Who is The Coral Reefer Band

Michael Utley grew up in Arkansas and was heavily influenced musically by the sounds of Memphis soul and New Orleans rhythm and blues. Michael honed his craft in Miami with the famed Criteria Studio. He was also a member of the Dixie Flyers band and has flexed his musical muscles as an accomplished keyboardist, producer, and composer.

In February 1973, after Jimmy Buffett had moved to Key West from Nashville, he heard Michael Utley playing on one of Jerry Jeff Walker's albums. He liked what he heard and asked Mike to play on his first ABC/Dunhill album ("A White Sport Coat & a Pink Crustacean"). During this time, Utley was touring with Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. Simultaneously, he began touring with Jimmy and has been with him ever since.

Mr. Utley has recorded with an impressive list of artists including Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Brook Benton, Arthur Conley, Ronnie Hawkins, Duane Allman, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Jimmy Cliff, Lulu, Petula Clark, Carmen McRae, Sam "The Sham", Jackson Browne, Booker T. Jones, John Kay (Steppenwolf), and Jerry Jeff Walker. Utley is also the accomplished producer of eleven albums with Mr. Buffett. Additionally, he produced Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits album, and was producer/musical director for the Cinemax special, "Black and White Night" with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits.

Robert Greenidge grew up in the heart of the Caribbean, on the Island of Trinidad. He started playing steel drums when he was 8 years old. "My Uncle Carl was a steel drum player, and made them as well, so it's a family legacy." Robert has become one of the most successful steel drum players in the world. He has toured with Taj Mahal, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nillson, and Brian Wilson among others. Mr. Greenidge is also a long time musical director of the legendary steel band, The Desparadoes, with whom he returns home to Trinidad each year to play in the Carnivale celebration.

Jimmy Buffett met Robert Greenidge through a mutual friend during the recording of One Particular Harbour (1983). Jimmy wanted a good steel drum player and it just so happened Robert lived in Los Angeles where they were recording. Robert went to the studio, played on two songs, "One Particular Harbour" and "Brown Eyed Girl," and has been with Buffett ever since.

For more than a quarter century, Ralph MacDonald has stood at the forefront of traditional and contemporary music leaving his indelible mark on nearly every genre of melody and rhythm. Ralph MacDonald was literally born into music. His father was MacBeth The Great, a popular calypsonian and bandleader during the 1940s & '50s. At seventeen, MacDonald became the percussionist for famed songster Harry Belafonte and began a musical relationship with him that would last nearly a decade. During that time, MacDonald wrote an album of songs for Belafonte entitled "Calypso Carnival".

In 1971, MacDonald had begun working with Roberta Flack and during a recording session, he played a sampling of his material for Roberta. She fell in love with one of the tunes that MacDonald had originally intended to give to The Fifth Dimension. They never got a chance to hear it since Roberta claimed it for her new album and teamed up with Donny Hathaway to record the very first version of a song that would later be covered by more than two hundred different artists in over thirty languages. The song, "Where Is The Love," sold over ten million copies and gave MacDonald his first Grammy as a writer.
In all, Ralph MacDonald has played percussion on nearly a dozen Grammy Award winners including Carly Simon and James Taylor's "Mockingbird," Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" and "Graceland," Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are," Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly," George Benson's "Breezin'," Bette Midler's "Do You Want To Dance," Diana Ross' "Mirror, Mirror" and, of course, "Winelight." MacDonald also won a Grammy for his performance on Bob James' musical theme for the television sitcom classic "Taxi". For ten consecutive years, 1979 through 1988, MacDonald won the "Most Valuable Player Of The Year" award for percussion from NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Peter's life began in Tamilnadu, India, where his parents served as missionaries for 17 years before returning to their Missouri roots. Musical influences from that period of his life can be heard in his playing. Peter recalls, "I can remember Indian musicians giving Christmas concerts in my parents' house. Wildly playing drums and flutes, shakers, and bells, they would go on for hours and hours." He went on to study formal theory and composition, and to teach jazz guitar as a faculty member of Webster University.

