985 Featured with Sheila E. throughout the film


Tv Shows:

VH1 Honors 1997 with Stevie Wonder, James Taylor,
Steve Winwood, Chaka Kahn,
Sheryl Crow, George Michael,
Nile Rodgers and Narada Michael Walden
In Concert (abc) 1991 with Alice Cooper
Children's Hospital Benefit 1990 with Y&T
The Tonight Show 1988 with Michael Bolton
The Tonight Show 1985 with Sheila E.
Saturday Night "Live" 1985 with Sheila E.

T O D A Y-----



Y E S T E R D A Y-----

[Edited 1/11/08 12:25pm]

You guys covered most of it above.

I actually took a lessons from Susie a couple years ago at her school. She was really cool and helped me get some of my songs together for my 3rd ever live gig.

Benny Rietveld is also in Krush Groove in my favorite scene wher they reherase/come up with Holly Rock. He's playing a Dx7 keyboard and actually playing the music to Sister Fate and Sheila comes up wtih the lyrics to Holly Rock.

The band at Family Jamm had Karl on drums, Benny on bass, Juan E on perc, Susie on keys, Miko Weaver on guitar (he was in Sheila's Purple Rain tour band on rhythm guitar before he joined the "counter-Revolution"), Stef on guitar, and I think some of her current band members rounding out the band (extra keys, horns etc.)..... I know her bass player played bass on the Madhouse set since Levi wasn't there. I forget his name at the moment. He's also her Musical Director I think. Interestingly, I dont' think Eddie M was there but I could be wrong.

Now, as much as I loved her PR/Romance 1600 band, if you ever got to see her self-titled album touring band, they were TIGHT and took it to antoher level!!!

It had Levi & Boni Boyer (who both ended up in SOTT/Lovesexy band) as well as the Raphael Saadiq (from Toni Tony Tone) and this awesome sax player Norbert Stachel. If you read the liner notes to "Sheila E" she lists them all in there.

Someone famous was the drummer too but I can't remember now how.

GaryMF said:

Gary MF thanks so much for that really interesting information. I never caught the self-titled touring band.

Reading through their Myspace pages was really interesting too, and Karl is a real powerhouse, as is Benny. These 2 have really expanded their experience beyond belief. And to think they pretty much got their first real exposure with Sheila. And no doubt the association with Prince hasn't hurt them any.

BTW, Sheila's Myspace page is very limited and not well-developed like the others. Perhaps she just relies on her website, which I forgot to list so here it is just in case... www.sheilae.com

GaryMF said:

I am so jealous that you got to see the self-titled album tour. So jealous...

Efan said:[quote]

GaryMF said:

Well..... now you might really hate me..... cuz I saw it twice!!!

Though one time was when she was opening for Lionel Richie in MSG and we had seats in the last row up high where we could barely see anything.

But the other time was in Atlantic City. It's a lon story, but I went through a lot to see it. There was a blizzard in New York and I had just gone back to college after winter break and then I heard about the concert in AC as soon as I got back (I went to Cornell which is like 5 hours from NYC and another 2 from AC).

I had to mobilize my friends and fiure out a way back home to NJ (i didn't have a car) and convince my mother to let me drive down to Atlantic city (another2 hours from our house) in the storm.

Anyway, long story short. we got there..... and it was one of the best concerts EVER!!!!

And.... at one of the last songs..... I ran up onstage and kissed her! It still is very surreal to me taht I did it. I was so nervous!!!! Then for an encore, she did Kiss and lots of people came up on stage and we all were up there and i was standing next to her and then she went into the audience and i strated playing her timbales until the security guard gave me a look.

I still have the drumstick and my avatar is from that concert!

blue22 said:

Sure. If I wasn't replyin at 3 am i might have been able to find my cd case with the liner notes because I now realize I think I forgot Carl Wheeler on keyboards..... who later wrote a famous song ( I think "Anniversery" by The Deele, Babyface's group) and whom I saw last year playing for Frankie Beverly and Maze if I recall correclty.

I wish I could remember who that drummer was. I think it was either Michale Bland or the other male drummer everyone here loves so much (sorry I am blanking on his name right now).

GaryMF said:[quote]

Efan said:

No way can I hate that. Jealous, yes, but I'm very happy for you. In fact, I've wondered where your avatar is from before, so I'm glad I know.

I love that you played her timbales. I had a similar experience one of the times I saw Sheila at La Va Lee in L.A. She was eating dinner before the show started and everyone was just hanging out waiting. I went to use the bathroom and back by the door were timbales with some drawings and religious words written on them, so they obviously were hers, so I banged on them a couple times and then ducked into the bathroom really quickly. (That kinda sounds pathetic, doesn't it?)

