Mike Rinta, a Grammy-winning trombonist & arranger, is native to the San Francisco Bay Area and has been freelancing for over 38 years. He has toured the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and Asia with many bands such as Sly & The Family Stone, Jimmie Vaughan, Taj Mahal, Howard Tate, John Lee Hooker Jr. and many others. In addition, he has performed or recorded with many greats such as: Herbie Hancock, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Doobie Brothers, Bernard Purdy, Arturo Sandoval, Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, Sammy Hagar, Robert Plant, Jerry Garcia, Irma Thomas, Steve Cropper, Elvis Costello as well as countless others!
His Latin credits include: Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Tito Nieves, Eddie Santiago, Hector Rey, David Pabon, Larry Harlow, Maelo Ruiz, Lalo Rodriguez, La India, Pete Escovedo, Shiela E. and Santana.
Ken "Snakebite" Jacobs spent most of his life in the New Orleans music scene, where he played with just about everyone, before joining with Macy Blackman and the Mighty Fines in 2006. He plays baritone sax, tenor sax, and clarinet, bringing an authentic jazz sound to the band.
Snakebite studied at the Berklee College of Music and with John Handy. He has played and recorded with The Temptations, The Band, Earl King, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hicks, Country Joe McDonald, and more!
Bing Nathan studied jazz arranging and composing with Fred Karlin and Bill Mathieu while growing up in the Chicago area, double bass with Stuart Sankey at the Aspen Festival, and privately in NYC. He then attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied bass, piano, and composition, and played in the Orchestra conducted by Igor Stravinsky!
Since moving to the Bay Area, Bing has performed with The Ulysses Crockett Afro Blue Persuasion (afro Cuban jazz), John Shine and Company (singer-songwriter), Charlie Hickox and the Moons (original r'n'b), Lost Weekend (western swing), Notes from the Underground (rock), Darby Slick and Hair (before the musical came out!), Rockin' Daddy (rockabilly), the Ultras (surf rock), as well as with several symphony orchestras. Bing was the bass player on the movie soundtrack for "Big Bad Moma" with David Grisman and Jerry Garcia, and toured and recorded two CD's with Lavay Smith's Red Hot Skillet Lickers (early R&B). He has also led his own bands, Bing's Swingin' Thing, The New Bing Thing, and Commander's Pals. Since 2003, he has been a mainstay with The Mighty Fines, also handling back up vocals.
Larry Vann has toured and recorded with Elvin Bishop, Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, Charlie Musselwhite, Rufus Thomas, The Whispers, Charles Brown, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Randy Crawford, Ron Thompson, and many more. He was a staff musician for Soul Train Records, and has performed on the “Midnight Special” television show. He's the creator of the "Oakland Scratch Groove" and is an inductee into The West Coast Blues Society's Hall of Fame. In his own words, Larry is a groove merchant, always searching for a groove.