Rabbit Hole Sessions with Abe Ovadia

EPISODE 98 - Paul Sikivie

Paul Sikivie is an American jazz double bassist. Originally from Gainesville, Florida, he has lived in New York City since 2007, when he began studies at the Juilliard School. He has played with many artists of international stature, including long associations with Cecile McLorin Salvant, Aaron Diehl, Matt Wilson, Johnny O'Neal, Ted Nash, and Grant Stewart.Since 2015, Sikivie has turned attention towards composition and arranging. Most notably, he melded string quartet and jazz piano trio for six pieces on McLorin Salvant's Dreams and Daggers, which was awarded the 2018 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

EPISODE 97 - Roni Ben-Hur

Jazz guitarist Roni Ben-Hur has earned a sterling reputation as a musician and educator, renowned for his golden tone, improvisational brilliance, compositional lyricism and ability to charm peers, students and listeners alike. Eminent jazz critic Gary Giddins wrote in the Village Voice: “A limber and inventive guitarist, Ben-Hur keeps the flame alive and pure, burning in every note… He’s a guitarist who knows the changes and his own mind.” Roni — born in Israel in 1962 but a longtime American citizen, based in the New York City area — has recorded a dozen-plus albums as leader or co-leader, with The New York Times praising his “crisp, fluid style” and Time Out New York calling him “a formidable and consummately lyrical guitarist.” He has developed a rare facility in both straight-ahead jazz and samba/bossa-nova styles, underscored by his work with masters in each field, from bebop piano sage Barry Harris and winds ace Frank Wess to beloved Brazilian vocalist Leny Andrade and composer Marcus Valle. 
Roni’s newest album as a leader, Stories — released by Dot Time Records in March 2021 — features a poetic mix of songs and instrumentals, one that sees the guitarist tracing a line from childhood musical memories in Israel to his life today as a globally minded artist. JazzTimes, in its glowing review of Stories, noted the guitarist’s inspired interplay with such generationally diverse talents as pianist George Cables and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, as well as vocalists from Israel and Mexico; the review went on to laud Roni and company’s brand of storytelling as “distinctive” and “uniformly engaging.” Always an educator as well as a performer, Roni has directed the jazz program at New York’s Kaufman Music Center for more than 25 years. Along with creating acclaimed educational products – such as the method book Talk Jazz: Guitar — Roni has also directed international music camps for two decades, currently leading his Roni Ben-Hur Jazz Camp in Vermont and France. Jazz guitar star Russell Malone got it right when he said: “Everything Roni does is beautiful. He has the magic touch.” 
Originally from Tunisia, Roni’s family relocated to Dimona, Israel, where he was born into a large, working-class family — and grew up not only with good ensemble values but also a sense for the necessity of improvisation. Going on intuition above all, the guitarist began performing in wedding bands and in Tel Aviv clubs as a teenager enraptured by the recordings of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Joe Pass, Jim Hall and Kenny Burrell. The young musician also came to love the classical Spanish repertoire via the iconic guitarist Segovia, hearing a Moorish sound that resonated with his family’s North African roots. Later, after moving to New York City in 1985, he would fall for Brazilian music, particularly through the work of guitarist-composer Baden Powell. 
“My dual affinity for jazz and Brazilian music has a lot to do with where I come from,” Roni explains. “With my family coming from Tunisia, I felt at home with each style since the Brazilian and jazz rhythms both ultimately come from Africa. And when you consider the jazz-standard repertoire, the melodic content of songs by composers like Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin is very much rooted in Jewish music. And while North Africa has that link to Moorish sounds, those sounds are also at the root of Brazilian music. So, I’ve just always gravitated toward those beautiful minor-key songs and romantic melodies of the standards songbook, as well as the deep rhythms in both bebop and Brazilian music. It all feels totally natural to me.” 
When Roni came onto the New York jazz scene, he was fortunate to be taken under the wing of Barry Harris, a disciple of Thelonious Monk and Grammy Award winner who led the influential Jazz Cultural Theater during the mid-’80s in Manhattan. As an up-and-coming guitarist, Roni played in Harris’s band, absorbing musical and life lessons from the now late NEA Jazz Master. “I was so lucky to -learn at the elbow of Barry Harris,” he insists. “The young players at that time and all the listeners, too, we just loved his feel. When we performed for that knowing audience of his, you could actually see when the beat was right by how everyone in the crowd moved their heads and bodies. It was the same thing on stage. You would get a shot of energy coming through you from that authentic, uplifting swing that Barry always had in his fingers.” 