When Elliot Scheiner was hired to produce Jimmy Buffett's "Off to See the Lizard" album, he suggested that Jimmy use PM, a band which included Peter Mayer, his brother Jim Mayer, and Roger Guth, for the recording sessions. Buffett was so impressed with their unique versatility as musicians and performers that he quickly hired them as part of his own Coral Reefer Band, a successful relationship that continues to date.

Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, Peter Mayer has been quietly and steadily building a fervent following across the country, stepping outside his role as one of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefers to front his own band, The Peter Mayer Group. Melding a unique and eclectic writing style, a distinctive voice, and virtuoso musicianship, Peter and his band create compelling and accessible music that is electrifying in live performance.

Jim Mayer was born in Ambur, India. The son of a Lutheran minister, he was the youngest of eight children. Jim's earliest musical memories are of getting the Parlophone 45s from England. Before the age of five, Jim was well acquainted with "Please Please Me" and Cliff Richards' "Summer Holiday."

Elliot Scheiner was producing Jimmy Buffett's album "Off to See the Lizard". In addition to working with Steely Dan and Aretha Franklin, Elliot had worked with PM, the band that included Jim Mayer, his brother Peter Mayer, and Roger Guth. When Scheiner heard that Buffett was looking for some new musicians for the album, he suggested that Jimmy use PM. Jim Mayer still remembers Jimmy Buffett walking into the studio saying, "So this is my new band!" Jim recalls, "We didn't know who the heck this guy was." "We figured it would be a single project and maybe a gig or two. Ten years later, here we are, full-fledged Coralator Reefermegators." Jim still remembers the very first Buffett concert he played in San Diego. He could almost NOT play because he was laughing so hard at the antics of the audience, which included a giant conga line wearing enough grass skirts to cover the set of South Pacific!

"God is good, life is good, and we have each other. That is my motto. Playing with Buffett and the interaction with the fans is an incredible experience. I am extremely blessed and grateful for all the gifts God has granted me."

Roger Guth knew that playing music would be an integral part of his life when he was growing up outside St. Louis. Roger played in his father's wedding band by playing drums in local VFW halls as a ten year old, but the band brought along a drum machine just in case he fell asleep. By the time he was a teenager, Roger had built a strong foundation as both a drummer and a pianist.

Some of Roger's early influences in music came by listening to great jazz performers such as Elvin Jones and Buddy Rich, and then later by listening to some of the black jazz musicians of the time. Over a period of time, Roger began writing music that he knew he would not only record, but sing as well.

The results of this work came early in 1998 with the release of Roger's first CD, titled "Scotch". The clever, humorous, and heartfelt songs from the CD have taken people by surprise, resulting in a whole new respect for this musician as fans are now requesting to hear him sing "Blue Guitar" while playing at Island Fest and Peter Mayer shows.

Singer/songwriter veteran, Mac McAnally, is also a producer, session player, publisher, band member, studio owner, comic, story teller, and so on - a basic modern day William Faulkner living in the music industry.

He has recorded 10 studio albums all on major record labels, and has written multiple #1 records for the Country Music charts as well as others that roamed the top 40 Pop charts. Over 30 national recording artists have recorded songs written by Mac. He has produced country records for Sawyer Brown, Ricky Skaggs and more. Mac was the first artist ever to be signed by David Geffen for Geffen Records; the next couple of artists Geffen signed were John Lennon and Elton John.

Artists such as Roy Orbison, Hank Williams Jr., Amy Grant, Travis Tritt, Linda Rondstadt, Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Alabama, George Strait, Patty Loveless, etc., have hired Mac for his guitar playing or vocal harmonies.

As a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, Mac has written a number of songs with Buffett, including two songs from "License to Chill": 'Coast of Carolina' and the title track, 'License to Chill'. Jimmy also recorded Mac's song, 'It's My Job' which appears on Buffett's 1981 album, "Coconut Telegraph".

