OUR STORY
RF Factor was born from the shared passion of husband-and-wife duo Rochelle and Doug Michels, affectionately known as Ro and Dougie. Newly married, they first bonded over the World Cup, and during one of their conversations, Ro revealed her dream of starting her
own band. Without hesitation, Dougie replied, "Sure, we can do that!"—and so RF Factor came to life.
With Dougie’s extensive experience working alongside major artists to develop their live shows, and Ro's impressive background, holding a BM in Audio Engineering and a Masters in Theory Composition, they were perfectly poised to create a fresh, dynamic group that would captivate audiences from the start.
OUR MUSICIANS
RF
RF (Ro) - Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ro was gifted her tenor sax at a young age by the late great James Moody (which she almost traded in for a “shiny” sax!). After moving to South Florida, she continued her studies with a degree in audio engineering. She quickly realized that being an audio engineer wasn’t the best fit for her, so she started pursuing performing. She has played with greats such as Jennifer Hudson, Camila Cabello, Vanessa Williams, and many others. When Ro is not performing, she is teaching audio production at HBCU Florida Memorial University.
Doug Michels
born in Brooklyn but raised on Long Island, Doug started playing the trumpet at a young age and quickly excelled. He moved to Miami to continue his studies in music and became part of the salsa music scene playing with such greats as Celia Cruz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Puente, and many others. This eventually led Doug to join Gloria Estefan and her band The Miami Sound Machine which he is still currently a member of. He can also be heard on many recordings from J-Lo to
Flo-Rida, and many others. When not playing, Doug enjoys working on classic cars!
Kai Sanchez
Kai Sanchez was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. In 1992 he began attending his hometown Conservatory Jose Luis Paz, where he studied music theory and double bass with Roberto Di Maso and Maciej Zlotkowski, respectively. At the end of 1995, Kai moved to the United States and in
1996 began attending Miami-Dade Community College. He later switched to the School of Music
at the University of Miami, where in 2001 he earned a Bachelor of Music with an emphasis in Jazz Performance, and later in 2012 a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Florida International
University. Since 1995, he has resided in Miami, studying with Vincent Bredice, Don Coffman,
Nicky Orta, Matt Bonelli, and Jamie Ousley.
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Kai's extraordinary versatility with musical styles has enabled him to perform with many artists in
a variety of genres on the double bass as well as on the bass guitar. In the jazz idiom, Kai has
performed with such artists as Dave Valentin, Ira Sullivan, Randy Brecker, Othello Molineaux,
Stephen Scott, Richie Cole, Allan Harris, Johnny Rodgers, Nicole Henry, Jim Snidero,
Phillip Strange, Hector Martignon, Valeria Proaño, Nestor Torres, and The Harry James Orchestra.
In the Pop and Latin genre, Kai has recorded and performed with a long list of artists that includes
Engelbert Humperdinck, Los Bacilos, Rey Ruiz, and Francisco Cespedes. He has earned two
Grammy Awards and one nomination as a recording musician in albums by Latin pop music artists Willy Chirino and Johnny Ventura. Kai has participated in many musical theatre productions, including Carly Simon’s Romulus Hunt, Fiddler In The Roof, In The Heights, Cabaret and 13.
He has also worked for television shows and recorded commercial jingles. Kai has been
Christian Davis
Guitarist and educator Christian Davis received his degree in jazz studies from Florida Atlantic University and has played throughout South Florida with some of the stalwarts of the respective music scene. He’s opened for 70’s rock bands Kansas and Edgar Winter and played with founding members of The Turtles, Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan). Christian is active in the
South Florida music community playing guitar in a myriad of different musical styles as well
as writing and arranging for ensembles of contrasting genres.
Jon Rose
Jon Rose is a musical director, pianist/keyboardist, producer, composer/arranger and music copyist. He has toured with Jon Secada, Christian Castro, Chayanne and Julio Iglesias. He was associate conductor with the national tours of BEAUTIFUL: The Carole King Musical, BILLY ELLIOT and THE BOOK OF MORMON. Since 2014, he has served as musical director of the LATIN SONGWRITER'S HALL OF FAME awards gala in Miami, FL, which was founded by Desmond Child and Rudy Perez. Currently, Jon serves as musical director for 2006 TONY AWARD Winner John Lloyd Young
(Frankie Valli, JERSEY BOYS) when he performs in South Florida.
Edwin Bonilla
Edwin Bonilla, an experienced percussionist for 40+ decades, who has worked with many diverse artists throughout his career. Has worked, collaborated and recorded with Stevie Wonder,
Gloria Estefan, James Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Madonna, Donna Summers, Mark Anthony,
Juan Luis Guerra and many, many others.
Appeared ad performed in the Broadway play “on your feet“. Also appeared and recorded on many films such as “Something about Mary” and “Evita”. Performed, recorded, and nominated in both American & Latin Grammy’s for several tunes of his 8 personal cd’s “Edwin Bonilla.”
Derek Simms
Derek Sims is an in-demand trumpeter, pianist and educator, in the South Florida music scene.
Mr. Sims has had the privilege of performing with such artists as Benny Golson, John Pattitucci,
Freda Payne, Danilo Perez, Gerald Wilson, Arturo Sandoval, Bob Mintzer, Paquito D’Rivera,
Jon Faddis, Ingrid Jensen, Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker, Bobby Watson, Pancho Sanchez,
Wynton Marsalis, James Moody, Ron Miles, Martha Reeves, and many others.
Aaron Glueck
Is a drummer/producer/songwriter based out of Miami, Fl. He was introduced to music at a very young age by his mother, father, and aunt. His mom, a former opera singer, started him on piano
at the age of 5 which he began private lessons for right away. With some encouragement from
his dad, he picked up the drums around age 11.
He earned his degree from U.M. and received his bachelors in studio and jazz performance.
Since he graduated, Aaron Glueckauf has went on to work with a number of different artists
and in many different genres of music. He is currently touring worldwide with Matt Schofield
(British Blues Hall of Fame), Danay Suarez (Universal Latin artist), and is a member of up
and coming bands Lemon City Trio, and TWYN.
Diron Holloway
Diron Holloway, saxophone, clarinet, flute, educator, was born and raised in Miami, FL. He currently serves as Professor of Saxophone & Clarinet and Director of Jazz Studies at Virginia State University and is an active performer and in-demand clinician.
Mr. Holloway earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Florida A&M University, a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and received an Artist Diploma degree from the prestigious Juilliard School.
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As a performing artist Mr. Holloway leads his own ensembles, has toured internationally, recorded with The New Vision Saxophone Quartet, The Nat Adderley, Jr. Quintet, performed with The Wycliffe Gordon Ensemble, The Wynton Marsalis Septet, The Dominick Farinacci Quintet, The Melton Mustafa Jazz Orchestra, The Miami Big Sound Jazz Orchestra, shared the stage with Jon Faddis, Vincent Gardner, Bobby Watson, Benny Golson, Carl Allen, Frank Foster, Ed Thigpen, James Carter, to name a few. He has been a guest featured artist at several schools; North Carolina Central University Symphonic Band, Florida A&M University Wind Ensemble, Broward College Symphonic Band, Dillard Center for the Arts Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.
Ismael Vergara
John Kricker
