Jim Wacker and Colaterall Damage consists of some of the best session guys in NYC. They've been playing together for 5 years at least once a week. In that time, they've put together the tightest and rockingest band in the city. But in addition to rock, they are versed in nearly any style of music [which is, of course ,nessesary to rock properly]. From jazz to country, funk to punk to styles they invent themselves, you are guaranteed not to get bored. You can catch them any Tuesday at 9PM at Keenan's where with some help from some auxiliary members, they generally rock a full club. Andy Bassford (Guitar)
Andy Bassford first became known as a guitarist in Kingston, Jamaica. From 1980-85 he was never out of the local charts, cutting dozens of hits as a session player with Roots Radics, Sly & Robbie, the Wailers band, and many others. As a member of Lloyd Parks & We The People, he also performed on stage with nearly every reggae act of the era. Andy has toured extensively with Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Yellowman, and, since 1988, with Toots & the Maytals. Currently living in the Bronx, he plays sessions, tours internationally with Toots, and gigs in the NYC area with Collateral Damage, New Kingston, Amy Coleman, Reggae Plus, and his own band the Blue People. Andy has also performed or recorded with Percy Sledge, LaVern Baker, Ron Wood, Bobby Keys, Rosco Gordon, Coati Mundi, Ernest Ranglin, and Graham Haynes. Notable recent sessions include tracks featuring Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, and Trey Anastasio for Toots's 2004 Grammy-winning "True Love" album, as well as a number of tracks for the upcoming Shaggy album. Andy has written for Guitar Player and Onstage magazines and is writing a book about his time in Jamaica. In May 2003, he received an award from the Jamaica Federation of Musicians for outstanding contributions to the Jamaican music industry.

      Alex Craven (Bass)
Alex began his musical career with the world-renowned St. Thomas boys choir in NYC. He switched to electric bass as a teenager and quickly began gigging including: rock bands at the Mudd Club, CBGB's etc., blues at New York's Dan Lynch and Chicago's Kingston Mines, and jazz at the Bottom Line with Buddy Rich. His formal music education included theory at Columbia University and private study.

Since 1999 Alex has played: original rock and pop with over twenty different projects in NYC at the Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, Bitter End, Elbow Room, Arleen Grocery, Meow Mix; electric blues at Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago, Tobacco Road in NYC; R&B at El Mocambo in Toronto Canada and Pennsylvania's Raven's Nest; and Irish Rock on nationwide tour.

Alex has also played with: The Comets [Rock Around the Clock], The Legends of Doo-Wop, Zack Fisher, Nine Times Eternal, Michael Powers Frequency, Myim Rose & Presence, The Ted Brooks Band, The Turnstile Jumpers, David Coburn, Messiah, Star Spangle Gypsy, Mr. Tang, Sheri Lambert, and The Singer's Collective. Alex works as a session musician and producer in NYC for demos and independent albums including Bill Popp's "Blind Love Sees Tears" & Myim Rose's "Rage" & "Crumble," and as producer on Corynne Wilder's "Wish." Alex continues to study electric bass privately, ensemble playing at JazzMobile, and dance at NYC's Dance Space. He's been playing with Collateral Damage since 2002, hundreds of nights, helping host the Uptown Jam.. He's the foundation of their powerful, nuanced sound, and without him, their female following would be much smaller.


 
Rick Sperber (Drums )
Rick may have first learned to play drums while banging on his mother's pots and pans, but he has since played with the Byrds, and released a CD with a road-house blues band called One Eyed Cat. Sperber said music has always been his true love. "It's like being in the zone, when you're playing and it's working, there's nothing like it. It's like the music plays you. I'd rather do [music] than anything.

Rick prefers the sound of vintage American drums. He's been the heart of Collateral Damage since 2002, and there's nothing like his sound. He's got the versatility that hosting the Uptown Jam requires, always sounding like he grew up playing whatever weird thing a guest artist might come up with. When not playing drums, Rick is a computer genius who builds computer systems in his spare time.