What a smile! What a sweetheart! Oh yeah, Walfredo Reyes Jr. is also a spectacular drummer/percussionist. Seeing Wally in action last month killing it with Chicago, and then meeting him afterward clinched that he’s the trifecta. This time with him on Game Changers makes clear all three, even if he didn’t lift a stick or slap a cajón.

Wally brought his A+ game, treating us to stories about his musical royal family. From his maternal grandfather, his brilliant and accomplished father, Walfredo Reyes Sr., who played with Josephine Baker, Louie Bellson, Bobby Darin, Dionne Warwick, and Debbie Reynolds to name a few, and passed on the percussion/drummer whiz gene to his talented son, who also played with Debbie Reynolds, as well as Ricki Lee Jones, Richard Marx, Sergio Mendes, Smokey Robinson, Boz Scaggs… but we got the stories about his time with Santana, Traffic, then Steve Winwood, Lindsay Buckingham and how he got to Chicago, with a little help from his brother, Daniel, of the Zach Brown Band.

We talked Wally’s serendipitous twist with Chicago, this band he adores and has been a part of for 13 years - the woman he loves and met thanks to them, how the pandemic thwarted their wedding but not their marriage, their idyllic life off the beaten trail, Wally’s passion for all music, his influences, heroes, side projects, his amazing kids, and perhaps a few dreams he’s yet to live. I have no doubt he’ll manifest them.

Wally’s career has run the gamut of every conceivable genre of music and he’s seemingly mastered them all. As he has the gift of grace, kindness, warmth, passion, enthusiasm, and genuine charm.

My heartfelt apologies for being under the weather and careless setting up the Live––last week’s title still haunting the space, and after 4 hours of trying discovering there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I owe Wally big time for this, and for that drum/percussion solo, he shares with Ray Yslas in the Chicago show. Wow. Just wow!

Chicago tours 8 months of the year, please do yourself a favor and don’t miss them, and check out all the other cool stuff in Wally’s World.

For all things Walfredo: walfredoreyesjr.com

I had such a great time with Wally! Come for the fun, stay for the inspiration.

Walfredo Reyes Jr. Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wed, March 29, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streamed Live on The Facebook

Replay here:

https://bit.ly/3nuQdXk