Harris also had an incredible store of knowledge in his head, “but when he talked about complex concepts that would normally take years to digest, the way he articulated them made sense right away,” Roni adds. “In that way, his teaching was like his playing — it had an immediacy. Everything was related to the beauty in the music, never rote exercises. If Barry saw me jotting down notes during a lesson or recording with a Walkman, he would say, ‘No, don’t take notes… don’t tape it.’ For him, the lessons were part of an oral tradition, one you had to experience in the moment, to truly absorb. That meant when you were on stage, you had those lessons in deep inside and you could really be in the moment with the music.” 
As it was for Harris, teaching has long been important to Roni, and the guitarist has developed an international reach as an educator over the years. As founding director of the jazz program at the Lucy Moses School of the Kaufman Center in Manhattan starting in 1994, he has educated a multitude of jazz enthusiasts in ensemble playing, improvisation and jazz guitar. Over the years, Roni has also led jazz camps from Maine and New York to such far-flung locales as Brazil, Puerto Rico and Turkey, teaching workshops in straight-ahead jazz, Latin jazz and Brazilian jazz. These days, the guitarist holds his Roni Ben-Hur Jazz Camp in Vermont each summer and in France every spring and fall — for music lovers for whom playing jazz, Roni says, “is a passion, not a vocation.” The camps held near the village of Uzès in the South of France double as culinary and travel experiences, including cooking classes and excursions to nearby sights.  
Reflecting on his teaching philosophy, Roni says: “I learned so much about teaching with Barry Harris as a mentor. It’s always about love of the music and respect for the student — and keeping the bigger picture in mind, not just mastering tunes. The people who come to my jazz camps are serious amateurs. I give them the opportunity to learn a lot — repertoire, rhythms, techniques — but I also give them the space to enjoy themselves in a relaxed, vacation-friendly environment, with a lot of hanging out and jam sessions. The goal is to have fun learning, so that the experience is rewarding and refreshing. Most of the students are accomplished professionals beyond music – they’re doctors, lawyers, business people. I’m a believer in practice, of course, but I aim to teach students at their own pace. And I want the jazz-camp participants to learn music through a love of the experience, not only through theory. As Barry did, I emphasize aural learning so that students can absorb music through their ears and fingers. Assimilating it that way means the lessons really stick with you.” 
Stories, Samba and Introspection… 
With the songs and instrumentals of his recent album Stories, Roni traced influences and emotions across his journey as both a musician and a man. “The tunes on Stories are all connected to my life in one way or another,” the guitarist explains. “As a child in Israel, I would hear ‘Ha’omnam,’ a moving song about never giving up hope sung by the popular folk singer Chava Alberstein. The lyrics, written during the dark days of the Holocaust, are by the Hebrew poet Leah Goldberg, and those words never go out of date, sadly. They’re sung with such a lovely, bell-like tone on the record by Tamuz Nissim, who’s originally from Israel. We also play ‘After the Morning’ by the great jazz pianist John Hicks, who was another important figure for me when I first came to New York. I wrote the instrumental ‘Ma’of’ — which means ‘taking flight’ — for my daughters as they were going off on their own. There’s also the song ‘A Redoblar,’ which means ‘let’s roll’ and reflects the fight against oppression in 1970s Latin America. Latin music and culture have come to mean a lot to me in my musical journey. Magos Herrera, who grew up in Mexico, sings that one with such depth of feeling, as she also does with a Ladino folk song, ‘La Serena.’ The album also includes my original instrumental ballad ‘But I Had to Say Goodbye,’ about lost love.” 
For Stories, Roni fronted a quintet featuring frequent bass partner Harvie S. and drumming great Victor Lewis, as well as esteemed veteran George Cables on piano and, in a first studio meeting for Roni, the award-winning Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. Along with the aforementioned pieces, the album includes the Cables instrumental “Melodious Funk” and a vintage piece by unsung bebop pianist Elmo Hope, “Something for Kenny.” Jazziz magazine pointed out how Stories showcases “some of the world’s finest contemporary jazz musicians,” while All About Jazz marveled over Roni’s interpretive and storytelling skills on an album that’s “glowing with wisdom.” As for working with the vocalists on Stories, Roni says: “I love working with singers. It was artists like Billie Holiday who attracted me to jazz in the first place. As an instrumentalist, working with a singer requires a special, subtle discipline. You always have to leave space in the arrangement, to really listen, concentrate on the melody and help convey the message of a song.”   
