››Brad Turner
Brad Turner's talents as a trumpeter, pianist, drummer, and composer make him one of Canada's most in-demand musicians.
Winner of National Jazz Awards for Jazz Trumpeter of the Year (1999) and Jazz Composer of the Year (2000 and 2002), Brad was awarded Musician of the Year for 2005.
As a sideman, Brad Turner has performed with a number of innovative and creative ensembles based in the Vancouver area, compiling a large discography in the process. Brad has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Joe Lovano, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Moore, Reneé Rosnes, Achim Kaufmann, John Scofield, Ingrid Jensen, Dylan van der Schyff, Mike Murley, Mark Helias, Charles McPherson and Gary Bartz. Brad's groups have opened for McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, Wayne Shorter, Clarke Terry, and Diana Krall.
As a leader, Brad has released five albums, four with his quartet, the most recent being the 2005 release "What Is," and one with his piano trio, the 2004 release, "Question the Answer," nominated for a 2005 Canadian Urban Music Award, and a 2006 Canadian Indie Music award.
In 1997 and 1998 Brad won Juno Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Album recognizing his work in the internationally established electric Jazz group Metalwood.
Brad Turner is on the Internet at http://www.bradturnermusic.com/ and
http://www.mymaxcast.com
››Byron House
Multi-instrumentalist Byron House (banjo, guitar, dulcimer, trumpet, bassoon, percussion, piano) became a convert to the bass at age 17 after hearing Jaco Pastorius on Weather Report's "Heavy Weather." Byron says, "I went home and did some woodshedding for a year, playing his records over and over."
Other bass players that influenced Byron in his formative years included Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Junior Huskey and Roy Huskey.
In the mid-1980s, Byron packed his bass and left his hometown of Bowling Green, Ky., to relocate in Nashville. He has never looked back, becoming a first-call player working with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Emmylou Harris, Jorma Kaukonen, Mark O'Connor, and Dolly Parton. In addition, he has performed or recorded with The Dixie Chicks, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Al Kooper, Jim Lauderdale, Shelby Lynne, Buddy and Julie Miller, Nickel Creek, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, and Clay Walker to name a few. In 2005, Bryon was recognized with a Grammy nomination for his work on Mark O'Connor's "Thirty-Year Retrospective."
Byron lives near Nashville with his family and is busy with tours, TV appearances, and recording sessions - including these RealTracks for PG Music!
For the latest news look up Byron House on myspace.com.
››Chris Nole
Platinum and Grammy-winning Nashville pianist and producer Chris Nole has performed across the United States and around the world, touring and recording with top recording stars including John Denver, Faith Hill, Shelby Lynne, and Travis Tritt.
A few highlights of Nole's performance credits include:
- Carnegie Hall
- The Today Show
- John Denver's A&E television special and platinum selling live record,
The Wildlife Concert. John Denver's Grammy-winning record All Aboard.
- Travis Tritt's ‘Burning Thunder' Tour and CMT All Access television special.
- Faith Hill's Grand Ole Opry debut performance as well as The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
- The CBS television movie special The John Denver Story.
- The PBS television documentary special Nature: Let There Be A Voice
- 2001 Holland/Belgium Chris Nole solo tour
Although best known as a virtuoso pianist, Chris Nole's talents also include writing, composing, recording and playing as a session musician. He has released several albums of his original compositions while continuing to work with established and emerging artists like Barry Greenfield, Christopher Westfall, Brittany Allyn, Mack Bailey, Emmy Lou Harris, Willie Nelson, Pam Tillis, Crystal Gale, Guy Clark, Gail Davies, The Jordanaires, and others.
Visit Chris online at http://www.chrisnole.com or on myspace.com.
››Darin Favorite
Busy Nashville session man and performer Darin Favorite loves Jazz, but that hasn't kept him from establishing a solid career in Country music with artists like Abby Burke, Tracy Lawrence, Shania Twain, Patty Loveless, and as band leader for Pam Tillis.
A graduate of Blackwell Music Institute, Darin is equally at home on electric and acoustic guitars. He cites as his influences, "Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Robbin Ford, My Brother Donnie, Bill Evans, Eric Johnson, Heidi Basgall, Jon Herrington, John Coltrane, Freddy Hubbard, Howard Leese, Mitch Holder, Miles Davis, Joe Pass, Hank Garland, Lenny Breau, Sid Jacobs, Tommy Emmanuel... and everyone I've played with in the last 25 years."
When not working as a Country guitar player, producer, and arranger in his hometown of Nashville, Darin enjoys playing Bebop, Swing, and Latin - especially in the Heidi and Darin Duo with his partner Heidi Basgall.
Darin is on myspace.com and has a profile at www.plaxo.com.
››Don Clark
Don Clark has enjoyed a long career as one of Canada's leading trumpet and flugelhorn players. As a player, arranger, and composer on the West Coast since the early 1960's, he has been leader of the Donnie Clark Quartet and Quintet and the Don Clark Ragtime Band as well as a member of leading Jazz ensembles such as the Bobby Hales Orchestra, the West Coast Jazz Orchestra, and a regular on CBC radio and television. He was a founding member of the legendary Vancouver all-star Jazz sextet Pacific Salt, touring throughout North America and Europe in the 1970s.
The list of artists that Don Clark has performed and recorded with includes Bob Hales, Dave Robbins, Pacific Salt, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Lance Harrison, Fraser McPherson, Doug Parker, New Orleans Connection, and the Chicago Six. His most recent CD release with the Donnie Clark Quintet, To Swing or not To Swing, features nine original compositions and classic Jazz ballads.
Donny Clark plays ballad Jazz Trumpet, with very melodic phrasing that can be suitable for many styles like Jazz, Easy Listening or Country. His playing is in a traditional style, similar to Chet Baker or Louis Armstrong.
››Dow Tomlin
Dow Tomlin is an in-demand Nashville electric bass, upright bass, and guitar player who has worked with Brooks and Dunn, Nelson, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band, Tammy Cochran, Chris Graves, David Lykins, Kevin Maines, Jonathan Sherrill, Cookie Pedersen, Walt Wilkins, David Carn, Bob Baker and a host of others enroute to compiling a discography of 50 or more releases. A musician's musician, Dow can also be found playing live in a variety of Nashville venues where the top Music City talent gathers.
Dow's basic but solid playing on both upright and electric makes his RealTracks styles useful in many circumstances. For example, the Ev8 Bluegrass Acoustic Bass styles can be used in a traditional setting, with all acoustic instruments, but can also be used in a more modern country setting, with drums and electric guitars. The "Metal" Ev8 Electric Bass styles can be used for a multitude of purposes, such as basic pop 8ths, country grooves, etc.
››Eric Borash
Guitarist Eric Borash, or "E-Bo" as he is known, is a fixture of the Nashville scene. He is a versatile musician who can range from quiet and sensitive traditional ballads to flat-out hard rockin'. Eric has played with the likes of John Fogerty, the Warren Brothers, Hank III and in the studio and on stage with Randy Rogers Band and songwriter Radney Foster. His talents can also be heard in support of emerging artists like Bliss.
An all-round picker with session credits that include acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, baritone guitar, dobro, and mandolin, Eric's electric guitar playing is featured in RealTracks.
››Gene Rabbai
Piano, organ, and keyboard player Gene Rabbai has played with Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Griffin (of Bread), and Vince Gill, while also operating Studio A, a busy demo studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.
Rabbai is enthusiastic about encouraging and developing new talent, engaging the best Music City talent to support the artists who come to him looking to break in to the highly competitive recording industry. Sometimes a chart-topping hit results, such as "Broken Wing," recorded by LeAnn Rimes after Gene sent her Dave Nowlen's demo.
Country music is the backbone of Gene Rabbai's playing and producing, with excursions into Hip-Hop, Rock ‘n' Roll, Heavy Rock, and Gospel. His CD release Yosemite Soundscapes is ambient all-synthesizer music dedicated to Ansel Adams and his work on preserving the Yosemite National Park. Gene has also had releases in Brazil, home of his wife Yoko.
››Ian McDougall
Ian McDougall was born in Calgary, Canada, and grew up in Victoria, leaving there in 1960 to tour in Great Britain with the John Dankworth Band. Returning to Canada in 1962, he began a lengthy career as a freelance player, composer and arranger in Vancouver and in Toronto where, until 1991, he was also the lead and solo trombonist with Rob McConnell's Juno and Grammy award-winning Boss Brass.
During this period Ian also was also lead trombone and composer/arranger for The Brass Connection, winners of the 1982 Juno award for best Jazz album. Since the early 1980's McDougall has become even more involved in composition, and his works have been performed by the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Lafayette String Quartet, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Rob McConnell Tentet, and the Toronto Cantata Chorus among others.
The past decade has included tours in Canada and abroad to Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Denmark, Holland, the USA, Germany, and England, where Ian was music director for two BBC Big Band broadcasts.
Ian now resides in Victoria, where he continues to play, compose, and teach. He taught trombone, composition, and Jazz studies at the University of Victoria, leaving there in 2003 as Professor Emeritus. Ian was awarded the University of Victoria's "Distinguished Alumni" award in 2004.
Recent CD releases include "In a Sentimental Mood" featuring Ian and his quartet playing the music of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, and "No Passport Required" - a Jazz concerto in 3 movements for trumpet and trombone.
Ian McDougall has been named as the recipient of the Phil Nimmons Established Composer Award, sponsored by SOCAN and IAJE.
On July 1, 2008, Ian was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to Classical and Jazz music as a renowned trombonist and composer, and as an innovative educator and mentor.
Ian McDougall's web site is at http://www.ianmcdougall.com.
››Jack Pearson
Singer, studio musician, songwriter, producer...these words only begin to describe Jack Pearson. But guitarist is what comes to most people's minds when they hear his name. He is known as a tasteful player with a broad knowledge of Blues, Jazz, and soulful Rock.
A native of Nashville, TN, Jack started playing professionally when he was fourteen years old. His first recording session was at fifteen. He has been influenced by many styles of music, and his knowledge of the history of the musical styles he plays allows him to deliver a true-to-the-tradition performance. He is just as comfortable playing Blues as he is Jazz. And he can rock out with the best of them.
Jack's playing has been featured on studio albums by Gregg Allman, Jimmy Buffett, Chris LeDoux, Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Bacon Brothers, Billy Montana, Jimmy Hall, and a host of others. As for the artists he has worked with, it would be easier to list the ones he hasn't worked with. To name just a few - Faith Hill, Ronnie Milsap, The Allman Brothers, Groove Holmes, and Delbert McClinton attest to the versatility of his talents.
Jack still finds time to write and produce his own music, with several releases to his credit. For the latest news about this prodigious talent visit http://www.jackpearson.com.
››Jack Stafford
Jazz musician Jack Stafford has long been a fixture of the Vancouver music scene on alto saxophone, flute, and clarinet - and soprano, tenor, and baritone saxes as the occasion demands. He is a versatile player who can cover multiple styles including Dixieland, Swing, Bop, and West Coast/Cool. As a first-call player, Jack has played in every setting from clubs to concert halls with studio and recording work for major broadcast networks and record labels.
Jack has played for a who's who of international music and entertainment greats, and regularly with his own band and top local groups like the all-star Jazz ensemble Pacific Salt, the Ian McDougall Big Band, the Jill Townsend Big Band, Dal Richards and Friends, Donnie Clark Quintet, SwingStreet, and even the nostalgic dance band led by Canada's late "King of Swing," Mart Kenney and The New Ballroom Orchestra.
Jack Stafford plays great Tenor Sax solos in a mainstream Jazz style, not unlike Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, or Sonny Rollins. This laid-back, spacey style is typical of the 50s and 60s. He is also known as a fan and interpreter of Cannonball Adderley.
This RealTracks soloist works very well for genres like Standards, Jazz, and swing Pop tunes from the 40s to the 80s.
››Jason Roller
Since moving to Nashville from his home in Indiana, guitarist Jason Roller has played with Ken Mellons, The Kinley's, John Berry, Lila McCann, Darryl Worley, Mark Chesnut, Tracy Lawrence, Joe Diffie, Dolly Parton, Kellie Pickler, and Sarah Johns. In the studio, he has played on Ken Mellons "Best Of" album and Joe Diffie's "Tougher Than Nails" CD on Broken Bow Records.
A virtuoso on electric and acoustic guitars, Jason cites influences starting from back in the bluegrass days with Mark O'Connor, Tony Riceand New Grass Revival to guitar players such as Brent Mason, Dann Huff, Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Mayer, The Rippingtons, Steely Dan and many more.
Jason lives in the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, where he records and produces demos at his own studio, The MagicShack, on the web at http://www.magicshackdemos.com. Some of his own songs can be heard on his page at myspace.com.
››Jodi Proznick
Jodi has been recognized as one of Canada's top bass players, voted Bassist of the Year at the 2008 National Jazz Awards. Her group, the Jodi Proznick Quartet, was awarded the Acoustic Group of the year and their album "Foundations" (Cellarlive) won the Album of the Year honour. "Foundations" was also nominated for a 2008 Juno Award for Best Traditional Jazz Album.
Jodi moved from her hometown of White Rock, B.C. to Montreal in 1993, after winning the General Motors Award of Excellence for her bass playing. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University, earning a Performance Scholarship in 1997 as a member of the McGill Big Band. While in Montreal she performed extensively in club and concert venues as well as on local television and radio programs.
Since moving to Vancouver in 2000, Jodi has become a top call bassist, playing with a who's who of Canadian and international Jazz stars. She has been featured on over a dozen recordings including a recent release with the Tilden Webb Trio featuring the legendary David Fathead Newman. She has performed on CBC Radio´s Jazzbeat, Hot Air, Silence en Jazz, the Early Edition, West Coast Performance and Sounds Like Canada.
A highlight for Jodi was opening for Oscar Peterson with the Oliver Gannon Quartet in the summer of 2004. Also In 2004, Jodi won the Galaxie Rising Star Award of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival with her own group, the Jodi Proznick Quartet. She also performs with the Tilden Webb Trio, the Joel Haynes Trio, the Jill Townsend Big Band and the Weeds/Minemoto Quartet.
Classical credits include performances with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and a featured performance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Jodi Prosnick's web site is at http://jodiproznick.com.
››Keith Horne
An award-winning flat-picking guitar champion in his home state of Virginia, Keith Horne got his start in music playing guitar in his dad's Country band at age 6 and later picked up bass when he was 12 years old. After winning a number of contests, Horne put together a Jazz band that backed Ramsey Lewis on the BET cable channel. In 1985, Horne became a member of the fusion group Secrets and played with them for the next seven years. Through the encouragement of his childhood friends the Wooten brothers (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) Horne relocated to Nashville in 1992 and he maintains residence there today.
Since his arrival in Nashville, Horne has toured across the United States with some of country music's most prolific artists including Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood, and Lonestar.
Following years of performing as a sideman alongside artists such as Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, and Ricky Van Shelton, Horne joined Brady Seal's new band Hot Apple Pie. They soon broke into the record charts with "Hillbillies" and continue to build on that initial success.
There is a full Keith Horne biography at http://www.instituteofbass.com and there are videos of his playing on www.youtube.com.
››Mark Thornton
Mark Thornton's versatile talents on acoustic and electric guitar are abundantly demonstrated in his performances on a large catalog of tribute albums and compilations recorded with the cream of Country music studio musicians. His studio credits also include recordings with artists such as Jerry Reed and Wylie & The Wild West.
When he puts his guitar down, Mark is a busy producer and engineer in Nashville.
Mark's RealTracks feature his talents on both electric and nylon guitars with traditional Country styles.
››Miles Black
Miles Black began his professional music career in 1980 (at age 14) in Victoria, British Columbia. Since relocating to Vancouver, Miles has achieved prominence as an arranger, producer, composer, session musician, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, songwriter, musical theatre director, music therapist and college level music instructor. He has performed on countless albums, and has played with many music greats around the world, notably with the Juno-nominated fusion band Skywalk and the Oliver Gannon Quartet. His CD releases include solo piano, duos, the Miles Black Trio and the Miles Black Quartet, including many of his own compositions. He also writes songs with lyricist/vocalist Glenda and they have released the CD "Another Day."
Miles is co-leader with Tom Keenlyside of the Modern Jazz quartet Altered Laws. Their album "Metaphora" was nominated for a 2008 Juno Award as Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Since 1991, Miles has been performing and producing music content for PG Music programs including the Pianist Series of programs, the Oscar Peterson Multimedia CD-ROM, and many Band-in-a-Box add-ons. That association continues with his work as both performer and producer for RealTracks.
Get the latest news and information about Miles Black online at http://www.milesblack.com.
››Neil Swainson
Born in Nanaimo, B.C., bassist Neil Swainson worked for two years in Victoria with Jazz-New Age flautist Paul Horn. Relocating to Toronto, he played with Woody Shaw frequently in the 1980s and also gigged with James Moody, George Coleman, and Zoot Sims. A member of Moe Koffman's quintet during 1978-1982, Swainson went on to gain his greatest fame when he started working with George Shearing in 1988, an association that continued into the late '90s.
Neil has written and recorded original music with a co-operative band called JMOG. The album "49th Parallel" was first released in 1989. It is mostly Swainson compositions, with Woody Shaw & Joe Henderson up front.
