The Blender lead by Michael Israel

The BLENDER is a concept put together by drummer Michael Israel to bring together different groupings of the many musicians he has been playing with since arriving in the Bay area in the early 90’s. The music can take on a variety of forms depending both on the instrumentation and the limitless desires of the various instrumentalists involved. No two shows are identical, and variety and eclecticism are the very ingredients to keep audiences asking for more. The idea is to have fun and never be stagnant or doing things by rote. Apparently this formula is working because the BLENDER is gaining in popularity & demand rapidly!

Michael Israel – Arrived in Marin in 1993 playing with local artist Seven Harkey in the critically acclaimed Seven Harkey & the Lomaxes. He fell in love with the Bay area while on tour with A Flock of Seagulls, the Grammy winning British band. While in the New York area he worked in a variety of situations both live and in the studio with the likes of Poppa Chubby, Iggy Pop, Norah Jones, Willi Jones, Noel Redding, Ivan Julian (Mathew Sweet), Richard Tee, Will Lee, Bonnie Hayes and the Shanachie All-Stars. In addition to his own bands, Los Madhouse and Speak No Evil with guitarists Caffal & Sanders, Michael played drums with Levi Lloyd for 5 years and has enjoyed backing up a host of blues luminaries such as Alvon Johnson, Daniel Castro, Bill Noteman and Willy Jordan.

Michael Blakeman is an award-winning composer and musician,  playing music in the SF Bay Area for 30 some years. He has toured with The Sons of Champlin, The Rowan Brothers, Bud Cockrell (from Pablo Cruise), Patti Santos (It’s a Beautiful Day) and has played sessions with Huey Lewis, Narada Michael Walden, Mickey Thomas, Boz Scaggs, Steve Goodman , Mic Gillett (Tower of Power) and many other top performers. He founded The Marin All Stars in the 1980s / 90s. Michael was also a studio musician for a variety of well-known musical artists. He has won Clio awards for his work as a composer for Levi’s 501 Jeans and other iconic national brands. He has also composed scores for Discovery Channel as well as movie trailer work in Los Angeles. He continues to perform throughout the SF Bay Area and is currently playing with several groups in the North Bay most recently as Michael Blakeman and The Sonoma Posse. He covers every musical style from R&B to Jazz and Rock.

Terry Sanders, a retired Oakland Firefighter, works tirelessly on community related issues, enjoys spending time with family, and devotes himself to his lifelong passion: music. As the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the blues band The Dylan Black Project (named the Top Blues Band by the North Bay Bohemian in 2017 and 2018), Terry performs at public events and venues throughout Sonoma County. He recently met Tommy Miller and Michael Israel when jamming with Bob McBain. The three of them realized immediately they had a special chemistry and wanted to do more together. Speak No Evil is the genesis of that.

Tommy Miller is an incredibly in demand bassist playing with all sorts of projects. Originally with the Greg Allman Band, Tom played with Mickey Thomas’ Starship, Doug Clifford of CCR fame, Alvin Youngblood Hart and a host of others including the great Levi Lloyd where he met Craig and Michael. Tom, Michael & Craig are the nucleus of Los Madhouse.  Tom & Michael paired up Terry and keyboardist Bob McBain they felt right away both a musical and personal connection that led to the formation of Speak No Evil.

Craig Caffall’s career has paired him up with some notable artists including Bo Diddley, John Mayall, Martha Davis and the Motels, David Clayton Thomas, Cyril & Charles Neville (Neville Bros.), Lee Oskar, Dan Hicks, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Wier, and Steve Earle, just to name a few. 
Caffall has been residing for the last 24 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and  has been playing guitar with legendary singer Maria Muldaur for the past 19 years. He leads his own band as well as playing in the Sonoma Shakers and Los Madhouse with Bob McBain, Tom Miller & Mike Israel.