Prior to Stories, Roni released the autumn 2020 album Samba do Arraial (Tratore Records) as a co-leader with Brazilian drummer-producer Percio Sapia. Along with bassist Marinho Andreotti and percussionist Vinicius Barros, the disc features veteran vocalist Leny Andrade on four tracks. She was dubbed “the Ella Fitzgerald of Brazil” by none other than Tony Bennett, who has always been a fan of her samba-meets-jazz stylings. Roni has worked with Andrade for years now, touring the world as a duo with the singer and releasing a lauded album with her, Alegria de Viver, in 2014. Samba do Arraial is another showcase for Roni’s love for the music of Brazil and his natural facility in samba and bossa-nova styles — as well as the kindred-spirit relationship he has so often enjoyed with the country’s musicians over the decades. Recorded in a collegial, workshop atmosphere, Samba do Arraial draws from the classic songbooks of Baden Powell, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Hermeto Pascoal, among others. 
In that relaxed workshop environment near São Paolo, the band explored the intricacies of Brazil’s various regional rhythms, with Sapia, Andreotti and Barros providing deep grooves underneath Roni’s six-string lyricism. Along with praise from various outlets for the album’s authenticity (“not the Hollywood version of samba… totally hot”), New York City Jazz Record extolled Roni’s “virtuosic and creatively limber fretwork” on Samba do Arraial. Ever modest when it comes to his own skills, the guitarist says: “Percio and Vinicius are masters of all those distinct rhythms, a truly mysterious art. So it was a fascinating privilege for me to work so closely with them for hours and hours, developing a real interplay together and coming up with fresh treatments of vintage Brazilian songs.” When it came to Andrade, she invested her performances with the rich artistry and emotional wisdom that fans of Brazilian music have heard in her voice across seven decades. “To work with Leny again was such a pleasure and an inspiration — she’s special, whether singing a ballad or a bossa nova,” Roni says. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand a word of Portuguese in the lyrics. You can feel in your heart what she’s expressing.”  
In spring 2018, Roni released Introspection, an exceptional trio album, via the Jazzheads imprint. He co-produced the record in close collaboration with bassist Harvie S. The two players, in league with drummer Tim Horner, explored classics by jazz composers from Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk and Tadd Dameron to Kenny Dorham, George Shearing and Joe Henderson. The album also includes Brazilian numbers by Baden Powell and Ary Barroso, plus a Jerome Kern standard. Introspection brims with subtly insistent swing and insinuating melodies, the rapport between the players intimate and conversational. “The tunes on Introspection are ones that I had always wanted to play, feeling drawn to them whether for the melody, the harmonic possibilities, the rhythmic feel, or all of the above,” Roni explains. “Many of the pieces are rarely heard – and almost all had never been recorded before in the setting of a guitar trio. That allowed us to put a fresh, personal spin on them. Harvie and I created the arrangements organically, over about a year of working together. The way we perform this repertoire features both the guitar and bass as equal parts of the ensemble, with the melodies played by both of us. The interaction is constant.” 
Introspection is a record to play on repeat, with its warm, glowing allure like candlelight in a room. Yet there are highpoints to underscore: the beautifully atmospheric trio intro to Henderson’s “Serenity,” Roni’s liquid phrasing in Barroso’s “Pra Machucar Meu Coração” and the way he brings Neal Hefti’s ‘Repetition’ to life with glinting melodicism. Harvie S colors Strayhorn’s “Blood Count” with aptly vulnerable arco, while his solos buoy Kern’s “Nobody Else But Me.” Then there is the bassist’s hip, thrumming intro to Dorham’s “Asiatic Raes” — and the whole cooking, album-capping trio performance that follows, with Roni soloing up a storm and Horner getting his licks in, too, the drum-and-cymbal interplay of his solo richly musical. The players reach into themselves as per the album title of Introspection, but there’s also the sense of communion that the best records often have – in this case reaching from the long-gone com