Now one of Canada's most respected Jazz greats, Neil's recording and performing associations also include Ernestine Anderson, Ed Bickert, Pat Coleman, Herb Ellis, Joe Farrell, Oliver Gannon, Slide Hampton, Pat LaBarbera, Rob McConnell, Ian McDougall, Jay McShann, PJ Perry, Zoot Sims, and Sonny Stitt among others.
››Oliver Gannon
The son of Irish Jazz pianist Joe Gannon, Oliver took up Jazz guitar at the age of twenty, receiving a bachelor's degree from the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Back in Canada he settled in Vancouver, B.C., where he soon established himself as a first-call studio guitarist. He was a founding member of the all-star group Pacific Salt in 1970 and in 1975 began a relationship with tenor saxophonist Fraser MacPherson that resulted in a series of highly-regarded recordings, CBC broadcasts, and tours - including three to the Soviet Union and one to Europe. The talented pair shared a Juno for Best Jazz Album in 1982 for their album of duets on the Sackville label, "I Didn't Know About You", and in 2002 Oliver Gannon received the National Jazz Award (Canada) for Guitarist of the Year.
Although known for his orchestral style of accompaniment with MacPherson, Gannon employs a hard, linear, bop-based style on his own, showing the admitted influence of Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery.
A regular performer in Vancouver Jazz clubs and on the international Jazz festival circuit with The Oliver Gannon Quartet, The Oliver Gannon/Patty Hervey Quartet, The Ian McDougall Sextet, and the Oliver Gannon and Bill Coon Quartet, Gannon toured nationally with the trio RIO (with trombonist Ian McDougall and pianist Ron Johnston). Once again, in 2008 he toured Scandinavia with McDougall and Johnston as a member of the Ian McDougall Sextet.
In addition to his acclaimed recordings with Fraser MacPherson, Oliver's discography includes live and studio albums with his own stellar quartet and releases with Ed Bickert, Don Clark, Bill Coon, Gary Guthman, Bob Hales, June Katz, Ian McDougall, Charles Mountford, RIO, George Robert, Campbell Ryga, Ross Taggart, the West Coast Jazz Orchestra and frequent appearances on the CBC network.
Oliver has been involved with his brother Peter in the development of Band-in-a-Box and PG Music since its inception. In addition to performing and producing musical content he has served as the executive producer of program content. That association continues with Oliver's outstanding contribution of Jazz guitar RealTracks.
Oliver's web site is at http://www.olivergannon.com/
››P.J. Perry
P.J. Perry has become recognized by critics, colleagues and listeners as one of North America's premier saxophonists. He has shared the stage with countless Jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Michel LeGrand, Pepper Adams, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Harrell, and The Boss Brass among others.
In 2007 P.J. was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta.
Winner of a 1993 Juno Award for Best Jazz Recording for his album "My Ideal," P.J. received Jazz Report magazine's Critic's Choice Award for Best Alto Sax for seven years from 1993 to 1999.
In autumn of 1999 Justin Time Records released a Juno nominated recording of P.J. and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
P.J. has recently been performing his own show "The Joy of Sax" with orchestras across Canada. He has also performed with the Edmonton Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, Kamloops Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo, and the Vancouver Island Symphony.
P.J. Perry's web site is http://www.pjperry.com.
››Scott Vestal
Bluegrass banjo virtuoso Scott Vestal began his professional career at the age of 18 when he moved from Texas to the East Coast to work with Larry Sparks. After performing and recording with Larry for a year, Scott struck out on his own and helped form Southern Connection, which toured the Midwest and East Coast for 3 years.
In the ensuing years Scott has toured worldwide, recorded, and won awards with Quicksilver, Livewire, Continental Divide, the John Cowan Band, and the Sam Bush Band.
Scott was awarded Banjo Player of the Year in 1996 by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and 1998 Banjo Player of the Year by the Bluegrass Now Magazine Fan's Choice Awards.
Scott does a lot of session work around Nashville, TN, where he has his own recording studio. There he engineers and produces various projects including an award winning series of instrumental recordings for Pinecastle Records. He has worked with the likes of Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, David Lee Roth, John Jorgenson, Tim O'Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Rick Moranis, Shawn Camp, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Bowman, Pat Flynn, Jerry Douglas, John Cowan, Tony Rice, Vassar Clements, Tony Williamson, and many others.
Scott has a web site at http://scottvestal.com/ and is also on myspace.com and YouTube.
››Steve Hinson
Originally from Macon, Georgia, Steve Hinson came to Nashville in 1977. Over the years he has earned a position as a highly respected member of the Nashville music community with his outstanding talent on steel guitar, lap guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and dobro.
Steve has performed or recorded with scores of artists and songwriters, a list which includes Trace Adkins, Keith Anderson, Kenny Chesney, John Conlee, Vern Gosdin, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Tracey Lawrence, Manhattan Transfer, Dolly Parton, Ray Price, Josh Turner, Ricky Van Shelton, and, since the early years, with Randy Travis.
To visit Steve Hinson online go to www.myspace.com/stevehinsonnashville.
››TJ Klay
Nashville singer/songwriter TJ Klay offers harmonica at its finest whether performing solo, with "The Trio," or the Nashville-based Blues/Rock band Ultra-Fix.
TJ was an original member of the Country Rock band Western Flyer. His harmonica, mandolin, guitar, and harmony vocals graced the groups two CDs and helped earn them four hit singles and three CMT videos.
A Hohner Harmonica Artist for the 20 plus years, TJ's session work has included numerous albums and CDs and jingles for Hardee's, McDonald's, Coors Lite, Jack Daniel's, Bugaboo Creek, Tonka Toys and other national and international brands. He's also jammed with the best, including Michael McDonald, FireFall, Stevie Windwood, Delbert McClinton, John Prine and Jerry Lee Lewis.
The TJ Klay web site is at http://www.tjklay.com, and he is also on myspace.com and YouTube.
››Tom Keenlyside
Tom Keenlyside's musical career has spanned four decades, featuring performances and recordings throughout North America and Europe. His saxophone and flute playing have been featured at many major festivals, including the Newport Jazz Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and the Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival. He has performed with many of the biggest names in the music business: Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr., Natalie Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme and Tom Jones. In November 2006, Tom was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Tom spent his formative years playing trumpet and flute, studying and performing in both the Jazz and Classical idioms. In the 1970 he joined Sunshyne, taking up the saxophone and playing a mix of Pop, Jazz, and Rock inspired by Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, and James Brown.
Tom has recorded with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, including Paul Anka, Natalie Cole, Sheena Easton, Bruce Hornsby, and Tom Jones. He toured with Jones and was featured on the Tom Jones television show. As lead alto sax for the Don Costa orchestra, Tom Keenlyside played a 26 show season with Paul Anka. In the Rock 'n' Roll world, Tom has toured and recorded with Prism, Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO). Alice Cooper, Blue Öyster Cult, Foghat, Alvin Lee, and Styx. He received a Juno award as producer of "That River" for Jim Byrnes.
On the Vancouver Jazz scene, Tom has performed regularly with his own group, the Tom Keenlyside Quartet, Renee Rosnes, The Westcoast Jazz Orchestra, Hugh Fraser, Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation, the New Orchestra Workshop, Phil Dwyer, Dave Robbins, and many more.
In addition to his vast discography as a session musician, Tom has had releases with The Tom Keenlyside Quintet, Synergy - a series of Jazz duets for flute and piano with Miles Black, the Bob Murphy Quartet, and Altered Laws - a Juno nominated contemporary Jazz quartet featuring originals by Tom and Miles Black.
The Tom Keenlyside official web site is at http://tomkeenlyside.com.
››Tony King
Tony King has traveled the globe, performing in concerts, clubs, hotels, and cruise ships. Tony has appeared regularly on UK Television and had his own one hour special TV show on Sky TV called "In The Club."
Tony has worked with some great musicians, bands, and performers including Brotherhood of Man, Alan Carr, The Drifters, The Four Tops, Tony Hadley, Jethro, Graham Norton, The Real Thing, The Searchers, Edwin Starr, and Joss Stone among others.
In addition to his work as an entertainer, performer, and songwriter, Tony King has been writing commercial music and lyrics for some years. From funky grooves, to catchy hooks, from chill out to rock and commercial dance he is a versatile and accomplished musician on both trombone and trumpet.
Tony King is online at http://www.tonykingtk.com.
››Wanda Vick
Fiddle player Wanda Vick grew up in Montevallo, Alabama where she started out playing dobro with a family trio, playing in local bluegrass bands and entering fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin and dobro contests. At one of these contests she met Buddy Spicher, who invited her to Nashville to play on a Buddy Spicher, Benny Martin album.
She played with the Nashville Superpickers before landing her first full time professional gig with Lynn Anderson in 1981. Wanda then went on to start the five piece all-female band Wild Rose, recording three studio albums with three charted singles and nominations for both Academy of Country Music and Grammy awards.
As well as Lynn Anderson, Wanda has toured with Porter Wagoner, Ronnie Milsap, and Wild Rose. In the house band on TNN's "Music City Tonight" and then "Prime Time Country" she backed up nearly every artist in Country music, from Dolly Parton, to Loretta Lynn, to Shania Twain. This led to recording sessions with George Jones, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Uncle Kracker, Micheal English, and Sandi Patti, to name a few.
To read an interview with Wanda Vick go to http://www.bronsonsmusic.com/wanda_vick.html.
››Andy Leftwich
Andy Leftwich, the gifted fiddler from White House, Tennessee, started playing the fiddle at the age of six. By the age of nine he had won the Tennessee State Championship for Beginners. By the time Andy was a teenager he was well-known in Bluegrass circles, not only for his fiddle playing - but also for his ability on the mandolin and guitar. He started playing professionally at age 15 with Valerie Smith and her band, Liberty Pike, and joined Ricky Skaggs' all-star band, Kentucky Thunder, in 2000. With this award winning band he has since shared in numerous Grammy nominations and awards as well as multiple Instrumental Group of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Andy's fiddle playing can be found on discs by the Chieftains, Trick Pony, Pam Tillis, Bering Strait, Travis Tritt, Steve Warine and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and it has been featured on several television shows -- including PBS' The Three Pickers on which Leftwich joined legends Skaggs, Earl Scruggs, and Doc Watson for an evening of electrifying bluegrass. His first solo all-acoustic album, Ride, on Skaggs Family Records, showcased Andy's versatile tastes & musical influences including Bluegrass, Celtic, and Jazz. Ride features 11 tunes, 9 of which are original, and mixes traditional sounds with progressive musical styles.
Leftwich cites Skaggs and numerous other fiddle and mandolin greats as inspiration, but also borrows from Jazz greats like Miles Davis, Stephane Grappelli, and Django Reinhardt and even tosses in a little classical and big band swing. Whatever the style, Andy is recognized as a true musical prodigy, whether picking at a guitar or mandolin or playing his amazing fiddle riffs.
For more information about Andy Leftwich visit http://skaggsfamilyrecords.musiccitynetworks.com, or see his artist profile on http://www.cmt.com.
››Audley Freed
Guitarist and songwriter Audley Freed first gained recognition when he formed the band Cry Of Love, which was signed to Columbia Records and released the debut album Brother. The album spawned two No. 1 and two Top Ten AOR hits, including "Peace Pipe", named by Billboard as one of the "top 50 AOR songs of all time." Following a second Columbia release, the band called it quits and Freed joined The Black Crowes on lead guitar.
His tenure in the Crowes included tours in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, recording the album Lions, and sharing the stage with legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in a collaboration that led to the gold-record certified Page/Crowes "Live at the Greek" album. As an active session player in Nashville, other guitar and songwriting projects have included recordings with Gov't Mule, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Job Cain, New Earth Mud, Aerosmith, and The Dixie Chicks. Freed also joined the Dixie Chicks for their "Accidents and Accusations" tour, then toured with Peter Frampton before joining Jakob Dylan's band, the Gold Mountain Rebels, touring in support of Dylan's solo album "Seeing Things."
Audley Freed is known as a spectacular player, reminiscent of Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix, Brian May and Paul Kossoff.
››PG Artist
This talented multi-instrumentalist was born into a Bluegrass family in a small Texas town, following in his grandfather's footsteps and traveling to bluegrass festivals and fiddling contests from a very young age.
He moved on from fiddle to five-string banjo and guitar, packing up for Nashville after high school to pursue a career in the music and recording industry. While becoming a top-ranked sideman, he also emerged as a talented songwriter whose writings have attracted the attention of major stars like Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, and the Dixie Chicks.
Our acclaimed flatpicker is equally at home with traditional and progressive styles. He tours regularly with the top acts in Country and Bluegrass music, while continuing to write charted hits for established and emerging artists.
››Tom Britt
Tom Britt is a sought-after guitar player equally at home on electric guitar, steel guitar, and slide guitar. In a career dating back to the 1970s he has played with top talents including Leon Russell, Dottie West, Patty Loveless, Amy Grant, John Oates, and recently spent two years on tour with Vince Gill.
Tom played on Gill's "Next Big Thing," which won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. When the singer put together his "once-in-a-lifetime" band to cover the range of Gill's lyrical and musical styles, ranging from Traditional Country and Bluegrass to Jazz and Rock, to go on tour in support of his Grammy-winning "These Days" album, Tom Britt got the nod for guitar. Gill says of Tom, "More of the world needs to know about him."
Eric Clapton invited Tom to his Crossroads Guitar Festival, where he performed with Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Albert, Jerry Douglas, and with Eric Clapton.
Tom lives in Nashville with his wife, singer Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. He produces recordings for his wife, and recently recorded his first instrumental CD. When he isn't on tour, Tom records and performs with local R&B legend Jonell Mosser and plays live with his band "Empire." He is a first call player for Nashville events and ceremonies at venues such as the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Visit Tom Britt's web site at www.tombrittguitar.com.
››Andy Reiss
Andy Reiss is an all-round guitarist who grew up in San Francisco, playing a variety of music ranging from Rock ‘n' Roll to touring with a show band. Settling in Nashville in 1981, his introduction to studio session work came from the legendary Pete Drake. Since then he has been involved in session and band work with artists such as Pete Drake, Amy Grant, Ronnie Millsap, Slim Whitman, Slim Pickens, Too Slim, The Jordanaires, Charlie McCoy, B.J. Thomas, Ranger Doug Green, Mandy Barnett, and on the road with Reba McEntire and Linda Davis. Two Grammy winners, "Does He Love You" by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis and "Amazing Grace" by B.J. Thomas, are included among the hundreds of sessions in his discography.
Andy is also noted for his Jazz playing, which features polished renditions of the standards. Those in the know in Nashville also love the music of The Time Jumpers, a hot Western Swing band featuring Andy in a lineup of the top session players in town. If you have the good fortune to see them perform, take a look around the audience. You're probably sitting with the "who's who" of the music industry.
There's more about Andy Reiss at The Time Jumpers web site, www.thetimejumpers.com/bio/andy_reiss, and a video profile by The Musician Network at http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=71ff252c1903e7132cd6.
››Sandy Williams
The widely accomplished guitarist Sandy Williams studied improvising and composition with legendary Jazz composer/theorist George Russell and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Jazz Studies and Ethnomusicology from Indiana University. He is on the faculty of the DePauw University School of Music and also has an impressive list of credits as a performer and recording artist.
Long a fixture of the Indianapolis music scene, Sandy has performed with groups as diverse as The Indianapolis Guitar Summit, Catch, True to Form, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the comedy duo Bob & Tom, to name just a few.
Recording credits encompass Jazz, New Age, Gospel, Country, Classical, and Comedy with artists including Lalo Schifren, Carl Anderson, Vinx, Eddie Money, Lou Graham, Martha Reeves, Suzanne Somers, the Larry Elgart Big Band, Henry Questa, Paul Carreck, Rita Moreno, Brenda Russell, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Larry Crane, Caroline Doctorow, Ray Boltz, and Steve Earle. Recent activities include live performances with Michael Feinstein and a studio project with John Mellencamp.
See Sandy's biography and his extensive discography on https://music.msn.com/music/artist/sandy-williams.4/.
››Tobin Frank
Tobin Frank has been a professional bass and keyboard player for over 15 years. For the past 12 years he has played and recorded with the renowned Canadian Celtic-Rock group 'Spirit of the West'. With Spirit, Tobin has toured through all of Canada, the United States and Europe, and has also performed with some of Canada's leading symphony orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has also toured and performed with the likes of David Essig, the Paperboys, Mark Perry, Zubot and Dawson, and Raghu Lokanathan, to name a few.
Tobin has also been involved with the development of many PG Music products, including Band-in-a-Box, RealBand, and GuitarStar.
Visit Tobin's web site at www.myspace.com/tobinfrank, or visit Spirit of the West's web site at www.sotw.ca
››Mike Durham
Established session guitar man Mike Durham has been a fixture of the Nashville scene for more than a decade. His recording credits include two Grammy nominated singles (1999, 2000) from Tim McGraw's "A Place In the Sun" and a full discography would include hundreds of sessions with stars like Kenny Rogers, Dwight Yoakam, and Big and Rich as well as rising stars like Alli Gillis.
Mike is also one of the all-time favorite guest artists with the Dave Matthews Band, notably for his smokin' electric guitar licks on "Jimi Thing."
When he is not busy in the studio, Mike can be found performing with the top players in Nashville in bands such as local favorite Guilty Pleasures.
To see more of Mike Durham's credits you can visit https://music.msn.com/music/artist-credits/mike-durham/.