Doyle Grisham was born in Temple, Texas. His early influences included Carl Smith and Webb Pierce. He started playing guitar professionally when he was fifteen. While attending Temple Junior College, he discovered he could make more money playing music than continuing his pursuits to become a teacher. At 21, while on tour with the Big "D" Jamboree, he began playing steel guitar professionally.

In the '60s, Doyle moved to Nashville, where he worked with Roy Drusky, David Houston and others, and he played the Grand Ole Opry. While working with Tompall and the Glaser Brothers at their studio and doing demos for their publishing companies, he developed a reputation and was asked to work with other producers around Nashville on their projects. It was during this period in the early '70s that he played on his first Jimmy Buffett album, which opened him to the fields of pop music as well as country.

In 1986, Doyle was chosen as one of the five finalists for Instrumentalist of the Year at the Country Music Association awards. During the past few years he has divided his time between studio musician and engineer, record producer, and traveling musician, most recently as the steel guitar player with the Coral Reefer Band. He has appeared on several of Jimmy's albums over the last 25 years.

John Lovell started playing trumpet at age 5 because his dad was a trumpet player. He joined his school band, went to college, dropped out, and then got his first major musician job with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He later did a stint with the O'Jays and ended up touring with them. He eventually moved to Miami and attended the University of Miami School of Music where he played in the concert jazz band. He started working in a club called Bananas, where he had the opportunity to play with artists such as Tony Bennett, Dianne Carroll, Bob Hope, and Ben E. King.

John won the Downbeat Magazine student-recording award for Outstanding Performance by a Jazz Instrumentalist in 1982. He spent time during the "fabulous 80s" at jazz radio WDNA in Miami; however, in 1987 he was a "starving musician" paying bills as a substitute teacher in the Dade County public schools.

In 1992, John was selling stereos, working at a local Circuit City store when he got a call from a friend who was in the studio with Jimmy Buffett, where they were looking for a trumpet player. He sent a tape, resume, and picture and two weeks later he got the job. John has always been a jazz player and, when he's not touring with Jimmy Buffett, he can be found playing with a local swing band in the Palm Beach area.

A native Californian, Tina has been involved in entertainment and the arts all her life. Her professional career began at age sixteen, hosting a local television show. Modeling for teen fashion magazines and commercial acting soon followed. Performing with The Doodletown Pipers was the first taste of what would become her favorite pastime, singing and dancing. Then, taking a short break from music, she represented The California Angels baseball organization as their on-air spokesperson in television commercials, appearing at games and various charity events as Miss California Angel.

Next came performances with local bands, "Star Search", and music videos. She was featured in what became an early MTV favorite, John Waite's "Change." More local bands and studio vocal work followed, including sessions for Tori Amos, Martika, and Bill Medley, among others. Doing "ghost vocals" and television appearances as both a singer and actress kept her busy while also teaching aerobic dance classes and designing for the ornamental glass industry.

During the winter of 1995, Tina joined The Coral Reefer Band, a calling she now refers to as "the best job in the world." In 1997, she was the executive producer and stylist for fellow Coral Reefer Peter Mayer's music video "Shall We Dance" and is now working on writing and recording her first solo project. Tina has a passionate interest in the promotion of hemp products as an important ecological and health resource. When she's not touring with Jimmy and The Coral Reefers, Tina's spare time is filled with the care of her four bunnies, who are happy that she's a vegetarian.

Nadirah was born in San Antonio, TX & moved to Los Angeles at the age of seven. She told her mother at age 6, "I'm going to be like Diana Ross!"; and she's been singing ever since. Nadirah's father sang, played guitar, and trumpet. After much hard work, she soon found herself singing background on records and tours with Janet Jackson, Madonna, Paula Abdul, Phyllis Hyman, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, and Howard Hewitt, among others.

In 1992, she was a member of the Hip Hop group, Arrested Development, who won a Grammy for best new artist the next year. Touring with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band has been described by Nadirah as being a blessing, and one that just keeps coming. In November 1999, she recorded her first solo album, "Soul Power".

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