EPISODE 96 - Ben Wolfe

New York bassist/composer and bandleader Ben Wolfe’s music has been described as “Mingus and Miles Davis meet Bartok and Bernard Herrmann” (Ben Ratliff – The New York Times). With acclaim by some of the jazz world’s most respected critics, Wolfe continues to produce works that draw top-flight reviews from fans and jazz journalists alike.
Ben’s 2024 release The Understated is his eleventh as leader and features all original compositions. Nicole Glover who plays tenor saxophone on the record says in her liner notes “This record succeeds in bringing Ben’s beautiful music to life through extremely conscientious group playing. Nothing is forced or pushed; everything that needs to be stated is stated.”
“The Understated is a beauty.” (Carlo Wolff, Downbeat)
In many ways, The Understated is a continuation of his previous release the critically acclaimed Unjust. “Unjust is a brilliant work of melodic ensemble writing and superb playing by a stellar intergenerational crew.” (Bill Milkowski, Downbeat).
It’s balance – of elegance and propulsion, of accessibility and edge – distinguishes it from most conventional jazz. Its details reward repeated listening.” (Larry Blumenfeld, Wall Street Journal)
There is no doubt that after decades as one of the most sought-after bassists in jazz, performing with top names such as Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall and many others, award-winning composer and bandleader Ben Wolfe is clear about his creative direction…
“Much of the music I’ve composed; particularly the music that includes strings, I think of as chamber music within a jazz context.”
An award-winning composer, Ben is a two-time recipient of Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation Program Grant through the Doris Duke Foundation. First received in 2004, Ben was able to use this funding to compose his extended work “Contradiction: Music for Sextet.” He received the grant in 2020 and composed “Nonet”. Both of these extended works have been recorded for future release.
Wolfe has distinguished himself through a significant catalogue of original music, including over one hundred songs across eleven albums, several extended works, and the film score for Matthew Modine’s 2008 short I Think I Thought. The New York Sun hailed his work on this film as, “a standout music score.”
Wolfe’s early career included Grammy award-winning, platinum-selling collaborations with both Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall, including Harry’s 1988 soundtrack album When Harry Met Sally, and Diana’s 1999 release When I Look in Your Eyes. He appeared alongside both artists on numerous world tours.
Wolfe’s ongoing and close association with Wynton Marsalis; during which Marsalis recorded as a guest on two of his albums, has seen Ben appear on a number of Wynton’s releases, and included a stint in the Wynton Marsalis Septet and membership in the Jazz at Lincoln CenteOrchestra (JLCO), where he performed with jazz luminaries such as Joe Henderson, Doc Cheatham, Jon Hendricks, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Billy Higgins, among many others. Contemporary jazz greats with whom he has also worked and recorded include Branford Marsalis, Orrin Evans, Eric Reed and Benny Green.
Ben Wolfe’s full list of recorded original albums as a leader:
• The Understated, Resident Arts Records (2024)• Unjust, Resident Arts Records (2023)• Fatherhood, Resident Arts Records (2019)• The Whisperer, Posi-Tone (2015)• From Here I See, MAXJAZZ/Mack Avenue Records (2013)• Ben Wolfe Quintet: Live at Smalls, SmallsLIVE (2011)• No Strangers Here, MAXJAZZ/Mack Avenue Records (2008)• My Kinda Beautiful, Planet Arts Records (2004)• Murray’s Cadillac, Amosaya Music (2000)• Bagdad Theater, Mons Records (1997)• 13 Sketches, Mons Records (1996)
Ben maintains a busy schedule, performing and touring on the international stage. Currently a member of the teaching faculty at The Julliard School in New York City, Ben is helping to shape and mentor the jazz scene’s next generation of outstanding talent.
 
“Ben Wolfe swings with authority!”– to quote Wynton Marsalis. It can’t be said any better!