››Vernon Barbary
Premier Smooth Jazz bass player Vernon Barbary originally hails from Rockford, Illinois, near Chicago, and now resides in Denver. He grew up listening to Jeff Lorber Fusion, Yellow Jackets, and Pat Matheny, citing Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke as major influences on his bass playing. His R&B tinged stylings have been heard with such artists as Gerald Albright, Bobby Lyle, Marion Meadows, Paul Taylor, Tim Bowman, Kim Waters, Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Nick Colionne, Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, Eric Darius, Brian Simpson, Gregg Karukas, Ken Navarro, Jay Soto, Unam, Jackiem Joyner, Nils, Kevin Toney, Eric Marenthal, Richard Smith, Darren Rahn, Nelson Rangell, and many others.
Vernon attended Oral Roberts University on a full music scholarship, graduating with a degree in music and business. In addition to performing with major recording artists and promoting Jazz concerts he also consults with businesses on process enterprise plans, often serving as project manager or project engineer.
Vernon and his wife Lynn have established Elijah's Rainbow, a non-profit organization that provides money for medically challenged children.
Vernon Barbary's web page is at http://www.vbass.com/.
››Bill Hullett
Bill Hullett is one of the most booked session guitarists in Nashville, with more than 5000 sessions in one decade. His Nashville career is now into its fourth decade since he packed up and made the move from California in 1978.
Bill initially gained recognition in a 2-year stint as a member of TNN's Music City Tonight band, playing for the likes of Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Over the years he went on to play on albums by a long list of stars including George Jones, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Tammy Wynette, Keith Richards, Trisha Yearwood, Emmylou Harris, Pam Tillis, Joe Diffie, and Alabama, becoming known as Nashville's best-kept secret. His live performance credits are just as stellar, including Aaron Neville, Michael McDonald, Chet Atkins, Shania Twain, Vince Gill, Bo Diddley, Keith Whitley, Sam Moore, and many more.
Bill has released his own critically acclaimed CD, Two-Lane Blacktop, showcasing the full spectrum of his talents on acoustic and electric guitar - bluesy, ballads, rhythm and blues and rockin', twangin' country.
For more of Bill Hullett's story and a complete list of credits, go to his web page at http://home.comcast.net/~bhullett/.
››Jeff Lorber
Philidelphia native Jeff Lorber started playing the piano at age four and began his musical career in his teens, playing with local R&B bands. He enrolled in the Berklee College of Music where his Jazz studies merged with his R&B background and elements of funk, rock, and electric jazz in the formation of the Jeff Lorber Fusion. This pioneering group enjoyed great success in the 70s and 80s, touring nonstop and earning a Best R&B Instrumental Grammy nomination for their hit Pacific Coast Highway.
Lorber then turned to studio and production work with artists like Kenny G, Karyn White, Dave Koz, Art Porter, and Michael Franks before releasing a string of successful solo albums on the Verve, Zebra, Narada, and Blue Note labels, starting with 1991's Worth Waiting For. His 2007 release, He Had A Hat, earned another Grammy nomination.
Jeff Lorber is acknowledged as a founder of the progressive Jazz formats, such as New Adult Contemporary, that evolved into today's Smooth Jazz genre, with many of his songs featured on The Weather Channel's Smooth Jazz compilation albums. He continues to work with the leading artists in the Smooth Jazz field as well as his own releases, and has just released Heard That on Peak Records.
For the full story of Jeff Lorber's remarkable career and a full discography go to his web site, http://www.lorber.com/.
››Mark Matejka
Mark "Sparky" Matejka is best known as a Southern Rock guitarist, but he earned his music degree from the Jazz program at North Texas State University where he studied with renowned guitar educator Jack Peterson. On graduation he moved to Nashville to launch an outstanding career where he has played with Chely Wright, The Kinleys, The Charlie Daniels Band, Sons of the Desert, Heartland, Hot Apple Pie, and the all-star Southern Rock band Triple Shot.
In 2000 Mark contributed guitar and vocals to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Christmas Time Again album. When a lead guitar slot came open with the legendary southern rockers in 2006, Mark got the call and he has been with Lynyrd Skynyrd ever since.
Read Mark's Wikipedia biography at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Matejka and see a complete discography at http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/mark-matejka/464433.
››Brian Fullen
Brian Fullen's professional career as a drummer and percussionist began at age 15 in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Enroute to his position in the top rank of Nashville veterans he earned music degrees at Capital University and the University of Memphis while showing his remarkable versatility in Jazz ensembles, as a resident studio drummer, backing Rock 'n' Roll legend Carl Perkins, and with the Memphis, Jackson, and Tupelo symphony orchestras. He is also a noted music educator and clinician with two drum instruction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit. All while maintaining one of the busiest careers in the profession.
Brian Fullen's stage and studio credits include world tours with SheDaisy, Shania Twain, Bob Carlisle, Peter Frampton, the Allies, and The Imperials. Other artists who have engaged his many-faceted talents include Vince Gill, Sierra, Larry Carlton, Andy Griggs, Jamie Slocum, Lorrie Morgan, Paul Brandt, Pete Huttlinger, Bob Carlisle, Kathy Mattea, Mark Collie, hit record producer David Z., John Berry, Jamie Slocum, Aubrey Collins, legendary blues artist Tracy Nelson, Identical Strangers, Allies, The Nobody's, and many more. Other recording work includes movie soundtracks and regular television appearances.
Visit Brian Fullen's web site at www.brianfullen.com.
››Craig Scott
Vancouver, B.C.'s first-call Jazz drummer, Craig Scott, is also an accomplished vibraphone player and percussionist. As a drummer, he has performed live dates with a who's-who of Canadian Jazz artists including Oliver Gannon, Tommy Banks, Ian McDougall, Hugh Fraser, Campbell Ryga, PJ Perry, Alan Matheson, and with international artists Randy Bachmann, Frank Wes, Pat LaBarbara, Natalie McMaster, Dianna Krall, Herb Ellis, Phil Woods, Bud Shank, Clark Terry, Larry Goldings, the HI-LOS, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Rosemary Clooney, and Charlie Byrd.
Craig's discography is equally impressive, with session credits on countless albums including Randy Bachmann's Jazz Thing. Other credits include television, film, and radio on programs including Almanac, Hot Air, Jazz Beat, West Coast Performance, and Gabereau. Craig holds bachelor's degrees in both music and education, and teaches at Vancouver Community College, where the music program offers study with Canada's foremost performing and recording musicians.
››Ed (Great Oz) Clare
Edmond Clare is an accomplished composer, pianist, percussionist, and drummer. His musical education began with his mother, a Juilliard student and famous Philippine opera singer. Other mentoring influences include Jason Becker and Ramone "Pee Wee" Gooden (Digital Underground).
As the "Great Oz," Ed has written, remixed, and produced music for hundreds of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, with worldwide music placements in film, software, TV, and the Internet.
Ed's songwriting credits include Hillary Duff, Jake 2.0, 'Resident Evil: Outbreak', individual members of Flipsyde, No Doubt, Digital Underground, Hub Strategy Inc, Ghostfire Games Inc, as well as his contributions to Band-in-a-Box.
››Franklin (Third) Richardson
Tampa Bay resident Franklin "Third" Richardson is a stalwart of Florida's Smooth Jazz scene, performing in club dates, festivals and recording sessions with such notables as Jeff Lorber, Warren Hill, Nate Najar, Marion Meadows, Paul Taylor, Brian Simpson, Nils, Bobby Lyle, and Eric Darius, who enlisted "Third" in his all-star band for a recent Japanese tour. Blending Jazz, R&B, Gospel and Rock, Third's sound is described as "unique and refreshing."
Richardson began playing the drums in church at the age of 3. In 2005, he entered the nation's largest drum competition, Guitar Center's Drum Off, and placed in the top 6. He was also featured on the 2007 drum DVD release SHED SESSIONZ Vol. 2.
The industry has recognized Third's talent with membership on the Vater and ddrum Syndicate Party artist rosters.
See Franklin "Third" Richardson's promotional video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF4nrnQEuwk.
››Ruairi Matthews
Saskatchewan native Ruairi Matthews is a fixture of the Victoria, B.C. club scene where he performs as Ruairi Lazers, combining acoustic and V-drums with sequences to create irresistible dance beats. His approach to dance music is experimental and unpredictable, earning him a reputation as a kickin' DJ. All manner of styles and tempos are employed in an inspired mix of acoustic instruments, ambient interludes, melodic synths, and breakbeats. Ruairi's sound is influenced by artists such as Tipper, Richard H. Kirk, Shpongle and Si Begg as well as the output of Skam, Warp, Schematic and Rephlex record labels.
Visit Ruairi online at http://ruairilazers.com/
››Shawn Soucy
Shawn Soucy began his career as a young teen in Prince Edward Island, playing in a family dance band and then as the resident drummer (with his brother Steve on keyboards) in his uncle's nightclub in a small New Brunswick town. There he honed his old-time Rock 'n' Roll chops backing up touring guest artists for five years before moving west to Vancouver, B.C.
In more than 20 busy years on the west coast Shawn has been recognized as an all-star Country drummer. He has performed, toured the world, and recorded with top artists including Sue Medley, Patricia Conroy, Alibi, Lisa Brokop, One Horse Blue, Lyndia Scott, Gary Fjellgaard, Megan Metcalfe,The Blue Shadows, Farmers' Daughter, Ellen McIllwayne, Joel Feeney, Doug and the Slugs, Joan Kennedy, Joani Bye, Homewreckers, Beverly Elliott, Johnny Ferrierra and Swing Machine, Suzanne Gitzi.and many others.
Shawn is known for his versatility as a Country, Rock, R&B, Jump Blues, Pop and Jazz drummer and percussionist. He is as busy as ever in Vancouver, playing live shows with Russell Marsland, Shutterfly, Leonard and Sample, Jake and Elwood's Blues Brothers Revue, Gary Allegretto, Astrid Sars , Joe Fernandez, and Leora Cashe and also with his own band, The Hitmen. In 2007 he collaborated with Barney Bentall and members of The Odds on an album tribute to songwriter Jeffrey Hatcher of The Blue Shadows fame.
Shawn Soucy's web page is at http://www.drumsetc.org.
››Terry Clarke
Membership in the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, says much about the stature of drummer Terry Clarke, but there is much more to say about a career that, since age 12, has been marked by outstanding accomplishments.
Following formal study with noted drum teacher and author Jim Blackley, Clarke left his native Vancouver in 1965 for San Francisco. There he spent two and half years working with legendary saxophonist, John Handy III, playing on the Grammy nominated recording Live at The Monterey Jazz Festival. In a dramatic change of direction, Clarke then joined the world-famous pop vocal group "The Fifth Dimension" at the height of their popularity.
Clarke left "The Fifth Dimension" in 1970 to establish himself at the heart of the Canadian music industry in Toronto. Primarily playing Jazz, he worked legendary clubs like George's Spaghetti House, Bourbon Steet, and Basin Street with top Canadian artists like Don Thompson, Ed Bickert, Jim Galloway, Sonny Greenwich, Moe Koffman, Peter Leitch, Rob McConnell, Ted Moses, and others. He also backed visiting international stars including Jim Hall, Thad Jones, Barney Kessel, Jay McShann, Don Menza, Blue Mitchell, Art Pepper, and Frank Rosolino. His versatility as a Jazz and Rock drummer kept him in constant demand for studio dates. Clarke was an original member of the Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass Jazz big band, recording and touring with the world-acclaimed ensemble for 25 years. He also toured extensively in Japan and Europe with Jazz guitar great Jim Hall and the legendary Oscar Peterson.
In 1985 Clarke moved to New York City where he worked and recorded with The Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Helen Merrill, Toots Theilemans, Ann Hampton Callaway, Red Mitchell, Marvin Stamm, Jim Hall, Bill Mays, Roger Kellaway, and Joe Roccisano, to list just a few.
Returning to Toronto in 1999, he reunited with Rob McConnell in The Rob McConnell Tentet and released a tribute to Canadian Jazz guitar legend Ed Bickert titled Bick's Bag in a trio with Bill Mays and Neil Swainson. More recently, he has been voted Drummer of the Year at the National Jazz Awards for five consecutive years from 2004 through 2008.
With a discography of more than 300 albums, Terry Clarke continues to perform and record with leading international artists including Nancy Wilson, Bill Mays, Renee Rosnes, Jim Hall, and Helen Merrill, as well as with an exciting line-up of Canadian musicians, among them David Braid, Jake Langley, Don Thompson, Nancy Walker, Neil Swainson, and David Occhipinti. Clarke is an enthusiastic Jazz educator, and is member of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.
For more details of Terry Clarke's outstanding career, visit the Canadian Jazz Archive at http://www.canadianjazzarchive.org/ and the Canadian Encylopedia http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com.
››Wayne Killius
Wayne Killius showed early promise as a drummer and percussionist at Liverpool High School in Syracuse, NY (where he has since been inducted into the Fine Arts Hall of Fame) before moving on to attend the Eastman School of Music. On graduation his career took him to Nashville where he is now a top studio drummer, percussionist, and producer.
As a first-call drummer, Wayne has performed and recorded with major artists including Big & Rich, Neal McCoy, Guy Clark, Lonestar, Michelle Wright, Toby Keith, Kenny Rogers, and many more. His complete discography runs to more than 100 releases, with drumming credits on such major hits as Horse of a Different Color and Comin' to Your City by Big & Rich.
A versatile musician, Wayne is in demand for demos, jingles, and custom record projects, even including drums and percussion for a Rock treatment of the Mother Goose nursery rhymes titled Rockin' With the Goose. Up-and-coming artists like Candace Asher and Abbie Gardiner have acknowledged his support and mentorship.
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The drums in the "About Time" RealDrums set were created by editing various RealDrums performances from other sets. So, the drums you hear were actually played by real musicians, and the files were edited to fit within various odd time signatures.
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Bio information not available for this artist.
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Bio information not available for this artist.
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Bio information not available for this artist.
››Pat Steward
Canada's Pat Steward is a big beat drummer who made his mark on Bryan Adams' hit Summer of '69 and then played the world tour of the Reckless album. It's an association that has continued over the years, with Pat playing drum tracks on Adams' 2008 album release, 11.
Steward is a versatile drummer with influences that include Rock groups Zeppelin, Rush, Deep Purple, and the Police, but also Jazz legend Tony Williams. Best known for his Rock playing, Pat is equally at home playing Pop, Reggae, Blues, Swing, and Jazz, as evidenced by his work with groups like The Odds, Colin James, and The Matthew Good Band as well as artists like Tina Turner, Murray McLauchaln, Barney Bentall, Jimmy Barnes, and many more. Pat is also in demand for film and television soundtracks such as Kids In The Hall, DaVinci's Inquest, and the CBC's Hockeyville. He travels widely as a clinician.
Pat Steward is on MySpace, and has a blog at chairmanofrock.blogspot.com
››Pat McGrath
Pat McGrath is a musician's musician with a recording career dating back to the early 1990s. He is known as one of the best pickers in Nashville, with contributions to more than a dozen titles in the popular "Best of Pickin'" series of tribute albums. Pat is an all-round player, best known for his acoustic guitar work, but with credits for electric guitar, 12-string guitar, Spanish guitar, mandolin, dobro, and banjo plus keyboard and vocals in a discography that numbers well over 100 releases. Pat is equally at home with Bluegrass, Folk, Country, and Rock, with performance credits on albums by such diverse artists as Randy Owen (Alabama), Jim Lauderdale, Chris Nole, John Arthur Martinez, Michael Johnson, the debut album of American Idol top-twelve contestant Bucky Covington, and many, many more.
››Craig Young
Originally from Modesto, California, Rock/Country bass player Craig Young has been a session musician since 1997. He now lives with his wife and family in Nashville where, in addition to a busy schedule of session work, he is a writer, producer and engineer who has worked with artists such as Jewel, Elton John, The Wreckers, Peter Frampton, Citizen Cope, Earth Wind & Fire, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Megadeth, Jessica Simpson, The Indigo Girls, Wynona Judd, and The Cardigans amongst others.
Visit Craig's MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/cyoungnashville.
››Dave Francis
Veteran bass player Dave Francis is a regular in the Nashville studio scene as an all-round electric and upright bass player who is also an accomplished vocalist and acoustic guitar player. He is best known for his work with LeRoy Parnell, but is often busy making recordings and demos with emerging independent artists like Eldon Hunt, Rachel Rodriguez, Ty England, Shawna Russell, Tyler Stock, Charis Thorsell, Dianna McNolty, Ywain (Trison Stevens), Tim Gurshin, Frankie Moreno, David James, Jenny Yates, Candace Asher, The Lost Trailers, Stephanie Walker, Jefferson Pepper, Joni Harms, Marc Kuchner, Steve Conn, Will Smith (Producer), Bo Riddle, and many more. Dave's versatility is demonstrated in the variety of his credits with projects like Susan Anders' "Singing With Style" (Jazz), Reggae for Kitara Psalm Sixty-Eight, Rock, Pop, and Hip Hop with producer Will Smith's studio band, or Traditional Folk and Irish Folk for The Folkscene Collection and Maura O'Connell.
Dave earns thanks and praise not only for his great playing, but also for the support and mentoring he gives to upcoming artists.