Thanks for sharing your story, GaryMF. One of the reasons I really wish I had seen the self-titled album's tour is because I would love to hear "Love on a Blue Train" live. I think it's a forgotten classic. It would be such a great part of her show. I wish she would resurrect it in her shows now.

GaryMF said:[quote]

Efan said:

Wow, that is so cool. I saw her once in San Francisco and it was smoking hot!

You guys crack me up about running up on stage and then getting a look from security or just dashing to the bathroom! How funny I wish I could be that inconspicuous. I'm the type that would be asking anyone in sight, 'Can I speak with Sheila? I need to speak with Sheila, please', which is a guarantee to get me thrown out!

Anyway, what I find even more hilarious is that my boyfriend just told me to stop living in the past! I told him it's not living there, just visiting there!

blue22 said:

Please..... my bf's motto for me is "stuck in the 80's!"

Efan said:

I totally agree! If I recall, she closed the show with that. The song itself on the album is "live-ish" if you know what I mean. I'm trying to remember the shout outs..... "Mazerati... upside your head!" "Jerome... upside your head"!

If y'all remember, around 1986 it was announced that Sheila was going ot headline with The Family and Mazerati opening. I almost lost it when I heard that!!!

Unfortunately, it never happened (though the Family Jamm made up for it 17 years later!) I ownder if that's why they're saying that at the end of the song.

blue22 said:

OMG, I miss the 80's. It is so funny some of you mentioned being stuck in the 80's or living in the past because I am certainly guilty as charged. I loved that whole "Prince Family" era of the mid to late 80's.

I didn't get the chance to see the Self-titled album tour, but I did get to see her and the E-Train tour many years later. And again, she had one of the tightest bands I had ever heard. I really don't remember the line-up but I know Eric Leeds was on sax and Renato Neto was on keys if I am not mistaken.

I saw it in a intimate setting in Houston and was on the first row right in front of her Timbales (I still have the drumstick she dropped and it has indentations on it from where she hit the stick on the rim of the drum. Plus it was a signature stick because her name is printed backwards at the bottom of it). Maybe that contributed to the whole experiences but that was one of the best bands I had ever heard.

Oh and by the way, "Love on a Blue Train" as well as "Soul Salsa" are two of my favorites from her. I still have the album and I still consider it one of the most underrated in my collection.

VelvetJ said:

Oh YES. 'Love on a Blue Train' is funky.

And you got a stick!

Did anyone ever buy her congas?

blue22 said:

My boyfriend once surprised me with the blue player series congas!!! they are really beautiful and a work of art (they blue/aqua).

later when i got my lesson from Sheila from the charity auction, I asked if I could have the matching bongos instead of the one conga they included and they were nice enough to give mt them instead, which she signed.

The only thing is, after Sheila gavae me the lesson, I tried to practice on the ones my bf bought, bought they are for kids and not full size. I could never get the "pop"/slap sound on them. I wasn't too good at it on the full size ones either but on these i can't get them to work.

Eddie M. is on Wayman Tisdale's early discs. ...Eddie also released at at least two CDs that I know of. His "Ward St." is excellent.

GaryMF said:

That's given me a great idea and I've just searched eBay and found some for kids. I will get some for my godson since he's always banging on stuff. Mind as well give him something worthwhile to bang on. Who knows, we might have the next Juan Escovedo. Although, he'd be a Scottish one, so it would be the next Juan Milne. Somehow, just not the same

GaryMF said:

You are correct. Eddie M. wasn't at the Family Jamm. Now that was a great show!!!!

If anyone's interested, here's Sheila playing with Cyndi Lauper....

http://www.youtube.com/wa...qOnrLyXDPE

GaryMF said:

Raphael Wiggins (Saadiq), Carl Wheeler and Tim Christian (all three from Tony Toni Tone) were in Sheila's band for the Sheila E. (3rd) album. If I'm not mistaken, Tim was on drums, Carl was on keys and Raphael was on bass (Levi Seacer was on guitar at the time). Hence... Anniversary was a Tony Toni Tone song, not The Deele.

Oh man, y'all are making me nostalgic for some funky Sheila music... It was her '85 band's performance at the AMAs that led me to Prince fandom in the first place...

Now, GaryMF, Efan, anyone, -- Who has info on Sheila and her band off the brief Sex Cymbal tour in '94(?)... I caught a slammin' show in support of the album at Oasis in San Jose, CA... Was it a national tour or just West Coast?... Were these performances before or after Sheila's injury?... Hypnotized by Sheila's playing that night, I cant recall any of the band members from that era... Anyone have info??

More importantly, has Sheila expressed any recent interest in releasing another funk/soul album??