EPISODE 95 - Jeff Miles

An American guitarist, composer and producer from San Diego, California, Jeff Miles is a Berklee College of Music alum and the winner of the 2008 Montreux Jazz Guitar competition. Featured on numerous recordings, Jeff is sought after for his orchestral pallet of sounds and blistering, evocative improvisations. He has performed around the world in venues such as The Monterrey Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Las Condes Jazz Festival,  Saulkrasti Jazz Festival, Blues Alley, Bar Next Door, 55 Bar and Smalls Jazz Club. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

BONUS EPISODE 2 - Brian Pace

Ever since Brian Pace emceed his kindergarten production of Star Wars, the microphone was always the place where he’s felt most comfortable. In fact, Pace’s journey has not always been an easy one, but through God’s grace and speed, he’s allowed him to become one of the most innovative and well-researched journalists in America.
Brian was born on June 1st, 1972 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was a scientist who eventually became a teacher and mom was a school psychologist. “My parents always stressed the importance of reading and education as a means to be self-reliant and to become your own person,” he explains. “My mother, who retired from the Indianapolis Public School system, claims I was reading at 18 months.”
Brian’s social skills were both a blessing and a curse for him and his parents. As a child, his teachers were always calling home telling them about his excessive joke telling or, how he was the one who took leadership on a major project. These skills eventually paid off as he would become a successful producer.
His first exposed to radio and television was through WJEL-TV and FM at North Central High School. It was also during his junior year of high school the Youth Telecommunications Workshop of Indiana Black Expo brought the nationally syndicated Black Entertainment Television program “Rap City” for a taping. North Central was undergoing lots of racial tensions at the time and Indiana Black Expo’s program was a way to break the ice. While they were taping, Pace, who was the class comedian, made his debut as co-host of the “Rap City” with co-host and comedian Chris Thomas. He would co-host the program again during his senior year of high school.
Although Brian wasn’t asked back for his senior year at WJEL, the Youth Telecommunications Workshop invited him to join their program. “Gary Holland and IBE staff were the guys who helped me gain the business and professional side of not just television, but life,” explains Pace. “It it weren’t for the steady discipline and precise hands-on experience of the program, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” YTW was a progressive program that taught African-American students between the ages of 12 to 18, the fundamentals of television production. The students wrote, edited, and hosted their own programs which aired on public access. Brian created and produced “Teen Chat” a talk show that centered around issues pertaining to teenagers.

EPISODE 94 - Ken Wessel

Ken Wessel is a versatile, sensitive and soulful guitarist and composer. A vital and personal voice on the jazz guitar, Wessel has been involved in projects playing jazz, ranging from straight-ahead to free music. Ken is also very interested in creating and investigating points of intersection between jazz and Indian music and has performed and recorded with musicians from various parts of the globe. He has performed in 27 countries at major jazz festivals, concert halls and in radio and television appearances.
Wessel worked with revolutionary jazz artist Ornette Coleman for over 12 years (1988-2000), touring the world as a member of Prime Time, Ornette’s groundbreaking ensemble. Ken can be heard on Ornette Coleman’s critically acclaimed Polygram/Verve CD, Tone Dialing. Performing “Skies of America,” Ornette Coleman’s seminal work for symphony orchestra and jazz ensemble, Ken has appeared with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. Ken can also be heard on Steely Dan frontman, Donald Fagen’s album, Morph the Cat as a featured guitar soloist. He has worked with artists from different shades of the jazz spectrum, including John Abercrombie, David Liebman, Gloria Lynne, Arthur and Red Prysock, Karl Berger, Steve Gorn, Adam Rudolph, Hamid Drake, Steve Turre and Johnny Hartmann.
Ken has a strong interest in world music, particularly with North Indian music, and he has performed with Debashish Bhattacharya, Karaikudi Mani, V.M. Bhatt, Samir Chatterjee and others. Wessel co-leads a trio with jazz tabla master Badal Roy and bassist Stomu Takeishi. Their CD, Daybreak, was included in JAZZIZ magazine’s Top 10 Critic’s Picks of 1998. They have performed together extensively throughout North America. In 1995, Ken and Badal toured India and the U.S. with their composition, “Testimony,” which was commissioned by the Battery Dance Company. As a U.S. Jazz Ambassador, Ken has toured South Asia and South America, visiting India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bengladesh and Venezuela in 2002-03.
He is an active composer (he has received numerous “Meet the Composer” grants) and his original music has an organic and evocative quality. Wessel recently released Unstrung on Nonotes Records, which features Lisa Parrott and Adam Kolker on saxophones, Matt Pavolka on bass and Russ Meissner on drums. His earlier release, Weights & Measures on Nonotes Records, which features Joel Frahm (sax), Brad Jones (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums), got 4 stars in Downbeat magazine. Jawboning (CIMP), with bassist, Ken Filiano and drummer, Lou Grassi, investigates the boundaries between freedom and structure.
A dedicated jazz educator, Ken currently teaches at Western Connecticut State University (in Danbury) and at CCNY, in addition to the New York Jazz Workshop. He has given clinics and Master classes at numerous institutions in the U.S. and overseas, including Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, ISCMS Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, the Jazz Education Network Conference, Atlanta, GA, Mahaidol University in Thailand, the Music Academy in Oslo, Norway, and Columbia University.
 