››Dwight Sills
Smooth Jazz Guitarist Dwight Sills came on the scene with the Jazz group Axis in Houston, TX during the 1980s. In 1990, Columbia Records released his self-titled debut album which made the R&B charts and was followed up with Second Wind in 1992. Dwight spent the rest of the 90s touring with Wayne Henderson & the Next Crusade, Kirk Whalum, Anita Baker, Boney James, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Brenda Russell, and Bette Midler. He was also featured on many sessions produced by Babyface. In 1999 he released his third album, Easy, on Citylights Music.
Dwight is also a composer and producer who has been involved in several television, movie, and studio projects. These include The Michael Jackson Tribute, Jay Leno, “Ali”, and TLC’s “Crazy, Sexy, Cool.” As a writer, Dwight has co-written songs for Jessica Simpson, Rebekkah, Will Downing, and several new artists.
Dwight's influences include John Scoffield, Pat Metheny, Yellow Jackets, Jimi Hendrix, Allan Holdsworth, Richie Blackmore, Steve Howe, Woody Shaw, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Bill Conners, Mike Brecker, Joni Mitchell, Wayne Shorter, and Paul English. Based in Houston, he continues to tour with Richard Elliott, Guitars & Saxes, Jazz Attack, Jeff Lorber, and Rick Braun.
For additional information about Dwight Sills go to http://www.smoothviews.com/archives/ontheside/onthesideAug06.htm and http://www.smooth-jazz.de/Artists3/Sills.htm
››Eric Marienthal
Eric Marienthal's success with Grammy-winning recordings, chart-topping contemporary Jazz compositions, and numerous awards was foretold when he left Berklee College of Music with the highest proficiency rating ever given by that prestigious school. Years later, Berklee would recognize his professional achievements with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. During those years, Eric established himself as a leading sideman, Contemporary Jazz composer and recording artist, as a session musician, and a fan favorite.
A native of California, Eric Marienthal's career started with the legendary New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt before a stint in the Disneyland house band introduced him to the world of LA session players, and, ultimately, Chick Corea. With the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Eric recorded six albums, two of them Grammy winners. A long affiliation with Chick Corea and GRP Records followed, with Eric releasing eleven solo CDs and playing on over 50 GRP albums with artists like Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, David Benoit, Don Grusin, Dave Weckl, John Patitucci, GRP All-Star Big Band and The Rippingtons. Eric regularly charted in the Top 10 on the National Contemporary Jazz Radio Charts and the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart, notably with his album "Oasis," a collaboration with Jeff Lorber and Russell Ferrante of the Yellowjackets.
On stage, Eric has performed and toured the world with legendary artists, starting with Chick Corea and including Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, David Benoit, The Rippingtons, The Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band, Patti Austin, Lou Rawls, David Lee Roth, The Yellowjackets, B.B. King, Ramsey Louis, Patti Labelle, Olivia Newton-John, and many others.
Eric is as active as ever in the studio and on the stage, and also in pursuit of his passion for music education. He has published three teaching method books and three instructional videos, and travels widely to present master classes and perform with high school and college Jazz bands.
Get the complete story at http://www.ericmarienthal.com/
››Glen Duncan
Although best known as a fiddler, award-winning Bluegrass player Glen Duncan started out on guitar and lap guitar at the age of seven. While still a youth, he heard a recording of Earl Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" that inspired him to take up the banjo and launched him on his Bluegrass career. In these RealTracks recordings, Glen shows that he could just as easily have won fame as a banjo player.
During his teenage years Glen branched out into Rock 'n' Roll as a piano and organ. His was lured away from R&R when he heard Bill Monroe's fiddler, Kenny Baker, and saw Vassar Clements on television around the same time. The young prodigy picked up the fiddle and has never looked back.
Glen won the 2001 Best Country Instrumental Grammy for his recording of Foggy Mountain Breakdown with Earl Scruggs, and the list of other artists he has played with includes Bill Monroe, Shania Twain, John Denver, George Strait, Mark Knopfler, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Faith Hill, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, The Statler Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, Jimmy Davis, Hank Snow, Kenny Chesney, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and literally scores of others. On television, he has been featured on all of the major late-night talk shows, has had hundreds of appearances on The Grand Ole Opry, and many more on Austin City Limits.
As well as receiving a Grammy, Glen has been nominated for two other Grammy awards, has been the SPGMA Fiddler of the Year four times, and was nominated as CMA Musician of the Year award in 2002. He has won Song of the Year twice at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)Awards, won the IBMA Recorded Event of the Year twice and the SPGMA Album of the Year.
Please visit Glen Duncan's web page at http://www.glenduncan.com/
››Hank Singer
American fiddle player and mandolinist Hank Singer was born in Slaton, Texas. He was barely out of high school when his mentor, Red Hayes, recommended him to Country star Faron Young as a replacement for Vassar Clements. Within a few months, Hank had played on his first #1 record with Faron Young's recording of "Four in the Morning." It was to be many years before he was on another #1 hit, but during that time he compiled an impressive list of credits with other top artists, both on stage and in the studio.
Hank is a first-call Nashville session player and sideman who has toured and recorded with Ray Price, Alan Jackson, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Gatlin Brothers, Ricky Van Shelton, Charley Pride, Randy Travis, Hank Williams, Jr., Tracy Lawrence, Roy Clark, Michael Martin Murphey, Suzy Bogguss, Gary Allan, Billy Bob Thornton, Tanya Tucker, Lee Ann Womack, George Jones, Miranda Lambert, and Brooks and Dunn. Back in his native Texas, no less an authority than Johnny Bush acknowledges Hank as the best honky-tonk fiddler of the day, in the tradition of greats like Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, Andy Stein, and Vassar Clements.
You'll find Hank on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/hanksinger http://www.facebook.com/people/Hank-Singer/1648473205
››Jeff Taylor
As a boy in Batavia, NY Jeff Taylor played trumpet, piano, and accordion. By the age of 10 he was playing in his father's wedding band, the Variety Kings. Soon after he was playing in a Jazz trio, and by the time he was 16 he also played the fiddle, bass, euphonium, guitar, and trombone in a number of different bands, including Jazz and Western Swing combos. Jeff then studied Classical piano at Eastman School of Music and at SUNY Fredonia before joining the US Air Force and becoming a band leader.
Jeff moved to Nashville in 1990, working as a pianist, keyboard player and music director for live stage productions (Opryland, Ryman Auditorium, General Jackson Showboat), and as band leader for a year with "Hee-Haw Live" and another year with Boots Randolph. It was also at that time that he returned to playing the accordion, playing regularly at the Grand Ole Opry with Jimmy C. Newman and appearing as an accordion soloist with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded and toured with Vince Gill, Grandpa Jones, Martina McBride, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, The Chieftains and with the Sugarcanes, a Bluegrass "supergroup" assembled by Elvis Costello for his "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" CD. Jeff was featured on the "Ricky Skagg's and Kentucky Thunder" instrumental CD that won the 2007 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
Jeff's credits show him to be a musician of diverse tastes and talents, and in addition to the accordion he still plays the piano, keyboards, penny whistles, mandolin, and bouzouki. He is in a Celtic trio, The Boys of County Nashville, has recorded a solo piano CD of hymns, and performs live with Christian musicians Buddy Greene and Michael Card. He is also a member of the Grammy-nominated Time Jumpers, the A-list group whose famous Monday night jam at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn is the “show that stars go to see.”
You can read Jeff's bio at the Time Jumpers' web site, http://www.thetimejumpers.com/bio/jeff_taylor, and he also has a profile on the Nashville Music Pros web site, http://www.nashvillemusicpros.com/profile/JeffTaylor
››Kenny Sears
Classically trained violinist Kenny Sears has always been a fiddler at heart. From the age of 11, and even while he was earning his Masters degree in music and playing with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he was fiddling for the Big "D" Jamboree and playing at clubs and dances with top Texas band leaders like Billy Gray and Leon Rausch. During this stage of his career, it wasn't unusual for Kenny to perform at a Classical concert and then finish out the night playing at a swinging nightspot. He also met, and played with, many of the touring stars of the Grand Ole Opry including Faron Young, Mel Tillis, Dottie West, and Jeannie Seely. When it came time to realize his dream of moving to Nashville, there was a job waiting for him with Faron Young's Country Deputies. This was followed by a twelve-year association with Mel Tellis and the Statesiders, with an interlude in Ray Price's band, The Cherokee Cowboys.
Kenny is now a regular on the Grand Ole Opry and a busy Nashville session musician. In addition to his substantial discography with other artists, he has released his own Classic Gospel Fiddle Playin' CD. Kenny also performs on stage as a vocalist and fiddler with the all-star Nashville studio musicians' Western Swing band, The Time Jumpers. This band also appears regularly at the Opry, and enjoys a loyal following among the top Country artists in Nashville.
There's more about Kenny Sears at http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll and in the Fiddler Magazine article "Kenny Sears: Premier Fiddler on the Grand Ole Opry" at http://www.fiddle.com/Articles.page?Index=1&ArticleID=18803 Fiddler Magazine
››Mark Hill
Mark Hill, a 2010 Nominee for the Academy of Country Music Bass Player of the Year award, is a sought-after Nashville session player working 500-600 sessions a year. His studio work embraces all styles from Country, to Rock, to Pop, to Gospel with artists such as Art Garfunkel, Richard Marx, Duane Eddy, Cliff Richard, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Keith, Martina McBride, Neil McCoy, Montgomery/Gentry, BJ Thomas, Wes Cunningham, John Wesley Harding, Bob Carlisle, Gretchen Wilson, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans, The Oak Ridge Boys, Jim Peterik (Survivor), Charlie Peacock and many more.
Other studio work includes film and television soundtracks and national jingles for The Today Show, Ford Motor Co., Diamler/Chrysler, and Coca-Cola. He has made network television appearances on The Tonite Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Ellen, and The View.
Although Mark has said that he prefers the spontaneity of session work to the repetition of touring, he has toured with Martina McBride and Steven Curtis Chapman and was both bass player and band leader for Keith Urban's Be Here 2004 Tour, which played 60 cities in the USA and Australia.
Mark also owns The Chapel, a recording studio that is connected to his home. He is on the Internet at http://web.mac.com/markhillbass/
››Mike LeDonne
Child prodigy Mike LeDonne was already a seasoned musician when he arrived in New York upon his graduation from the New England Conservatory. Over the next ten years, he travelled back and forth to Europe, spent two years as the house pianist at Jimmy Ryan's, toured for two years with the Benny Goodman sextet, and played with many of the biggest names in Jazz including Panama Francis and the Savoy Sultans, Roy Eldridge, Papa Jo Jones, Vic Dickenson, Buddy Tate, Al Grey, Ruby Braff, the Art Farmer-Clifford Jordan Quintet, Grady Tate, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, Charles McPherson, Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Annie Ross, Etta Jones, and Benny Golson.
In 1988 he began an 11-year engagement with vibraphone master Milt Jackson's Quartet, eventually becoming music director for the group. That same year he began recording on the Criss Cross label, debuting with the post-bop album Bout Time, and recorded several albums for the label throughout the early and mid-'90s before switching to the Double Time label in 1998. He has been playing and recording with Benny Golson since 1997, and his recordings have received 4-star reviews and won many Jazz awards. Mike LeDonne remains among the best pianists on the New York Jazz scene today and has been praised by such Jazz luminaries as Oscar Peterson, who singled him out as one of his favorite pianists. But Mike has also had a lifelong love affair with the Hammond B-3, an instrument that he says "has the soul built right in."
His father, a Jazz guitarist and music store owner, bought him a repo'd B-3 when he was fourteen, and Mike recalls many teenage sessions in his basement with the neighbourhood kids dancing outside. Many years later, he rediscovered the B-3 after sitting in with Jack McDuff's band. At McDuff's urging he began performing on the B-3, with a style reminiscent of Jimmy Smith and Charles Earland. A three-year gig at the Showman's Jazz Club in Harlem was followed in 2000 by a regular Tuesday night slot with his A-team quartet at the famous Smoke Jazz Club. The group released a CD, Smokin Out Loud, on the Savant label in 2004, followed by a live recording at the club, On Fire, in 2008. In 2010 they released The Groover, also on the Savant label. Mike continues to play concerts and clubs around the world.
As an educator, Mike is the co-author of Jim Snidero's Jazz Conception for Piano and Piano Comping books and was on the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music for four years from 2002 to 2006.
Mike LeDonne's web site is at http://www.mikeledonne.com/
››Robby Turner
Robby Turner, "The Man of Steel," is a legend in the country music industry. He was born into a musical family (both parents played in Hank Williams' band, The Drifting Cowboys, in the 1940s) and it didn't take him long to get started on a musical career of his own. By age 6 Robby was playing drums in his father's band, by age 9 he was touring along with his parents, playing drums for the Wilburn brothers. At age 10 he started playing steel guitar, and by age 12 he was the youngest ever musician chosen to endorse and represent the Sho-Bud Pedal Steel Guitar.
It would take a book to tell about all of the bands and artists Robby has played, recorded, and toured with, but even a short list includes an amazing number of legends, not only from the field of Country music, but legends of Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Pop as well. The list not only includes George Jones, Chet Atkins, and Loretta Lynn, but also B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, Stevie Ray Vaughn and many, many others. (It's worth a visit to http://web.mac.com/heavypedal/Robby_Turner/TV,_Film_%26_Artists_Credits.html to see the full list.)
In 1989 Robby was invited to record and tour with "The Highwaymen" (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson). This was the beginning of his close association and friendship with Waylon Jennings and his wife, Jessi Colter, that extended over eleven years of touring and recording until Jennings' untimely death in 2002.
The following year was spent close to home, until Robbie accepted an offer to go back on the road for ten months touring the USA, Europe, and Australia with the Dixie Chicks. He's now back home and as busy as ever as a session player and also producing and recording at his own studio, Turner-Up Recordings.
Robbie Turner's web site is at www.robbyturnermusic.com/
››Ron King
Trumpeter, composer, band leader, and Grammy nominee Ron King is one of L.A.'s top studio players, as evidenced by awards from the IAJE, NAJE, ASCAP, and the RMA. He has been heard on gold record performances by George Benson, Ricki Lee Jones, and Marvin Gaye with other credits including Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Keely Smith, Jeremy Lubbock, David Foster, Jeff Lorber, Michael Bolton, Queen Latifah, Brian Simpson, and Michael Paulo.
Ron has played for countless movie, television, and commercial soundtracks, including "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, "The Jimmy Kimmel Live" television show, ABC's "The Next Best Thing", and the movies "Children of a Lesser God", and "Ocean's 11." Onstage, he has performed with The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Bill Holman, Clayton Hamilton, and Don Menza big bands while also leading his own big band and quartet.
A California native, he graduated from California State University Los Angeles with a Major in Music and a Minor in Musicology. For more about Ron King, please visit his web site at http://www.ronkingtrumpet.com/
››Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan, an eight time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, has also won two Grammy awards with The Nashville Bluegrass Band, five Academy of Country Music Fiddle Player of the Year awards, and was awarded Specialty Instrument Player of the Year in 2006.
Stuart developed his style from listening to Vassar Clements, Chubby Wise, Kenny Baker (who sold him his famous red fiddle) and other bluegrass fiddle greats. He got his start as a session player and sideman in Los Angeles with Gold Rush, Lost Highway, and Larry Sparks. After earlier visits to play at the Grand Ole Opry with Grammy-winning banjo prodigy Alison Brown, he relocated to Nashville in 1985 as a member of the The Nashville Bluegrass Band playing fiddle, mandolin, guitar,and banjo as well as singing and writing songs for the group. He continues with the Nashville Bluegrass Band today.
Since an early session with George Jones, Stuart has been much in demand as a session musician with stars like Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Jewel, Patty Loveless, Lyle Lovett, Corb Lund, Terri Clark, Linda Ronstadt, Reba McEntire, Barbra Streisand, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, Willie Nelson, and many more, including with Steve Martin on "The Crow," the #1 Bluegrass Album for 2009. His self-titled album on Rounder records features Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten, and fellow Nashville Bluegrass Band members Roland White and Pat Enright.
Stuart toured with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in support of their five-Grammy "Raising Sand" album, and played with Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris on the "All The Roadrunning" and "Real Live Roadrunning" albums and for the Roadrunning tour as well. His playing features prominently throughout the movie soundtrack for "Cold Mountain," and also in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Stuart Duncan is a much sought-after musician for Bluegrass and other genres. For more information please see http://www.myspace.com/stuartissoraw and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Duncan
››Tommy Hannum
Maryland/DC native Tommy Hannum was a Rock 'n' Roll singer and guitar player until he took up the steel guitar while attending college. He was working with Emmylou Harris (pre Gram Parsons) when he joined the Rosslyn Mountain Boys, who opened for and backed up for Emmylou and other stars such as Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Vassar Clements, Bill Anderson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, and Buck Owens. They also released two albums of their own before breaking up, which was when Tommy moved to Nashville to begin his long association with Ricky Van Shelton while becoming a busy session player.
Tommy Hannum is known for his ability to move easily between old-school and contemporary styles, with credits that include Tammy Wynette, Vince Gill, Jack Ingram, Ray Price, Ricky Van Shelton, Steve Earle, Jeannie Seely, Randy Travis, Kennedy-Rose, Vern Gosdin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Amy Rigby, David Allan Coe, Patty Loveless, Jill Sobule, Jack Greene, Pam Tillis, Bob Woodruff, Razzy Bailey, Jim Lauderdale, the Judds, Ron Sexsmith, Russell Smith, John Hartford, Kelli Coffey, Emmylou Harris, Big and Rich, Buddy Jewell, John England and The Western Swingers, Lynn Anderson, Trent Tomlinson, Tanya Tucker, Dierks Bentley, Clay Walker, Buddy Spicher and the Nashville Swing Band, Chely Wright, Bill Medley, Larry Willoughby, Hank Williams III, Swan Dive, Solomon Burke, and Brett James.
