The Rotations
THE BAND
FLOYD ("JR" ) STOKES, JR
Drums, vocals
Floyd Stokes Jr. grew up in the Lansing area and became interested in music when he was 14. At 15 he received his first set of drums as a Christmas present and quickly started playing music with his brother. As a Lansing based musician Floyd played in several local and regional bands over the years before landing a position of drummer / vocalist for the Detroit based Motown recording Artist Rare Earth. Maintaining this position for the past 20 plus years, Floyd has recorded and toured nationally and internationally. Floyd's musical talents have given him the opportunity to share the stage with many talented acts. One of the most memorable acts was the legendary James Brown. When not on tour with Rare Earth, Floyd shares the stage with his other musical family, The Rotations, and enjoys playing locally and regionally.
MUSIC
HANK HORTON
Bass, vocals
Hank was born in North Carolina, and migrated to Michigan where he first attended Central Michigan University
and received a Bachelor's of Music in string bass performance. Hank earned a Master's of Music in string bass performance at Michigan State University. Over the years he has performed in a myriad of venues, with a wide variety of artists spanning numerous styles of music such as rock, pop, jazz, country, classical, blues, latin...and anything else you can put in front of him. Being schooled, both academically and in the real world in this wide ranging styles of music has proved to be one of the keys to his success. Currently he is based in Lansing, and travels frequently to Chicago where he performs and records with various artists. He also keeps a touring schedule throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.
Partial list of Credits:
Hank Horton has performed and/or recorded with: Styx, Dennis Deyoung,
James Young, Todd Sucherman, Peter Noone, Michael Ingersoll, Mark Colby, Kalii Palmer, The Brass Tracks Jazz Orchestra, The New York Pops Orchestra,The Saginaw Symphony,
Bill Watrous, the College of Dupage Jazz Band,Peter Graves, Epicycle, Mark Vickery, Due West, TNT, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, Bob Newhart,
Joan Rivers, Don Rickles.
JAY ("MOCHA" ) WALLER
Alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, harmonica, vocals
Jay "Mocha" Waller has been singing from the early age of 5, and started playing Saxophone at the age of 11. He is also an avid percussionist and loves playing harmonica when possible. Mocha is a strong advocate for remaining professional and loves to entertain. His motto is " the bigger the crowd, the more fun."Mocha toured with the Air Force Entertainment Group "Tops in Blue" in the 90's. During that time, he discovered that his passion for music will take him only as far as his imagination. Currently, he is one of the lead vocalists with "Newsmakers", a Lorio Ross Entertainment band out of the Detroit area. In order to maintain a full schedule, he also fills in at Saxophone and lead vocals with Lansing's 496 West Jazz Band. Some of his recording projects include The Vince Chapman Jazz Quartet as well as Tom Goss. Playing locally, Mocha holds the position of Saxophonist / Singer / Harmonica and Percussionist for The Rotations and is always ready for the next event.