EPISODE 93 - Glenn White

"Critics and listeners alike have praised saxophonist Glenn White for his innovative compositions and commanding presence. NextBop describes his work as 'grand, elegant, even somber in some places... kind of perfect,' while Jazz Weekly highlights his 'sophisticated mix of probing and intriguing original compositions.' With a soulful, warm tone and a flair for blending tradition with modern textures, White's music has been called 'progressive jazz made accessible' (All About Jazz) and 'heavy with emotion, with great power' (Hartford Courant). His artistry, both as a composer and performer, continues to captivate audiences and push the boundaries of contemporary jazz."
 

EPISODE 92 - Geoffrey Keezer

Geoffrey Keezer is a GRAMMY®-winning pianist, composer, arranger and producer based in New York City. A native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he began playing piano and composing at an early age. After briefly attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Keezer moved to New York in 1989, becoming the last pianist with the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Keezer has toured and recorded with Ray Brown, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Diana Krall, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Barbara Hendricks, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Chris Botti, Sting, Joe Locke and Christian McBride; produced and arranged three GRAMMY®-nominated recordings with vocalist Denise Donatelli, and released a series of albums drawing influences from Hawaiian, Okinawan and Afro-Peruvian folk traditions. His 2009 album Áurea (ArtistShare) was nominated for a Best Latin Jazz Album GRAMMY® award. Geoffrey’s 2013 solo piano release, Heart of the Piano (Motema Records), seeks to redefine solo jazz piano as a personal and interactive showcase of melody, energy and groove, while his 2018 album On My Way to You (MarKeez Records) is a stunning set of music featuring his working trio with the addition of guest vocalist Gillian Margot. Keezer’s latest album Playdate(MarKeez Records) earned a 2023 GRAMMY® in the Best Instrumental Composition category for his song “Refuge”.
Geoffrey’s compositions have been commissioned by the Mainly Mozart Festival, Art of Elán ensemble, Saint Joseph Ballet, Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. His music can be heard in the films What Happens in Vegas, The Wedding Year, and Inhale, and in numerous TV shows including The Young and the Restless, Parks and Recreation, Casual, House of Lies, Call Me Kat, American Crime Story, Clarice, and The Originals.
Time Magazine wrote, “Geoffrey has more than enough virtuosity and sheer musical wit and intelligence to weave all of his apparently disparate strands of influence into an original and compelling whole”, and pop icon Sting said “In the universe of piano players that I have been exposed to over the years, Geoffrey has proved himself to be not only a superb technician and improviser, but also above and beyond this, a composer and conceptualist who can maintain the overall line and the DNA of the song in everything he plays. A musician’s musician.”
Geoffrey Keezer is a faculty member of The Juilliard School and is a Yamaha artist.