Tommy has been a songwriter since his days with the Rossylyn Mountain Boys, and contributed a song to the 2009 Billy Bob Thornton movie "The Sweet Smell of Success." He has also released two CDs of his own, "Chesapeake Blues" and "Not Rocket Science," and his song "Old Town" was #1 on the Western Swing chart and nominated for Western Swing Song Of The Year by the Academy of Western Artists.
In addition to the pedal steel, Tommy's CDs feature him on lap steel, dobro, and acoustic guitar. He brings this same multi-instrument versatility to his current touring gig with Clay Walker.
To read more about Tommy Hannum and hear his music, go to http://www.myspace.com/tommyhannum.
››Blair Masters
Session keyboard player Blair Masters has been a fixture of the Nashville studio scene for the past 20 years. He is an all-round keyboard artist on piano, organ, electric piano, and synthesizers who is also in demand for in sampling, programming, and arranging for synths, drums, bass, strings and whatever else music technology can deliver.
Blair is best known for his work in the Contemporary Christian field, but his discography of over 300 recording credits with top artists like Amy Grant, Garth Brooks, Casting Crowns, Ricky Skaggs, MercyMe, Sandi Patti, and Trisha Yearwood (to name but a few), reveals his diverse talent. In addition to a busy studio schedule, Blair has found time to tour as a keyboard player with artists like Garth Brooks and Casting Crowns. He has also been featured on many compilations and tribute albums such as World`s Best Praise & Worship, Awesome God: A Tribute to Rich Mullins, Jazz Cafe: World`s Away, My Utmost for His Highest: Anthems, My Utmost for His Highest: The Covenant, Tribute: The Songs of Andrae Crouch, One Way: Songs of Larry Norman, Hymns & Voices, Power of Thanks: Integrity Music`s Scripture Memory Songs, New Young Messiah, Left Behind 2: The Gospel, and No Compromise: Remembering the Music of Keith Green.
As a songwriter, Blair's compositions have been recorded by 4 Him, Amy Morriss, Beyond the Blue, Bob Carlisle, Geoff Moore, Jim Brickman, Lisa Bevill, Misaki, Point of Grace, Rebecca St. James, and Trisha Yearwood.
Visit http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/being+a+session+musician+in+nashville to see a series of interviews with Blair on his work as a session musician and songwriter in Nashville.
››Brent Mason
Long acknowledged as Nashville’s #1 guitarist, Brent Mason is a 12-time winner of the Academy of Country Music "Guitarist of the Year" award and a 2-time winner of the Country Music Association's "Musician of the Year" award. His awards also include a Grammy for "Best Country Instrumental Performance."
Turn on the radio, and you’re more than likely to hear Brent Mason playing his guitar! He is one of the most recorded guitar players ever, appearing on thousands of recordings with top Country and Pop artists plus movie soundtracks, TV shows, and commercials.
Brent was a child prodigy on the guitar from the age of five years, and after graduating from high school he headed straight to Nashville to begin his professional career. It didn't take long for his outstanding talent to be recognized; one of his first recording credits was with George Jones, and then Chet Atkins discovered him and invited him to play on his "Stay Tuned" album. Brent has never looked back, to the point where it would be easier to list the top artists he HASN'T played with than those he HAS.
His effortless ability to move between Country, Rock, Pop, Jazz, classical, Latin, Swing, Blues,and Funk has made him the guitar player of choice for artists from Alan Jackson to The Chipmunks, to David Gates, to Trace Adkins to Natalie Cole, to Randy Travis, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Martina McBride, George Strait, Shanai Twain, Willy Nelson, Waylon Jennings and on and on. A look at his list of co-winners of the Grammy Award for "Best Country Instrumental Performance" - Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, and Steve Wariner for the song "Cluster Pluck" - affirms Brent's place in the ranks of all-time guitar greats.
Originally signed by Mercury Records for the release of his "Hot Wired" album, Brent chose the life of an A-list session musician over the rigors of touring. He released his second album, "Smokin' Section" with his brother Randy in 2006. He has also released a number of "how-to" guitar videos, and PG Music has released a special version of its "GuitarStar" guitar instruction software program, "GuitarStar - Brent Mason Country," that is dedicated exclusively to Brent's playing.
YOu can visit the official Brent Mason web site at http://www.brentmason.com/
››Dave Cleveland
Dave Cleveland has established himself as one of the Nashville's premier guitarists, having recorded and toured with a “Who’s Who” of top artists. He has played every style of guitar music from bluegrass to rock, but is best known for his acoustic style on the McPherson guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, and 12-string guitar.
Dave's career has mainly focused on Christian and Worship music. He has been the band director for Twila Paris, played live with Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, the Katinas, and David Baroni, and has hundreds of recording credits over the past 20 years with top artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Point of Grace, 4 Him, Crystal Lewis, Michael O’Brien, Cindy Morgan, Anointed, Russ Taff, Steve Green, Wes King and Out Of The Grey, and many more. He has been part of major soundtracks for the films “The Apostle” and "Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus," and also such acclaimed projects as Steven Curtis Chapman’s Grammy award winning “The Live Adventure,” Avalon’s music special for the PAX network, “Live At Woodlands” featuring Crystal Lewis, and even "The White House Salutes Gospel Music" event. Dave has also composed numerous themes which have aired on networks including A&E, HDTV, and WGN.
As a songwriter, Dave has contributed songs to albums by Clay Crosse and McPherson 1, and also to the children's release "Butterfly Kisses and Bedtime Prayers." He has two instrumental album releases of his own to his credit," Beautiful Dream" and the 2007 Gospel Music Association Dove Award Nominee for Instrumental Album of the Year, "Guitars in Worship."
See Dave's full list of credits on artistdirect.com.
››Gonzalo Bergara
Acoustic Jazz Guitarist Gonzalo Bergara is heavily influenced by Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France, traditional Jazz, and the music of his native Buenos Aires. Gonzalo began playing professionally at age 16 and by 17 he was fronting his own blues trio on national television in Argentina. He arrived in Southern California by way of France in the year 2000 and has since performed and recorded with hundreds of artists including Tim Hausser of Manhattan Transfer, Sylvie Vartan, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, John Jorgenson, Howard Alden, and many more.
Gonzalo has performed all over the world including Croatia, Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, England, Scotland, The Montreal Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Sweet and Hot Jazz Festival, Django Reinhardt Fest in Germany, Suave Guitar Fest in Italy, Merle Fest, Strawberry Fest, DjangoFests throughout the US, touring extensively with the John Jorgenson quintet.
He now has his own all-acoustic quartet, the Gonzalo Bergara Quartet, where he is accompanied by guitar, clarinet and tenor saxophone, and upright bass. His CD Porteña Soledad was an Editor’s Pick in Guitar Player Magazine. The quartet was picked as the “Best Jazz Group” in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Magazine in their Best of LA issue and as DjangoFest Artist of the Year.
DjangoBooks.com has published the "Gonzalo Bergara: How I Learned Vol.1: Gypsy Jazz Instruction Book" CD with audio and video.
Visit Gonazlo's web site and hear his music at http://www.gonzalobergara.com/
››John Jorgenson
John Jorgenson is a legendary American guitar player who is also proficient on the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel, piano, upright bass, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone.
John was playing both the piano and the clarinet by age 8. He got his first guitar at age 12 and learned to play it while continuing to study Classical music on woodwinds. By age 14, John was playing guitar in a Rock 'n' Roll band and developing the virtuosity and versatility that would distinguish his professional career. He achieved national recognition with The Desert Rose Band, which he co-founded with Chris Hillman of the Byrds. The band had five #1 singles and Jorgenson won the Academy of Country Music's "Guitarist of the Year" award for three consecutive years while playing with Desert Rose.
Following The Desert Rose Band, John formed The Hellecasters with Will Ray and Jerry Donahue. This award-winning trio of guitar virtuosos produced three hit CDs and a live video, winning both "Album of the Year" and "Country Album of the Year" from the readers of Guitar Player Magazine for "Return of the Hellecasters," released in 1993.
In 1994 Elton John called and invited John on an 18-month world tour that stretched into six years. Jorgenson has also recorded or toured with artists including The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, Roy Orbison, Patty Loveless, Sting, Billy Joel, Michael Nesmith, and Bonnie Raitt.
For all of his accomplishments in the Pop, Country, and Rock worlds, Gypsy Jazz is the style of music closest to John Jorgenson's heart. He is known as one of the pioneers of the American Gypsy Jazz movement and has performed as a solo artist as well as collaborated with other musicians all over the world. Because of his international reputation as a Gypsy Jazz player, John was twice asked to recreate Django Reinhardt's music for feature films, "Gattica" and "Head in The Clouds." The latter, starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, features John on camera in the role of Django Reinhardt.
John Jorgenson continues to perform, record, and teach Gypsy Jazz music, with a series of Gypsy Jazz recordings dating back to 1988 that feature his artistry on both the guitar and the clarinet. He has also published a series of Gypsy Jazz Guitar instructional DVDs complete with book, DVD, and a play-along CD.
Currently living in Nashville, John tours worldwide playing Gypsy Jazz with The John Jorgenson Quintet and continues to collaborate with other artists live and in the studio. His web site is at http://www.johnjorgenson.com/
››Quinn Bachand
Multi-talented Quinn Bachand of Victoria, Canada has been praised by Cape Breton fiddling sensation Ashley MacIsaac as "one of the best Celtic guitar accompanists in the world." Quinn performed with MacIsaac at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and across Canada at many music events and festivals such as the Edmonton Folk Festival, Celtic Colours International Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, Cavendish Music Festival and more. He's had the privilege of accompanying or opening for such noted musicians and recording artists as Lunasa, Buddy MacMaster, Liz Carroll, John Doyle, Daniel Lapp, Mark Sullivan, Pierre Schryer, Andrea Beaton, Robin Nolan, Marc Atkinson, The Sultans of Swing and many more. An impressive resume for a teenager!
Quinn also performs and tours regularly with his sister Qristina, a talented fiddler, at concerts and festivals including Vancouver Island Music Fest, Islands Folk Festival, Vancouver Celticfest, Celtic Colours International Festival, Kansas City Irish Fest, Northwest Folklife, Feakle (Ireland) and Speyfest (Scotland). Qristina and Quinn's 2008 debut CD, “Relative Minors” was nominated for the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Quinn began his musical training through Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 5. He continues his classical violin studies, and also loves to play Jazz guitar, especially Gypsy Jazz. He's an outstanding performer on fiddle and banjo too!
For the latest updates on this exciting young musician's career go to http://www.qbachand.com/
››Rick Reed
After many successful years working as a Jazz drummer in New York City, Rick Reed moved to Nashville where he quickly found his talents in demand for studio sessions, live performances, and tours with a variety of top artists.
Grammy winner shelby Lynne chose him for her "Tears, Lies and Alibis" album, and guitar legend John Jorgensen invited him to join his Quintet. Rick has also performed and recorded with award-winning banjo player Alison Brown, blues/slide guitar master Rick Vito, Ray Davies of the Kinks, Jennifer Niceley, UK singer-songwriter Clive Gregson, and Leslie Tucker. You can see Rick's recording credits dating back to the 1990s at http://www.artistdirect.com/
››Shannon Forrest
If you listen to Country radio, you're hearing Shannon Forrest's drum sound every day. In his twenty years as a Nashville session ace he's been constantly in demand by chart-topping artists that include Brooks & Dunn, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Sugarland, Terri Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tracy Lawrence, LeAnn Rimes, The Chieftains, Michael McDonald, Willie Nelson, Alabama, Joe Nichols, Art Garfunkel, Bonnie Bramlett, Ricky Skaggs, Chris LeDoux, Trisha Yearwood, Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, The Gaither Vocal Band, The Statesmen, The Blackwood Brothers, Montgomery Gentry, SheDAISY, Lee Ann Womack, Chely Wright, Jo Dee Messina, Jerry Douglas, Gretchen Wilson, Merle Haggard, Taylor Swift, Kelly Pickler, John Oates, Trace Adkins, Jimmy Wayne, Josh Turner and many more. He has played on more Top 10 hits than any drummer in Nashville for seven years running, earning a reputation as "the hit-maker." His industry peers in the Academy of Country Music recently voted him the Top Percussionist/Drummer of the year.
Shannon is also known for his popular sessions at the Modern Drummer Festival, demonstrating groove playing and what is required in the recording studio, as well as getting drum sounds, engineering, producing, and home studio concepts. The festival also gives him a chance to stretch out and play everything from Bluegrass to Modern Rock, a new direction he is looking at in his studio work.
Shannon is on Facebook, and you can see a full list of his recording credits at http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/shannon-forrest/431780
››Steve Nelson
Pittsburgh-born vibraphonist and composer Steve Nelson started playing piano and vibes as a teenager. Milt Jackson was a major influence on Nelson, who developed a straight ahead playing style that earned him a one year engagement with legendary Jazz guitarist Grant Green at a young age. This was followed by playing and recording with his Rutgers professors James Spaulding and Kenny Barron, on the way to graduating with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music. He then joined David "Fathead" Newman's quintet, and by the 1980s Nelson was the vibist of choice in a wide circle of leading Jazz artists. Other great musicians he has performed and recorded with include Bobby Watson, Curtis Lundy, James Williams, Donald Brown, Geoffrey Keezer, Lewis Nash, Johnny Griffin, Jackie McLean, and Mulgrew Miller.
Steve Nelson's recordings as a leader include Communications (Criss Cross, 1987), Live At Acireale (Red Records, 1989), Full Nelson (Sunnyside, 1989), New Beginnings (TCB, 1999), Fuller Nelson (Sunny Side, 2004) and Sound Effect (High Note, 2007). He appears at concerts and festivals worldwide, and has taught music at Princeton University.
Steve is currently a member of Dave Holland’s Band and Quintet, the Lewis Nash Trio, and Mulgrew Miller’s Wingspan.
Read more about Steve Nelson at ww.allaboutjazz.com and on his Wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Nelson_(vibraphonist)
››Tim Kliphuis
Dutch musician and educator Tim Kliphuis ranks among the world's leading fiddlers,and is considered by many to be the successor to Stephane Grappelli. He has updated Grappelli's Gypsy Swing legacy with Classical, Folk, Tango, World music, and Jazz in a fresh, new fusion that has charmed audiences around the world.
Tim was classically trained at the Amsterdam Conservatoire. His first international recognition came after he joined Belgian gypsy guitarist Fapy Lafertin in 1999. He toured Europe with Lafertin's Quintet and featured on three CDs before deciding on a solo career in 2004.
Since then, Tim has performed with such world-renowned Jazz players as Les Paul, Martin Taylor, Bob Wilber, Frankie Gavin, Herb Geller, Angelo Debarre, Bucky Pizzarelli, Richard Galliano, and Stochelo Rosenberg. An internationally touring musician, he appears at venues ranging from Jazz clubs to Classical concert halls, and at Jazz festivals including North Sea Jazz, Djangofest Northwest and Baltimore FiddleFair (USA), Paris and Edinburgh Jazz, and Classical festivals including Richard Strauss, Winterzauber (Frankfurt), Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Musica Mundi (Waterloo).
Tim teaches string improvisation at the Amsterdam and Tilburg Conservatoires. He also hosts workshops around the globe in conjunction with his touring and festival appearances.
Visit Tim's web page at http://www.timkliphuis.com/ for a full listing of his recordings, tour dates and workshops. He is also on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/timkliphuis.
››Trevor Hutchinson
Trevor Hutchinson is credited with redefining Irish music by bringing out its rhythms with his distinctive playing on the upright bass. Originally from Cookstown, County Tyrone,in Northern Ireland, Trevor played bass with the Waterboys from 1986 to 1991. This band brought a "modern Rock" style to its recordings of traditional Irish folk music. Trevor played on the Waterboys CD releases "Fisherman’s Blues" (1988) and "Room to Roam" (1990), the latter featuring accordion player Sharon Shannon.
After leaving The Waterboys, Hutchinson joined the Sharon Shannon Band, recording three albums in a more straightforward traditional vein: 1991’s "Sharon Shannon," 1994’s "Out the Gap," and 1997’s "Each Little Thing."
A Scandinavian tour with Seán Smyth and Donogh Hennessy in 1996 led to the founding of Lunasa, which has since earned the title of "Ireland's Supergroup" for its unsurpassed musicianship and for defining the state-of-the-art in Irish music. The group continues to tour the world and release its own CDs, while Trevor Hutchinson is also a much-in-demand musician who has recorded with Moving Cloud, Natalie Merchant, Dermot Byrne, Eric Bibb, Máire Breatnach, and Eileen Ivers of Riverdance fame.
