Mama's Bad Boys

Mama’s Bad Boys are a unique, highly-experienced international blues-rock band. They first appeared for the big audience in the Netherlands, in 1990, and the band’s name was the idea of the bass player, Otis Hornesby. Mama’s Bad Boys are based in Amsterdam.

‘Less is more’ is a favorite motto of the band – the achievement of the maximum results with minimum means. The musical concept of the band is simple, bringing the story (i.e. the blues) to the audience with clarity and expression of mood and musical emotions. The humor and mischievous elements of the performance, the individual skill of the musicians and the groove – it makes everyone dance! An exciting combination of blues, funk, jazz and rock played in a hard ‘black’ manner. It has explosive improvisations and stop-times, all built on the close cooperation and musical understanding of all band members. Spontaneity and unpredictability are the basis of the Mama’s Bad Boys performance, plus relaxed communications and interactions with the audience regardless of large or small stage. The ‘Jack Daniels’ whisky trick is a popular feature - A glass thrown in the air is caught dead on time and then used as a slide for guitar solo ! It supplements the musical context of the performance with an unbeatable atmosphere of the real blues concert, played in the spirit of the best first generation bluesmen - Mama’s Bad Boys play their own compositions and also some evergreen tunes, modified to their own inimitable groove and style.

LAMAR ‘KING BEE’ CHASE – guitarist, singer, composer and arranger – was born in California, USA, into the family of a school-teacher and a policeman. Lamar started playing guitar at the age of 14 and was deeply involved in the world of music and soon became well-known due to his extraordinary musical talent. He has played with John Lee Hooker, J.J. Malone, Lowell Folson, participated in concerts with Tower of Power, Sly and Family Stone, Santana, Pointer Sisters and with many other representatives of the blues, jazz and funk world. In the 80s he became the leader of his own Lamar Chase Band. With them he toured in the USA until 1989, and then he migrated to Amsterdam. His band was transformed into the classical blues-rock trio Mamas Bad Boys during the next few years, and the band became well-known headliners of many big festivals in Europe. He got his nickname ‘King Bee’ from one more blues legend – Cool Papa Sadler.

OTIS RAHIM HORNESBY – bassist, singer, composer and arranger – was born in New-Jersey, USA, into a family of musicians. From his childhood Rahim was surrounded by the strong support of his relatives and started developing his musical abilities at an early age. At just 17 years old, he got his first professional experience in the USA on the tour of Jimmy Reed. Soon after that he had close collaboration for many years with the famous jazz singer Nancy Wilson. He also toured the USA playing with the legend of soul-music Phyllis Hyman and All the People. Finally, in California, he met Lamar ‘King Bee’ Chase, and so more than 20 years ago they put down the foundation of the band that is now as well-known abroad as in Holland - Mama’s Bad Boys. In 1989, Rahim came in Amsterdam, as a member of this band. Alongside this, he worked also with the band of Curtis Knight (the legendary singer from the Jimi Hendrix band) and in many other projects.

TOLIK SMIRNOFF – drummer, arranger and backing vocals – was born in Ivanovo, USSR, into a family of school-teachers. The hobby of the whole family was music. As a boy he studied in music school, initially as a pianist, he then changed his choice of instrument and began playing drums, which then defined his future musical fortune. Tolik Smirnoff graduated from the M.P.Mussorgsky Musical College, St Petersburg as a jazz-drummer. In 2000 he moved to Amsterdam. He played with different musicians such as Niki Buzz (ex.-Tina Turner, Parliament Funkadelic), Julius Green (ex.-The Platters) before joining Mama’s Bad Boys.

• Family Business (2019)