The Groove Overlord has been a diehard funkophile for well over forty years. But funk also opened the door to many other genres of music: jazz, blues, reggae, soul, gospel, Afro-Beat, Latin American, Caribbean—music of the African diaspora. While in graduate school in the 1990s, he deejayed jazz and blues programs on community radio station WEFT-90.1 FM in Champaign, IL.

The GO is also a musician, the world’s okayest bass player and baritone ‘ukulelist. He has played in reggae and jazz bands, in several of his university’s world music ensembles (Chinese, Middle Eastern, Balinese gamelan, and Afro-Pop), and has played U-Bass and written arrangements for the Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra since 2019. He has been enormously blessed to perform onstage with musicians who are way out of his league, including Jan Sebon, Mathew Tembo, Fareed Haque, and Yang Wei.