As well as playing double bass, fretless bass, electric bass, bouzouki, mandola, and cello, Trevor is an arranger, composer, recording engineer and producer with his own studio in Dublin. A complete list of the artists he has worked with on stage and in the studio would also include (in no particular order) Bumblebees, Carlos Nunez, Cathal McConnell, Dale Ann Bradley, De Danann, Dermot Byrne, Eoin Dillon, The Frames, Frank Harte, Frankie Lane, Gerry O'Beirne, Gerry O'Connor, Grada, Joe McKenna, John Renbourn, Julie Fowlis, Luka Bloom, Máire Breatnach, Mary Staunton, Matt Keating, Miriam Ingram, Niamh Parsons, Padraic MacMathuna, Sarah McQuaid, Susan McKeown, and Ten Speed Racer.
For more information about Trevor Hutchinson, visit the Lunasa web site at http://www.lunasa.ie/.
››Simon Planting
Dutch double bassist Simon Planting now lives near San Francisco, but he studied Classical bass at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Jazz at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam before embarking on a professional career that has seen him perform in concerts and festivals the world over while compiling an impressive discography with artists like Mathilde Santing, Fapy Lafertin, Jimmy Rosenberg, Stephane Wrembel, and John Jorgenson as well as several Gypsy Jazz tributes and compilations.
Simon quickly became established in Dutch radio and television in a ten-year association with noted pianist/arranger Cor Bakker. He then joined the gifted Django Rheinhardt interpreter Fapy Laftertin for an extended series of tours and recordings, while also embarking on a 17-year association with Jazz singer Mathilde Santing in concert and in the studio. He was also toured in a band with his former classmate Reiner Voet of the Gypsy Jazz duo Pigalle 44. More recordings and international tours with the Robin Nolan Trio followed, until Simon joined the legendary John Jorgensen Quintet in 2009. Along the way he has performed with top Jazz Manouche guitarists such as Jimmy Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Dorado, Tjavalo and Samson Schmitt, Andreas Oberg, Gonzalo Bergara, Kruno, and other Jazz greats, Larry Coryell, Bill Frisell, and Howard Alden to name a few.
Simon is also a favorite on the Djangofest circuit, where he might be found accompanying fellow RealTracks artists such as Tim Kliphuis and John Joregenson. There is a large selection of videos featuring Simon with various Jazz and Gypsy Jazz artists at www.youtube.com.
››Troy MacGillivray
Nova Scotia's Troy MacGillivray comes from a long line of Gaelic musicians, and he has kept the tradition alive as an accomplished fiddler, pianist, and step dancer with a growing international following.
Troy first gained recognition for his step dancing, before blossoming as a piano player in his early teens and then picking up the violin enroute to earning a music degree from St. Francis Xavier University.
Today Troy is an award-winning artist with a growing catalogue of award-winning fiddle and piano CDs (11 and counting), which might also feature him on viola and bass. His awards include Canada's East Coast Music Award for "Instrumental Recording of the Year" and the "Auleen Theriault Young Tradition Award" for Celtic roots musicians. Although he is perhaps best known as a fiddler, Troy still considers the piano his first instrument.
While touring internationally to Scotland, Barbados and across North America, Troy has also found time to publish a music book and his own teaching CD for Traditional/Celtic fiddle while completing a college degree in recording engineering.
Visit Troy's website at http://www.troymacgillivray.ca/ for much more information about his career and music.
››Medley
This style contains multiple artists. Please view the individual styles from the Medley to see which artist is performing.
››Silence
This style plays no RealTracks, and is used as a placeholder in Soloist Medley styles for places where you want space between the other Soloists.
››Alex Al
First-call bass player Alex Al is a Los Angeles musician known the world over, perhaps most notably as a bass player for Michael Jackson, but also for his work with a long list of Jazz, Soul, Rock, and R&B legends like Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, David Bowie, and many more.
Originally from Detroit, Alex got his start playing bass in a 12-piece Funk-Rock band led by his older brothers. At age 17 he struck out for Los Angeles to study at the Bass Institute of Technology (BIT), now part of the Musicians Institute. This launched his career on road tours with artists such as Bobby Brown, Diana Ross, and the Spice Girls, leading to a gig as bass player in the house band for the Quincy Jones TV variety show "Vibe." Alex had also developed into a versatile player, equally at home on acoustic bass or keyboard, all of which fed into the growing demand for his services as a session player. His list of session credits goes on for pages and pages with leading artists (in addition to those already mentioned) like Lionel Richie, Earl Klugh, Jeff Lorber, Marcus Belgrave, El Debarge, George Benson, Sting, Smokey Robinson, Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Kenny G., Al Jarreau, Ricky Martin, David Sandborn, Wayne Shorter, Joni Mitchell, Joe Sample, Christina Aguilera, Luther Vandross, Babyface, Mariah Carey, Boney James, Jordin Sparks, and many more.
Alex has also turned his talents to songwriting, with a gold record for co-writing “Words Unspoken” for Boney James, and also to arranging and producing. He’s in the house band for “Lopez Tonight,” the George Lopez talk show, and on the soundtrack of the movie “Burlesque” with Cher and Christina Aguilera.
See a full list of recording credits for Alex Al at www.allmusic.com, and see some great videos of his live playing on www.youtube.com.
››Michael Thompson
Top studio guitarist Michael Thompson's early career had some stops and starts, literally, working as a cab driver between tours with Joe Cocker and Cher, before gaining a foothold in the Los Angeles recording, TV, and movie industry with a 4-year house gig on the hit series Fame. During those early struggling days he gained a reputation as "the demo king," recording as many as a dozen demo sessions a week . He also started getting called back for the master sessions. Since then, Michael has been on a limo ride with producers like David Foster, Babyface, and Quincy Jones calling on him for sessions with many of the top Rock, Pop, R&B, Country, and Latin artists of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
Throughout Junior High and High School in his hometown of Port Washington, New York, Michael played guitar in a band called Stonefeather with his brother Todd. Immediately after graduating from high school he enrolled in The Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Pat Metheny before leaving to tour and record. In 2001, Berklee recognized his career achievments with its Distinguished Alumni award, noting that "he is widely regarded as being among the elite studio session players, and his amazing list of credits includes such prominent names as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, 'N Sync, Toni Braxton, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Joe Sample, the Scorpions, Vince Neil, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Babyface, En Vogue, Gloria Estefan, Stanley Clarke, and Ricky Martin." Today, that list could be updated to add Michael Bublé, Shania Twain, Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Boyz II Men, Patti Labelle, The Eagles, Alanis Morrisette, Josh Groban, LeAnn Rimes, Backstreet Boys, Reba McEntire, Michael McDonald, and many more... even The Simpsons!
Michael has also released albums with his own Michael Thompson Band (MTB), charting a Billboard hit single with "Can't Miss," and with TRW, his recent collaboration with Mark Williamson and John Robinson. He has also released two solo albums, "The World According to M.T." and "M.T. Speaks."
Over the years, Michael has earned a reputation for producing whatever guitar sound might be called for, whether it's any of the myriad Fender and Gibson electric sounds, baritone guitar, electric sitar, a Rickenbacker 12-string, steel-string or nylon-string acoustics. In the recording industry, he is said to have "the platinum touch." His list of credits at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-thompson-p21014 also includes many movie and TV soundtracks.
Visit Michael Thompson's web site at http://michaelthompson.cc/ or his Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/michaelthompsonofficial. You'll also find some great videos on YouTube, including lessons and tips.
››Ricky Lawson
As a teen in Detroit, superstar session drummer Ricky Lawson spent his formative years watching recording sessions with top R&B artists, courtesy of his uncle, Paul Riser, a Motown arranger. By the time he left college he had gone from opening for The Jackson Five with The Sons of Soul to playing drums on The Jackson’s “Destiny” album. In those early days he also sat in with the likes of George Duke, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Paul McCartney and Sister Sledge, performed live with the Brothers Johnson, Al Jarreau and Bette Midler, and appeared on Stevie Wonder's 1984 HBO special. He was an original member of the Robben Ford Group, which became the Yellowjackets, winning a best R&B Instrumental Grammy award for co-writing the hit song, “And You Know That” on the Yellowjacket’s acclaimed album “Shades.”
Ricky left the Yellowjackets in 1986 to tour with Lionel Richie. The following years saw him touring with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau, Eric Clapton, and Phil Collins. He also accumulated a huge list of recording credits, earning a reputation as “The Rock” and the affectionate nickname “Drummer to the Stars.” In addition to the stars already named, he has recorded with Smokey Robinson, Steely Dan, Babyface, Anita Baker, Quincy Jones, Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, Michael McDonald, Beyoncé, Earl Klugh, and many, many more.
Ricky is consistently voted in the Top 10 Pop, R&B and Soul drummers in the world. He is also a highly respected songwriter, producer, and arranger with a solo vocal-oriented R&B/pop album titled “Ricky Lawson and Friends” to his credit. He also released a follow-up instrumental album of Christmas standards with a Jazz feel titled “Ricky Lawson’s Christmas with Friends.”
Get Ricky Lawson’s latest news at www.rickylawson.com, see his many videos on You Tube, and go to http://allmusic.com/artist/ricky-lawson-p97026 for a full list of his recording credits.
››Paul Franklin
When teenage pedal steel prodigy Paul Franklin moved from Detroit to Nashville, his career took off immediately. His first job was touring with rising star Barbara Mandrell. Paul then stayed on the road for several more years with stars like Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed, and Dottie West before deciding to stay in Nashville and focus on session work. There have been a lot of sessions since.
Franklin has played on more than five hundred record releases. They include recordings with such legendary Country artists as Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Leann Womack, Randy Travis, Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn, Wynonna Judd, Clint Black and many more. Along the way, he became a legend himself, and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
A versatile and innovative musician, Paul has crossed musical genres to record with Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits, Sting, Elton John, Megadeth, and Barbra Streisand. He has also brought new sounds to Country Music with the pedabro, which was built and patented by his father; the baritone steel, which plays an octave lower than a regular steel; and an acoustic lap steel nicknamed "The Box."
Paul Franklin is a perennial nominee for both Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards. He has won multiple awards from each institution, as both Steel Guitar Player of the Year and Musician of the Year, and is the reigning ACM Top Steel Guitar Player of the Year.
Nashville live music fans are treated to Paul’s unmatched musicianship in regular local performances with The Players (including A-list musicians Brent Mason on guitar, John Hobbs on keyboards, Michael Rhodes on bass, and Eddie Bayers on drums plus guest artists like Vince Gill and Travis Tritt), and also in a group of top session players called the Time Jumpers.
Paul Franklin’s web site is at http://www.paul-franklin.com and there are plenty of videos of his playing on You Tube, including live performances with The Players, The Time Jumpers, and a legendary solo with Mark Knopfler in “Walk of Life.” See Paul's complete list of credits at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-franklin-p77515.
››James Danderfer
Vancouver clarinetist James Danderfer has travelled the world with his instrument, studying at the Interlochen World Center for the Arts, the University of North Texas, Western Michigan University, and McGill University in preparation for a career as a band leader and sideman playing top Jazz clubs in Canada and New York City, on cruise ships, and for an extended stay in Shanghai culminating in a tour of China for his "Arrested Development" CD project.
Other recording credits include his critically acclaimed debut release "Run With It" plus recordings for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio network, and appearances on releases by noted Jazz artists including Kenny Werner, Walt Weiskopf, Don Thompson, Brad Turner, Oliver Gannon, Chris Gestrin, Bruno Hubert and Jodi Proznick.
James was nominated as Canada's Best Jazz Clarinetist in the 2008 and 2009 National Jazz Awards, and has received the Canada Council's Grant for Artists.
Visit James online at http://jamesdanderfer.com/
››Al Matheson
Trumpeter Alan Matheson is also a pianist, composer, and arranger with a degree in music performance from Northwestern University. He lives in Vancouver, BC where he leads his own big band, nonet, and septet as well as performing with top local orchestras like the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. He has directed the CBC Jazz Orchestra and the Festival Vancouver Big Band, conducting for Clark Terry, Phil Woods, and Bud Shank. As a sideman, Alan has played for Mel Torme, Cleo Laine, Louis Bellson, and Doc Cheatham. His discography includes recording of his own compositions and arrangements in sessions for the CBC, his own Alan Matheson Nonet, the Matheson/Roper/Mollerup Trio, Fifth AVenue, Lloyd Arntzen & The Rhythm Kings, Peters Drury Trio, and many other leading artists of the Vancouver jazz scene. He has toured Sweden and Finland with the Helsinki City Jazz Orchestra, and has appeared at jazz festivals in Vancouver, Montreal, and Paris.
In addition to his busy schedule as an active musician, Alan teaches trumpet and jazz piano at the University of British Columbia, and Jazz Studies at both Vancouver Community College and Capilano College.
Visit Alan's web site at www.alanmatheson.com/
››Dennis Esson
Versatile Vancouver trombonist Dennis Esson is best-known as a Jazz musician and instructor, but his credits include Pop and Rock groups such as Stephen Fearing, The Paperboys, Buddy Miles, The Salteens, and Veda Hille.
As a first-call player, Dennis has played for countless jingles, movie and cartoon soundtracks, and live theatre shows. He is a frequent soloist on CBC radio, and the lead trombone with the Vancouver Ensemble of Improvisation (VEJI), Orquesta Goma Dura, Jill Townsend Big Band, Hard Rubber Orchestra, the Fred Stride Jazz Orchestra, and the RazzMaJazz Dixieland band. Other performance credits include appearances with The Lionel Hampton Jazz Orchestra, Tommy Banks Orchestra, Kenny Wheeler, Slide Hampton, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Ray Charles, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Jack Jones, Natalie Cole, Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, Mitzi Gaynor, The Temptations, Harry Connick Jr., Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Barry Manilow, Henry Cuesta and the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Marvin Stamm, Brass Roots, Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Phil Woods, Bud Shank, Eddie Daniels, and David Foster.
Dennis appears on recordings with The Mike Herriot Sextet, Vancouver Ensemble of Improvisation (VEJI), Banff Jazz Orchestra, Brass Roots, Shango Ashe, Stephen Fearing, Mart Kenney, Hard Rubber Orchestra, Buddy Miles, Dave Robbins Sextet, Veda Hille, Forever Swing Cast Recording, Jill Townsend Big Band, The Paperboys, Patsy Goto, Karin Plato, and with Hugh Fraser's Bonehenge ensemble.
A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Dennis teaches Jazz Trombone at Capilano College. He is also a much-travelled adjudicator and clinician.
Dennis Esson's web site is at http://dennisesson.com/
››Brad Muirhead
Classically trained trombonist Brad Muirhead made the switch to Jazz as an original member of Hugh Fraser's Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI). In the years since, he has become a fixture of the Vancouver Jazz community on bass trombone, tuba, and euphonium. Brad is a versatile performer who can play it all - traditional, modern, fusion, New Orleans marching band, and Dixieland. He was also an original member of John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra and he has performed with Claude Ranger’s Jade Orchestra, Francois Houle Etc., Tribal Dynamics, the Miles Black Sextet, The Hugh Fraser Quintet, Lunar Adventures, and the RazzMaJazz Ensemble as well as Ray Anderson, George Lewis, Vinny Golia and Konrad Bauer.
Brad also composes for his own groups, Brass Roots and Primal Orbit, as well as writing commissioned works. His recording credits include the Fred Stride Jazz Orchestra, NOW Orchestra, Matthew Good, and George Lewis.
In addition to working full-time as a high school band instructor, Brad is also active in the community with The Carnegie Street Band, the Deet Street Band, and The East Van Jazz Orchestra.
Read more about Brad Muirhead on the Now orchestra's web site, http://members.shaw.ca/noworchestra/Brad.html, and the Primal Orbit web site, http://www.coastjazz.com/02primalorbit.html.
››Joe Poole
Joe Poole's talents as a drummer are in demand in two of Canada's major Jazz markets, Vancouver and Toronto. In addition to studying with the legendary Oscar Peterson, Joe has performed with Curtis Fuller, Marcus Belgrave, Ernestine Anderson, Red Holloway and Houston Person, to name a few. A seasoned session musician, he appears on recordings by Phil Dwyer, James Danderfer, Tony Foster, Marcel Aucoin, Brad Turner, Identify, Di Gregorio Chiricosta Quintet, Dee Daniels, Richard Underhill, Andre Lachance, Coat Cooke, The Chad Makela Quintet, Jaclyn Guillou, Cory Weeds, Paul Rushka, Grant Stewart, The Len Aruliah Sextet, and for the CBC radio programs Hot Air and Jazzbeat.
For more information about Joe Poole, visit http://vancouverjazz.com/ and http://www.allaboutjazz.com/
››Ron Thompson
Guitarist Ron Thompson has been a fixture of the Vancouver, BC jazz scene for thirty years. He has played in an eclectic variety of bands including The Romaniacs, The Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation, Gypsalero, String Fever, Olam, and The World Jive Big Band, and as a sideman for top Jazz artists including Rosemary Clooney, Frank Foster, Joe Henderson, Fraser MacPherson, Della Reese and Don Thompson. His style ranges from Jazz standards to Gypsy Jazz, Klezmir, African World Beat, Latin, and Tango. He is also an accomplished Dixieland and Bluegrass banjo player.
He currently plays guitar and banjo with the Dal Richards Orchestra, Stringfever, and the Scott Robertson Trio, and can be heard on recent recordings by Michael Bublé, Raffi, Ray Condo and His Ricochets, Zubot and Dawson, Ellen Kennedy, The Vancouver Men's Chorus, Amandah Jantzen, Tom Arntzen, and The Swing Sisters,.
