By Patte Purcell
Musical entertainment icons continue to gravitate towards the desert. Last year a celebrated musical artist who’s run the genres from rock, to blues, to smooth jazz moved to Palm Springs. He’s called Slim Man and brings a wealth of experience and artistry to the Coachella Valley.
Slim’s first musical gig was writing songs for Motown. He signed with Carl Griffin and he put him on the payroll writing songs for Motown artists. He wrote for them for 2 years and had a new CD under his belt that was to be released by Motown. Then it fell apart when Motown restructured.
His next foray into music was in 1980. His rock group BootCamp had 2 of the first 100 videos on MTV and they got enormous notoriety as a result. They did one record on vinyl and had 1 single, and two EPs, Bootcamp and 5 x 4.
He moved on to Blues with his band The Scrappy Harris Band. Tim Camp aka ‘Slim Man’ created new blues songs on the spot when he played with his band. Slim described them as ‘Adam Sandler meets the Rolling Stones’. They recorded one live record at The Horse You Came In On, one of the oldest bars in the US.
He even did country music promotion when he organized a Marlboro Country Music Talent Round-up Contest that took place in little country bars around the country. His discovery and the winner of the contest was no less then Ronnie Dunn of super country duo Brooks and Dunn. He’s got a great screenplay he wrote about it called “The Marlboro Man” if you’re looking for a great movie.
How did Slim Man become ‘Slim Man’? He joked that it was when he asked his father what he thought his chances were to make it in the music business and his dad said “Slim, man”.
Actually, it was from the country gig where his name was Slim Chance.
It turned into Slim Man when he started his ongoing career in smooth jazz as Slim Man. He has 11 CDs to date. Slim has been called ‘the male Sade’ and “A near- perfect example of how jazz and soul can be combined as pop” by JD Considine of Rolling Stone.
His lyrics are romantic and his melodies are haunting. Slim Man brings professionalism to the smooth jazz music scene that is rarely seen. His vocals set him apart from the rest of the smooth jazz stars. He’s played and plays with the very top of the A List crowd, from Peter White to Rick Braun and others. He performed at the KSBR Bash last year with Paul Brown, Peter White, Greg Vail (who is also in Slim’s band) and a host of others. He will be doing the same this year on May 24th in San Juan Capistrano.
His best friend, smooth jazz superstar Marc Antoine, just moved to Southern Cal and they hope to perform together again. Marc has produced and/or appeared on a number of Slim Man’s CDs over the years. He produced A Thousand Miles Away at Marc’s studio in Spain.
Slim has been working on a cookbook, Slim Man Cooks, slated for a fall release. 52 recipes will be included along with his comical style of writing about his musical experiences. The kicker is a QR code which will allow users to scan the code and it will take them to a video of Slim preparing the recipe. Slim first started to record the cooking videos the year he got his beloved dog Batu for Christmas along with a video camera. The videos are humorous and include his delicious, easy, and healthy Italian recipes. All of his dishes can be completed in about 30 minutes and are easy even for the cooking novice. Many contain his adorable dog ‘Batu’ who was a rescue. Sadly, Batu passed away last year but Slim has plans to adopt another one when his busy schedule editing the book is finished.
Along with some national concerts he also performs some solo shows here in the desert. On Thursday nights he’s at La Rue Wine Bar in La Quinta. I went to see his new show a couple of weeks ago. In addition to Slim Man songs he’s added some great Dean Martin and other ‘Rat Pack’ tunes. He keeps it interesting with some great Grammy trivia. He tells some jokes and plays keyboards and guitar in addition to singing. It’s a great show, 6:30 until 9:30.
On Tuesdays he’s at 360 North in Palm Springs with his ‘Vino with Dino’ show. Local dance instructor Carl Davis gives free dance lessons to all comers and it’s a great time! He’s doing some country club gigs and will be at Oscars in Palm Springs on Wednesday May 20 from 6-9.
The biggie local gig here is a “Jazz Appreciation Month Party” at Shanghai Reds (inside Fisherman’s Market in Palm Springs) on Monday night April 27 from 7-10. Ruth Ruiz of RR Class Act Entertainment (who books Slim) is having a party to showcase her artists. Slim Man and his band will be playing. You’ll get a chance to see the same act that performs in shows all over southern California. There’s no cover so come on over and enjoy! I’ll be covering the event for CV Weekly.
In addition to musical gigs, Slim gives cooking lessons and can cook up his delicious dinners and entertain for private parties and events. What a great idea to have a super special dinner party for your friends and have this world class entertainer cook it and entertain you while you enjoy your dinner. He does private parties with his band as well all over southern California.
Check him out at www.slimman.com and www.slimmancooks.com
If you haven’t experienced Slim Man yet come out and be entertained on April 27, 7-10 at Shanghai Reds for the Jazz Appreciation Party with his band, Greg Vail on sax, Craig Chestnut on drums and Hans Zermuehlen on keys with guest artists including Joe Baldino, Rose Mallet, Angie Whitney and other surprise guests. No cover. Everyone will be there!
To book Slim Man, contact Ruth at 1-760-777-2328.