EPISODE 91 - Bob DeVos

Acclaimed guitarist, composer and bandleader Bob DeVos has enjoyed over 50 years as an in-demand player. With long, blues-drenched melodic lines and a horn-like approach, he has a signature style of groove and sophistication. From solo to big band, Bob is a modern player with strong traditional roots, equally at home with straight-ahead jazz, blues, Rhythm & Blues, funk, Latin, and more.  A master with a full, warm sound, in his formative years Bob toured and recorded with the giants of organ jazz–Trudy Pitts, Richard “Groove” Holmes & Sonny Stitt, Jimmy McGriff & Hank Crawford, and Charles “The Mighty Burner” Earland’s greatest band. Bob went on to perform with a Who’s Who in and out of the organ genre: “I feel fortunate to have played with these larger-than-life masters; each had a strong identity. I gained profound insights into the music, how to be a musician, and finding my own voice.”Beginning with Breaking The Ice (produced by Charles Earland) DeVos’ CDs as a leader for HighNote/Savant and other labels have earned rave reviews and many stars in Downbeat and throughout the jazz media, were among the top five on JazzWeek’s National Airplay Chart for many months, and appeared on many yearly top CDs lists. Longtime collaborator Eric Alexander appears on Bob’s Shifting Sands and Playing for Keeps. His most current CDs are the hip Shadow Box featuring Ralph Bowen and the lustrous Six String Solos.DeVos currently leads his own groups and collaborates with vibraphonist Behn Gillece and with pianist Andy LaVerne. Bob was the musical director and guitarist for the famed concert, An Organ Summit Supreme, reuniting with Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Trudy Pitts and tenor legends David “Fathead” Newman and Houston Person.  Bob studied jazz as a teenager with Harry Leahy and the legendary Dennis Sandole. When Sandole sent his students to replace Pat Martino in Trudy Pitts’ Trio, Bob got the gig. Bob deepened his compositional and harmonic approach while playing with the Teo Macero Nonet, Gerry Niewood’s Timepiece with Dave Samuels, and as a composer/player for the forward-thinking Ron McClure Quartet. He studied classical composition with Edgar Grana, and received a 1996 NJ Council of the Arts Grant in composition. “My composing is the structural side of my improvising. I strive to develop a musical idea thematically in both my writing and improvisation.”Bob has a far-reaching discography as a sideman, including over 100 studio recordings. He has a strong following for his innovative work with, among many others, Pepper Adams, Joey DeFrancesco, Billy Drummond, Don Friedman, Billy Hart, Etta Jones, Steve LaSpina, Mike LeDonne, Hendrik Meurkens, Etta Jones, Jack McDuff, Pat Martino, Adam Nussbaum, Irene Reid, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Stanley Turrentine and many more. As a young musician he played with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins & recorded for Frank Sinatra and Gladys Knight.In recent years, Bob has performed at the Kennedy Center, The Kimmel Center, The NJ State Theater, The Blue Note, Iridium, The Jazz Bakery, The Kitano, SMOKE, Chris’ Jazz Cafe, the Smithsonian,  the San Diego Art Museum, Jazz Forum Arts, Birdland, Jazzmobile, Smalls, Mezzrow and numerous festivals in the US and worldwide, including JVC Jazz Festivals and The San Francisco Jazz Festival.An innovative, generous teacher Bob has done extensive work in jazz clinics worldwide, has been on the faculties of William Paterson and Lehigh University, and is a past artist-in-residence at Newark Arts High. He currently teaches privately both on and off line.
 

EPISODE 90 - Nick Hempton

Growing up on the mean streets of Sydney, Hempton and the Jazz School system didn’t see eye to eye, and he learnt to play jazz the old-fashioned way: jam sessions at local clubs and late night practice sessions on Sydney’s famous Harbour Bridge. A year at sea working on the cruise ships raised the funds for a flight, and in January 2004 he touched down in NYC. 
From 2005 to 2016 Nick led The Nick Hempton Band, delivering “highly entertaining, hard-driving and solid swinging modern jazz,” (E–Jazz News) to most of the major New York venues, as well as touring regionally and internationally. With this group, Nick released four highly-praised studio albums: “Nick Hempton Band” (self-released, 2008); “The Business” (Posi-Tone, 2011); “Odd Man Out” (Posi-Tone, 2013); and in 2015, the innovative “Catch and Release,” which was recorded and released track-by-track over the course of a year. This was followed by the pared-back “Trio Stonk” (SmallsLive, 2017), recorded live at NYC’s famed Smalls Jazz Club.
In 2018, after years of flirting with the organ band format, Nick recorded his sixth album, the organ quartet outing, “Night Owl.” Featuring renowned guitar ace Peter Bernstein, Night Owl harkens back to the classic ‘60s organ band sound, “that greasy, funky soul-jazz popularized by the likes of Lou Donaldson, Grant Green and Stanley Turrentine... complete with a Gene Ammons-grade soul tenor sax.” (Something Else Reviews). “Night Owl” was such a gas, Nick took the same band back to the same studio, and the hotly-anticipated follow-up, “Slick,” was released to much acclaim in November 2021.