See Ron's bio at http://www.stringfever.ca/players.html
››Sol Philcox
Young British guitar prodigy Sol Philcox was introduced to Nashville by his idol, studio legend Brent Mason, on the strength of a chicken-pickin' guitar track he uploaded to the Internet. In fact, when Sol offered his self-produced album for sale online, the first copy was ordered by Brent Mason. Eventually, Mason introduced Sol to Nashville by inviting him to stay at his home and taking him around the studios and clubs. Since then, Brent has become Sol's manager.
Sol now lives in Nashville, and has recorded with artists and producers such as Clay Walker and Keith Steagal. He has gigged with legendary Nashville songwriter Jim Lauderdale, jammed with Brent Mason at his famous live nights with The Players (the cream of Nashville studio musicians), and he has been touring with the Jim Owens Band. He has also released two instructional DVD sets, Wicked Chicken Pickin' Chops and Blues MasterClass with Sol Philcox.
Sol Philcox is an up-and-coming guitarist who combines country, blues, and rock into a very personal hybrid guitar style. You can see him in action at http://www.solphilcox.com and check out his lessons at http://www.solchops.com and http://www.bluesmasterclass.com/
››John Jarvis
You've been hearing John Jarvis on Rock, Pop, and Country records dating back to the 1970s. As a teenager, he was a staff pianist and songwriter for Edwin H. Morris Music and played on sessions with Ringo Starr, Diana Ross, Leo Sayer, John Mellancamp, The Miracles, Art Garfunkel, Stephen Bishop, and many others. The classically trained Jarvis then joined Rod Stewart's band, contributing the piano tracks to such hits as Hot Legs, Tonight's the Night, and You're in My Heart. At the same time, he was much in demand as a Hollywood session player right up until he decided to move his family to Nashville in 1982.
Jarvis' credits in Music City include every major artist of the past 30 years - Vince Gill, Brooks & Dunn, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, George Strait, Jimmy Buffett, Trisha Yearwood, Waylon Jennings, Steve Earle, The Judds, The Oak Ridge Boys, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Mark O'Connor, Dusty Springfield, Tanya Tucker, Alabama, Aaron Neville, Toby Keith, Bob Seger, Lee Ann Womack, Jim Lauderdale, Miranda Lambert, and many more.
As a songwriter, John won Song of the Year Grammy Awards for Vince Gill's "I Still Believe in You" and the Judds' "Love Can Build a Bridge." He has also won CMA and ACM awards for songwriting, and has been nominated for an Emmy. His songs have been recorded by Conway Twitty, John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Stevie Nicks, Delbert McClinton, Art Garfunkel, Brenda Lee, Steve Wariner, Amy Grant, Ricky Skaggs, Alabama, and Taj Mahal, among many others. Trisha Yearwood sang his composition, "The Flame" at the closing of the 1996 Summer Olympics. He has also released five CDs of his own, and was praised by People magazine for "the best solo piano since Keith Jarrett."
You can find a full biography for John Barlow Jarvis, as well as his latest CD release, "View From a Southern Porch," at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jbjarvis. He is also featured on the Country Music Television web site at http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/jarvis_john/bio.jhtml.
››Rob Hajacos
Ace Nashville fiddler Rob Hajacos is the one who gets the call when Country superstar Garth Brooks go into the studio. He has played on all of Brooks' albums, as well as being a first-call Nashville session player for more than 30 years. His earliest credits were with Country Music legends George Jones and Tanya Tucker, more recently he appears on albums by Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Trisha Yearwood, and Brooks and Dunn, to name a few. Along the way, he has won the ACM Fiddle Award and is a perennial Fiddle Player of the Year nominee.
You can see the full list of Rob Hajacos' credits at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rob-hajacos-p83378/credits/
››Rob Ickes
Rob Ickes is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. As of this writing, he is a 13-time winner of the IBMA Instrumental Performer of the Year award for his Dobro playing.
Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Rob moved to Nashville in 1992. There, he was a founding member of the legendary Bluegrass band Blue Highway, which is still performing with all of its original members. That same year, 1994, Rob won his first Grammy Award for The Great Dobro Sessions with Jerry Douglas and Tut Taylor. He won another Grammy with Alison Krauss & The Cox Family for "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow."
Rob's studio and touring credits include Merle Haggard, Charlie Haden, Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, David Grisman, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Martina McBride, David Lee Roth, Dolly Parton, Patty Loveless, Peter Rowan, Claire Lynch, and Mary Chapin Carpenter among many others. He has also released four solo albums, eight albums with Blue Highway, and a CD titled Three Ring Circle with top studio artists Andy Leftwich and Dave Pomeroy.
Rob also founded ResoSummit, an annual clinic in Nashville featuring top Dobro players and luthiers. He is known as an innovator, as recognized by Guitar Player magazine in a cover story headlined "Resonator Radical" for its August 2011 issue.
The official Rob Ickes web site is at http://www.resorevolution.com/robickes.html, and http://www.resorevolution.com/Index.html features his ResoSummit and other projects.
››Carlos E. Arellano
Venezuelan guitarist Carlos Eduardo Arellano studied music theory, Classical guitar and piano enroute to graduating as a Music Education Major from the Escuela Normal Valecillos. While still in school he began composing film scores and theatre music, winning the Best Film Score award at the Agua Linda, Brazil, International Film Festival for his music for the film "Las Novias Del Mendigo" by Romulo Gallegos. His keen interest in electronic music and audio recording led him to a position as Composer-in-Residence for TRT television. At the same time, he was playing in a jazz trio with Venezuelan pianist Virgilio Armas.
Carlos became an international presence on the Internet as Jazzpick, earning a place in the Hall of Fame at www.guitarwar.com. He has continued to produce his own CD releases while also appearing with top Venezuelan and international artists like Andres Briceño, Roberto Koch, Virginia Ramirez, Kitimba Jazz, Pablo Gil, Gerardo Chacon, Pedro Lopez, Victor Cuica, Kitimba Jazz, Gonzalo Mico, Ilan Chester, Luis Alvarado, Eddy Perez, Gerry Weil, Julio Flores, Miguel Chacon, Ruben Soto, Otmaro Ruiz, Frank Quintero and Ben Carriel.
Visit Carlos' web site at http://www.carlosarellano.com/music/
››Abe Gumroyan
Although he is featured for his Cuban (Salsa and Timba) bass styles in Band-in-a-Box, Abe Gumroyan could be called "the complete bass player." He is equally at home on the double bass, electric bass, Ampeg baby bass, or synth bass and graduated with a degree in Jazz performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He then took graduate studies in double bass and orchestral studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a Classical musician, he has been a member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and has freelanced in San Francisco. But there is much more to Abe's talents.
Abe's Armenian parents loved Cuban music and he grew up listening to their collection of salsa records. An Honors band student at The Hamilton High School for the Performing Arts and the Las Vegas Academy of Performing and Visual Arts and International Studies, the Cuban influence and his natural gifts soon made him the first call bassist for Latin music in Las Vegas. He and his colleagues are credited with developing a dynamic timba scene with groups like Generacion Habanera, Orquesta Tercera Dimención, Las Vegas Latin Sound, Charanbrava, Brisa Latina, and Por Si Las Moscas (Latin Jazz).
Now living in San Francisco, Abe (nicknamed "El Ruso") is active in Salsa and Jazz bands, and freelances on double bass with noted artists such as Michel Legrand. Others he has played and recorded with include Issac Delgado, Jerry Rivera, Herman Olivera, Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez, The Jose Lugo Orchestra, Karl Perrazo & AVANCE, Tito Puente Jr, Frankie Morales, Michito Sanchez Salsa Orchestra, and Rafael de Jesus. His outstanding versatility has also brought him engagements with top recording artists like Alicia Keys, Drummer Peter Erskine, Tenor Saxophonist Chris Potter, Justin Timberlake, and Andrea Bocelli.
Abe Gumroyan is @AbeBass on Twitter, and there is an online profile of him at http://www.timba.com/musicians/el-ruso.
››Mark Douthit
Nashville sax player Mark Douthit has been called "the most famous musician that people have never heard of" for his contributions to over 4,000 albums by leading Pop, Jazz, and R&B artists. His recording credits include Elton John, Lionel Ritchie, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, Vanessa Williams, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Leann Rimes, Michael W. Smith, Hank Williams Jr., Whitney Houston, Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael McDonald, Neville Brothers, Peter Cetera, Faith Hill, Vince Gill, DC Talk, Donny Osmond, Patty Loveless, Wynonna Judd, Point of Grace, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tommy Sims, Brenda Lee, Bebe & Cece Winans, Larnelle Harris,The Imperials, Bob Carlisle, Brian Duncan, David Foster, Bryan White, Keith Thomas, Michael Omartian, Ben Folds, Yolanda Adams, Larry Carlton, and many others. (His discography at www.cduniverse.com runs to 215 pages!)
In addition to these artists, he has also appeared onstage with Toni Braxton, James Ingram, India Arie, Edwin McCain, Mark Cohn, Christopher Cross, Don Henley, Natalie Cole, The Imperials, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Spinners, John Scofield, Take 6, David Pack, Patti LaBelle, Billy Preston, Gino Vannelli, Delbert McClinton, and Donna Summer. Mark started touring with Larry Carlton in 2002, and with Vince Gill and Amy Grant in 2006.
Orginally a Classical piano student, Mark took up the saxophone and left his native Arkansas to study Jazz at Middle Tennessee University and the Cincinnatti Conservatory before graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's acclaimed Jazz degree program, where he studied with renowned musician and educator Jerry Coker. He then embarked on his professional career, earning the status of an essential session player, not only for his work on albums but also motion picture soundtracks, national radio and television commercials, and CNN and Headline News. He was a resident member of the house band for "Prime Time Country" on TNN for 3-1/2 years, and won the 1997 “Instrumental Album of the Year” Dove Award for “The Players.” He was the first Smooth Jazz artist signed to Hillsboro Records, releasing his solo CD "Groove" in 2002. That was followed by "December Morning" on Green Hill Records in 2006.
You can catch up on Mark's latest news at his web site, http://www.markdouthit.com/home.html.
››Mike Harrison
Guitarist, producer, and songwriter Mike Harrison is PG Music's RealTracks producer in Nashville, Tennessee. He learned the guitar as a 10-year old, playing "hillbilly" music with his father back home in Chandler, Indiana. This led to playing in Rock 'n' Roll bands during his high-school years, and then forming a touring Country band with his singer/songwriter wife Julie and moving to Nashville. They toured as an opening act for many leading artists, with TV appearances on The Nashville Network and The Grand Ole Opry, until it was time to settle in Nashville as musicians and producers with their own studio, Harrison House.
The studio is particularly known for encouraging young artists, but its lineup of clients includes both newcomers and established artists, from Country music legends John Conlee and Joe Sun to Trace Atkins, Miranda Lambert, Dusty Drake, Keith Burns (Trick Pony, Burns Poe), Kyle Rainer, The Leavin’ Brothers, Chris Nole, and the Burchfield Brothers. As the Nashville producer for PG Music's RealTracks, Mike also welcomes a steady parade of A-list session players to Harrison House.
Songwriters like Casey Beathard (BMI Songwriter of the Year), Jack Fischer (Penguins on a Rock), Jamie Kyle, and Dan DeMay are among those who value the wealth of talent and years of expertise that Mike brings to their sessions, not the least of which is his own songwriting talent. Mike has released an outstanding first CD of original guitar compositions, "Mike Harrison Songs," available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/harrisonmike, http://www.cduniverse.com, and on iTunes.
This CD beautifully showcases Mike's versatility and virtuosity on the guitar. From those first "hillbilly" lessons with his father, to his introduction to Jazz with David Tester, and study with the late great bebop guitarist Jimmy Raney, plus countless hours on stage and in the studio, Mike has become a true master of his instrument - as attested to by the likes of Brent Mason, John Jarvis, and Glen Duncan.
You could run into Mike anywhere there are guitars and music in Nashville - in the studio, on his blog for Gibson guitars (http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Blogs/), or playing out with his Jazz trio. He is also developing his own Jazz guitar teaching method for future publication.
Visit Mike online at http://www.harrisonhouse.biz or http://www.mikeharrisonguitar.com.
››Rebeca Mauleon
RealTracks Pianist and Producer Rebeca Mauleón is one of the world's leading performers and authorities in the field of Latin and Afro-Cuban music. She is first and foremost an award-winning musician, composer, and bandleader with a compelling stage presence, but also a published author and reviewer, a tenured professor at City College of San Francisco, and a guest lecturer at U.C. Berkeley.
Rebeca is a dynamic presence in the San Franciso Jazz community. She is found performing regularly at Yoshi’s and other top Jazz venues in San Francisco, or in concert with Latin Jazz legends like Arturo Sandoval, or (in her role as SFJAZZ Education Director) leading the discussions at SFJAZZ Hotplate concerts. A regular on the festival circuit, Rebeca has appeared at the Kennedy Center’s “Women in Jazz” festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and San Francisco and San José Jazz Festivals.
In the recording studio, Rebeca is a Grammy-nominated producer with a growing discography of both her own works and albums she has produced for other artists. She is a member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMY Awards) and The Latin Recording Academy (Latin GRAMMY Awards). Her three solo releases - "Round Trip," "Latin Fire," and "Descarga en California" – spent months in the Top 10 on the Latin Beat Hit Parade. "Descarga en California" features Giovanni Hidalgo (congas), Orestes Vilató (timbales & bongos), and special guest Armando Peraza (bongos) of Santana fame, and is widely available at all major online retailers. She has also recorded with such leading artists as Tito Puente, Carlos Santana, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Steve Winwood, Joe Henderson, and Mickey Hart.
Rebeca's compositions range from symphonic works and Afro-Cuban Jazz to music for film, television, and even computer games. They have earned her the “Meet The Composer’s” New Residencies Award, the Sundance Composers’ Fellowship, and a commission by the Oakland East Bay Symphony.
As an author, Rebeca has published definitive Latin music texts including “Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble,” “101 Montunos,” and “Muy Caliente.” She is the co-editor of Sher Music’s “The Latin Real Book” and a regular contributor to leading music magazines including JazzTimes, Keyboard, Grammy Gateway, Modern Drummer, Mix en Español, and Bass Player. She also serves as a music consultant for National Geographic and Time/Life.
Rebeca’s association with PG Music dates back to the release of “The Latin Pianist” program, a collection of Afro-Cuban (Salsa) and Brazilian piano performances that she composed, performed, and documented. The program remains a unique and invaluable resource for the enjoyment and study of Latin music. Ever since, she has been a valued contributor to Band-in-a-Box styles, RealDrums, and RealTracks as both producer and performer. Her participation in any project ensures that the musical content and performances will be of the highest standard. And always exciting!
Visit Rebeca Mauleón’s web site at http://www.rebecamauleon.com/
››Matt Nelson
Matt Nelson is a cellist, arranger, guitarist and singer playing sessions and touring from his home in Nashville, Tennessee. After starting to learn piano at the age of four in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, Matt switched to cello at age nine. He had private instruction until he left home to continue his studies at the college level. Matt earned an Associate of Arts in Music at Pensacola Junior College and followed up with a Bachelor of Music degree from Middle Tennessee State University, enroute to arriving on the Nashville scene.
Matt has also devoted his musical talents to the role of worship leader, and he formed New Love Over, a modern Pop/Rock trio that released its first independent album, "Breve," in 2005. In 2008, he premiered “Meditations on Gregorian Themes,” a three-movement work for solo cello written for him by Joshua Busman. As Banks Nelson, Matt has released the album "Broken People" and he has been touring in support of that release.
There's more about Banks Nelson at http://banksnelson.com/music/, and more about Matt at http://www.mattnelsonmusic.com/Bio.html
››Ramon Stagnaro
Originally from Lima, Peru, Ramon took up the guitar under the inspiration of great Jazz artists like Jim Hall, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and George Benson. He started playing Pop and Rock music in bands in Lima, becoming the representative "youth" band in the city. By the 1970s Ramon was playing for recording sessions, and had engagements with Limas leading dance orchestras. The crowning achievement of his career in Peru was his Jazz band "Lima Contemporanea." The success of this band led Ramon to look abroad for new opportunities.
On moving to the USA in 1981, Ramon spent a year in Boston before settling in Los Angeles. Before long his talents were in demand in the Latin music community, especially after working with Alex Acuna, and over the years he was discovered by producers like David Foster, Humberto Gatica, KC Porter, Mark Portman, Jorge Calandrelli, Juan Carlos Calderon, Trevor Horn, Randy Jackson, and Walter Affanasief who used him for sessions with top recording artists including Gino Vanelli, Seal, Celine Dion, Al Jarreau, Andrea Bocelli, Roberto Carlos, Diana Ross, Ricky Martin, Neil Diamond, Paul Anka, Enrique Iglesias, Placido Domingo, Vikky Carr, Josh Groban, Alejandro Sanz, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, Shakira, Nelly Furtado, Cristina Aguilera, Boyz II Men, The Manhattan Transfer, Michael Bublé, Johnny Mathis, Yanni, Carole King, and many others. Ramon is also on many movie soundtracks like “Legend of Zorro”, “Contact”,and “Sex and the City” to name a few. In addition to his outstanding talents on acoustic and electric guitars, Ramon has mastered the South American Charango, Mexican Bajo-Sexto and Vihuela, Mandolin, Cuban Tres, Russian Balalaika, Puerto Rican Cuatro, and Mexican Requinto.
When he has time away from the recording studio, Ramon has been on the guitar faculty at Hollywood's Musician's Institute of Music and he has toured with Yanni, Diane Reeves, Herb Alpert, Vikky Carr, Andrea Bocelli, and Alex Acuna and the Unknowns.
Visit Ramon's web site to see his full discography and get the latest news, http://www.ramonstagnaro.com/www.ramonstagnaro.com/Welcome.html
››Jim Clark
Jim Clark is a strong presence in the Norwalk, Connecticut music community, playing tenor and soprano saxophone, flute and trumpet with his own trio and quartet as well as with top groups like Celebration Horns O’Plenty, the Chris Coogan Quintet, Norwalk Jazz Connection, and Bookends. He is also a composer, arranger, musical director and performer with a presence on hundreds of recordings with his RealSax tracks, a service that provides custom horn section recordings.
Jim's production company, Media Music, provides original music for industrial and film soundtracks as well as Internet and multimedia projects.
As a live performer, Jim is noted for his "Saxology" concerts where he recreates, note-for-note solos of legendary saxophonists including Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Don Byas, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Paul Desmond, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderley and Sonny Rollins. He has also made live appearances with Lou Christie, Mickey Dolenz, Dizzy Gillespie, Jennifer Holiday, Bobby Rydell and Billy Taylor.
Visit Jim online at http://www.jimclarkperforms.com/ or http://www.realsax.com/
››Kenny Barron
Among jazz musicians, especially in New York City, Kenny Barron is considered an institution. He arrived in the city in 1961 at age 18, following his older brother, the noted tenor saxman Bill Barron. In his native Philadelphia, the classically trained Barron had his introduction to jazz with Philly Joe Jones' and Jimmy Heath before moving to Detroit and working with Yusef Lateef. In New York he played on his brother's album "The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron" and then joined James Moody, who introduced him to Dizzy Gillespie.
In five years of touring and recording with Dizzy Gillespie Barron developed an appreciation of be-bop and latin music, and established himself as a solid and adaptable sideman, setting the stage for his associations with influential jazz groups over the next 15 years. These included Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Roy Haynes, Lou Donaldson, Buddy Rich, and Chet Baker. During this time he earned his B.A. in Music from Empire State College and joined the faculty of Rutgers University, where he taught music theory, jazz composition, and arranging.
Barron was a member of the Ron Carter Quartet from 1976 to 1980, when he cofounded the Thelonius "Sphere" Monk tribute group called Sphere. The group recorded eight albums in the 1980s, and it was during this time that Barron emerged as a composer. His compositions have also been featured in film scores and documentaries.
In 1986 he formed a memorable association with tenor sax legend Stan Getz, touring the world and recording up until Getz's death in 1991. That was also the year of their final duet release, "People Time," to critical raves and a Grammy Award nomination.
Throughout the years, Barron never stopped working as a leader and sideman with all sorts of distinguished groups and artists, and the 1990s saw him branching out with projects like "Sambao," his tribute to Brazilian music, moving away from mainstream jazz with Charlie Haden and Ornette Coleman, and recording a jazz funk classic, "Swamp Sally." He also co-founded the jazz label Joken Records with his manager, Joanne Klein, with a particular interest in developing young artists. In 1999 he retired from Rutgers and joined the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music.
Kenny Barron received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship in 2010. He has also been voted Best Jazz Pianist by Jazz Times, Downbeat, and Jazziz magazines, and is a seven-time recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association's "Best Pianist" honors. In 2005 he was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame and in 2009 he was named a Living Legacy by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. He is still touring, recording, and coming up with new and innovative projects such as the Classical Jazz Quartet with his long-time friend and colleague Ron Carter.
The official Kenny Baron web site is at http://www.kennybarron.com/
There is also a lengthy biography at http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003247/Kenny-Barron.html#ixzz2YfZ9zPB8 and a comprehensive discography at http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Barron/index.html
››Kenneth Blevins
Kenneth Blevins is the long-time drummer for blues singer/songwriter John Hiatt. He has also played and recorded with C.C. Adcock, Bruce Daigrepont, Michael Doucet, Sonny Landreth, Lucy Kaplansky, Earl King, Ron Levy, Kevin McKendree, Allison Moorer, Jonell Mosser, Anders Osborne, John PHillips, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, Marlo Thomas, Greg Trooper, Tiny Town, and Don Williams among others.
While Ken has a special passion for what he calls the "real R&B," he is known for his pure South Louisiana/New Orleans style. When a song needs a New Orleans drummer, chances are that Kevin will get the call. He actually left New Orleans for New York to find work as a session drummer, and then moved on to Nashville. There he has compiled a lengthy discography, including many Cajun and New Orleans style releases, while playing with John Hiatt since 1988. He also has a long history of playing with bands such as The Percolators, Tiny Town, Continental Drifters, Sonny Landreth, and still prefers playing original music and being part of the creative process. This carries over to his recent recording projects, where he tends to choose sessions that allow for some creative input.
Kenneth Blevins' discography can be seen at www.allmusic.com. Blues Rock Review published a profile in its February 2012 issue at http://bluesrockreview.com/2012/02/sideman-spotlight-kenneth-blevins.html.
››Ron Carter
Jazz bass legend Ron Carter is universally admired as one of the most creative and prolific artists ever to play the upright bass. In a distinguished career spanning more than five decades, he has performed with every top jazz artist of his time, appeared on more than 2,500 recordings, and received awards and honors including the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, the Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester, honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music, The Manhattan School of Music, and The New England Conservatory of Music, France's premier cultural award - the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, plus two Grammy awards. He has been voted Downbeat magazine's "Jazz Bassist of the Year," the "Most Valuable Player - Acoustic Bass" by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and "Outstanding Bassist of the Decade" by the Detroit News.
Originally a classical cellist, Carter switched to the double bass for the greater opportunities available to him. He won a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music on double bass and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in music. He then moved to New York to earn his Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and it was during this time that he began playing jazz with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton. He also made his first recordings with Don Ellis and Eric Dolphy, including tracks where he played jazz cello. He also worked with Randy Weston, Thelonious Monk, Bobby Timmons, Cannonball Adderley and Art Farmer before joining Miles Davis in his second great quintet with Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Herbie Hancock. This legendary group toured the world and recorded for five years, from 1963 to 1968, when Carter decided to return to New York as a freelance musician, band leader, and teacher. Since then he has compiled his amazing body of work in performance and in the studio, while also writing chamber and orchestral works, film and television soundtracks, and even making some hip hop recordings. A tireless innovator, he invented the piccolo bass, and has scored works featuring jazz cello. As a performer, he remains as active as ever.
As a dedicated educator, Ron Carter has travelled widely giving clinics and master classes at universities and music schools. He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies, taught on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, and retired as Distinguished Professor Emeritus after twenty years at The City College of New York. He then joined the Juilliard School to teach bass in their Jazz Studies program.
Carter is the author of several method books on jazz bass technique and classical bass studies, and his authorized biography, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes, by Dan Ouellette was published by ArtistShare in 2008. There is a wealth of information on the official Ron Carter web site at http://www.roncarter.net/officialSite.html.
››Steve Mackey
Since Steve Mackey left his small-town beginnings for Nashville he has never looked back. His A-list career is now into its third decade, with thousands of studio sessions on both electric and upgright bass in addition to playing on tour and in the studio with top stars including Dolly Parton, Wynonna Judd, Tricia Yearwood, Lee Roy Parnell, India Arie, Jimmy Thackeray, Pam Tillis, The Rascals, Jonell Mosser, Mickie James, and especially as a long-time core member of Delbert McClinton's band.
To see more credits for Steve Mackey, please go to www.artistdirect.com or www.cduniverse.com.
››Pat Martino
Since 1987, jazz guitar legend Pat Martino has recorded more than ten albums (two of them nominated for Grammy awards), has been nominated twice for the Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Grammy, and won the Downbeat Readers' Poll as Guitar Player of the Year. Today, the brilliance of his playing is undiminished and he maintains a steady teaching and touring schedule while constantly seeking new challenges as a musician. Which is all the more remarkable since these achievements came after surgery for a brain aneurism in 1980 wiped out all memory of his career as one of the greatest guitar players in jazz.
That career began at an early age. From the time Pat picked up the guitar at age 12 it was obvious that he was a gifted musician. So much so that he left school in his native Philadelphia at age 15 to move to Harlem. There he got his start on the "chitlin' circuit" in the 1960s, first as a sideman to Willis “Gator” Jackson and then with organ groups led by Richard "Groove" Holmes, Brother Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Trudy Pitts, Charles Earland, Jimmy Smith, and others. He also made his first recordings with Willis Jackson, Richard Holmes, and John Handy. It was while playing with John Handy that he was offered his first recording contract. From then until 1980 he released more than a dozen of his own albums exploring the full range of his talent in the post-bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz, and hard bop idioms. Over the years he has built a large discography as a recording artist for Vanguard, Prestige, Warner Brothers, Muse, Columbia, King, Paddlewheel, Evidence, Sony, 32 Jazz, High Note, Milestone, Polydor, Concord, Fantasy, House of Blues, Mythos, Mainstream, Cobblestone, Atlantic, and Blue Note Records. There is a full discography at http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Pat_Martino.htm.
It was during the 1970s that Pat Martino emerged as an inspirational teacher, first as a visiting instructor at Hollywood’s G.I.T. (where he was revered as a guru), and then with clinics, master classes, and music therapy seminars in universities and colleges throughout the USA and in Italy, France, The Netherlands, and Ireland. He has also served on the adjunct faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and he particularly treasures his relationships with the private students who flock to his door.
Please visit Pat Martino's web site at www.patmartino.com for the full story of his remarkable life and career.
››Kevin McKendree
Kevin McKendree is well-known in Nashville for his contributions to Delbert McClinton's Grammy-winning albums, for his own Grammy nomination as co-writer of the Lee Roy Parnell song "Mama, Screw Your Wig On Tight," as a music producer and owner of The Rock House studio, and for his Monday night performances with the Mike Henderson Band at the renowned Bluebird Cafe. That, and his thousands of performances and sessions with leading artists like Little Richard, Lee Roy Parnell, Seven Mary Three, Buddy Guy, John Oates, Anson Funderburgh, Vince Gill, Brian Setzer, Wynnona, Kix Brooks, Tom Dowd, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Earl King, Tinsley Ellis, Bonnie Bramlett, Randy Houser, Johnny Sandlin, Don Was, Kentucky Headhunters, David Hood, Johnny Adams, Jim James, Pam Tillis, Zigaboo Modeliste, Larry Graham, Hal Ketchum, T. Graham Brown, George Thorogood, Etta James, and many more.
Self-taught on both guitar and piano, Kevin kept busy backing touring blues acts that came through his hometown of Washington, D.C. This led to an offer of a European tour with local blues legend Tom Principato. Returning from the road after three-and-a-half years, Kevin contacted Allman Brothers keyboardist Chuck Leavell about opportunities in Nashville. The result was a four year stint with Lee Roy Parnell and his Grammy nomination for "Mama, Screw Your Wig On Tight." This was followed by nearly fifteen years as band leader for Delbert McClinton. Since Kevin stopped playing full-time with Delbert McClinton he has recorded and toured with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and John Oates and continues to focus on songwriting and studio projects at The Rock House.
Visit Kevin's web site at http://www.kevinmckendree.com, and look in the History section for a full discography.
››Rob McNelley
Nashville session guitarist Rob McNelley was a member of Delbert McClinton's band for eight years while also compiling a long list of credits with artists like Wynona, Montgomery Gentry, Jo Dee Messina, Hank Williams, Jr., Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton and countless others. He won rave reviews while touring as lead guitarist with Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band, and has been nominated as the Academy of Country Music's Guitarist of the Year.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Rob picked up the guitar as a youngster hanging out with the players in his dad's Southern Rock band. The band toured with acts such as the Allman Brothers, Charlie Daniels, and the Marshall Tucker Band, so there were always hot guitar players around who had time to show a few licks to a keen nine-year old. This invaluable practical education was rounded out by an introduction to theory and jazz in his high school music class. Rob started his first band in the 8th grade, and by the time he graduated from high school he was sitting in with his dad's band and getting regular gigs in local clubs.
For the next step in his career, McNelley decided make the move to Nashville. He got his start in Music City recording and touring with blues rocker Tinsley Ellis, and was on tour with Lee Ann Womack when the offer came to join Delbert McClinton. Eight-year years later, as McClinton was cutting back on his touring dates, Rob was getting busier with session work. Studio sessions now take up most of his time, and you can see his discography at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rob-mcnelley-mn0000841754.
For the latest news about Rob McNelley, please visit his web site at http://www.robmcnelley.com/
››Gary Smulyan
Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan has been called the standard bearer of his generation, which is supported by his consistent (and current) "Player of the Year" selections in critics and reader's polls such as Downbeat, Jazz Times, the Jazz Journalists Association, and others, both in the USA and abroad.
The Long Island, NY native was introduced to jazz through Ed Beach's "Just Jazz" radio show on WRVR-FM in New York. He started playing alto sax in his high school stage band, and by the time he was 16 he was sitting in at Sonny's Place, a jazz club in Seaford, NY, with the likes of Zoot Sims, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Knepper, Ray Nance, and Chet Baker. After high school, Smulyan studied at the State University of New York - Potsdam and Hofstra University before embarking on his professional career with Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herd and touring the world. He made the permanent transition from alto sax to baritone with Herman (but never lost the bebop influence of Charlie Parker and Phil Woods).
The following years saw him playing with several noted leaders and big bands including the Mingus Big Band, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Louie Bellson, George Coleman, Benny Green, Lionel Hampton, Tom Harrell, Gene Harris, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Mel Lewis, Machito, Kevin Mahogany, the Philip Morris Superband, Tito Puente, Red Rodney, Don Sickler and Clark Terry. He also performed on the stage and in the studio with such leading artists as Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Diana Ross. Along the way he has earned no fewer than seven Grammies for his work with B.B. King, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and others.
His 10 CDs as leader include tributes to Pepper Adams and Frankie Laine plus recordings with a quartet, nonet and strings. His favorite configuration is actually a trio of baritone saxophone, bass, and drums, which, he says, gives the greatest freedom. A complete discography is available at http://www.dornpub.com/SaxjPDF/GarySmulyanDiscography.pdf
Gary Smulyan is one of today's most in-demand jazz performers, educators, and recording artists. He performs with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Joe Lovano Nonet, the Dave Holland Octet and Big Band, The Three Baritone Saxophone Band, the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band and the Tom Harrell Octet, as well as his own projects. His deep commitment to jazz education is expressed in his work on the faculty of Amherst College (MA) and his constant travel to clinics, workshops and festivals such as the Amherst Jazz Fest, NCCU Jazz Festival, Jazz Port Townsend, Litchefield Jazz Festival (Artist-in-Residence), and many others.
For more information and current news about Gary Smulyan, please visit his web site at http://garysmulyan.com/
››Phil Woods
Anyone who has heard the famous alto sax solo in Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" has heard the genius of Phil Woods, but that mini-masterpiece is just a small window into a musical career born in the heart of bebop and still breaking new ground more than 60 years later.
Woods credits his first teacher, Harvey LaRose, with encouraging his talent for jazz and introducing him to the the triumvirate of the alto saxophone - Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, and Charlie Parker. While still in their teens, Phil and a friend would make the 180-mile bus trip from their home in Springfield, Massachusetts to New York City for lessons with "free jazz" pioneer and educator Lennie Tristano. Then, before catching the last bus home, they would haunt the jazz clubs of 52nd St., making a $1 Coke last the night. It was on one of these outings that Tristano introduced the boys to Charlie Parker, who shared his cherry pie with them while they talked about music and the saxophone.
It seemed pre-ordained that Woods would move to New York on graduating from high school, first for a semester at the Manhattan School of Music and then for four years at Juilliard, studying classical clarinet by day and playing jazz saxophone at night. He worked with legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Oliver Nelson, Thelonius Monk and Clark Terry, all of whom (as with Parker) he remembers for "the generosity of genius." They were always ready to share their own musical knowledge and what Woods calls the "tribal tradition" of jazz with him. It's a tradition he would honor and perpetuate all through his career as an in-demand session player, sideman, and bandleader in New York, while playing avant garde jazz for four years in France, and with his own Quartet and Quintet following his return to the USA.
As a living legend, Phil Woods has worked with all of the legendary players of his time. His credits and discography would fill pages, as would a list of his awards. They include numerous readers polls, four Grammy awards from seven nominations, Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from France, membership in the American Jazz Hall of Fame, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, President's Merit Award from the Grammy Foundation, Kennedy Center Living Legends in Jazz Award, and an honorary doctorate from DePaul University.
Phil Woods is also a composer of major works for the saxophone in a variety of settings. He has composed a Children's Suite based on the poems of A.A. Milne, and another 200 songs, instrumental pieces, and arrangements.
Residing in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania since 1976, Woods is a founder of the Delaware Water Gap Celebration Of The Arts ("C.O.T.A." founded in 1978) and is an active supporter of numerous causes in the community. He is active as a bandleader, composer, arranger, and soloist worldwide.
Please visit the Phil Woods web site at http://www.philwoods.com for a complete biography and list of credits. The Jazz Discography Project at http://www.jazzdisco.org/phil-woods/ offers detailed listings.
