6.16.12 Billy Childs Quartet [Billy Childs + Bob Sheppard + Reggie Hamilton + Michael Baker]

After apprenticing with Freddie Hubbard and J.J. Johnson in the late seventies and early eighties, Childs’ solo jazz recording career began in 1988, when he released Take For Example, This… the first of four critically acclaimed albums on the Windham Hill Jazz label. He followed that album with Twilight Is Upon Us (1989), His April Touch (1992), and Portrait Of A Player (1993). His next album, I’ve Known Rivers on Stretch/GRP (now Stretch/Concord) was released in 1995, followed by The Child Within, released on the Shanachie record label in 1996. Most recently, Mr. Childs has recorded two volumes of jazz/chamber music – Lyric, Vol. 1 (2006) and Autumn: In Moving Pictures, Vol. 2 (2010) – music which is an amalgam of jazz and classical elements, developed with his ensemble through rehearsal, performance, and recording, over the course of ten years.

Thus far, in his career, Childs has garnered ten Grammy nominations and three Grammy awards: two for best instrumental composition (Into the Light from Lyric and The Path Among The Trees from Autumn: In Moving Pictures) and one for best arrangement accompanying a vocalist. In 2009, Childs was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2006 was awarded a Chamber Music America composer’s grant.

As a pianist Childs has recently performed with, among others, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter, the Ying String Quartet, the American Brass Quintet, and Chris Botti. In January 2010, The Detroit Symphony (Leonard Slatkin conducting) premiered Childs’ Concerto For Violin And Orchestra with Regina Carter as soloist. Upcoming commissions include a new piece for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and another new work for the Kronos String Quartet.

Billy Childs website

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Photography: Suzuki K

Over the course of an extraordinarily diverse career that has made him a first call musician in the realms of jazz, pop and the studio worlds, multi-woodwind specialist Bob Sheppard has always let his array of saxophones, flutes and clarinets do the talking. Superstar names highlight his resume, and jazz critics have been raving about him as both a sideman and leader for years, but such praise is simply a byproduct of Sheppard´s years of steady work and dedication to his craft – a tradition that continues on Close Your Eyes, his latest release as an artist and is the debut CD for the BFM Jazz label.

Going into the recording session for Close Your Eyes, Sheppard simply wanted to create a sonically rich interactive jazz experience. One of the distinct advantages of dividing his time between his home base of Los Angeles and New York is that he has forged working relationships with the best musicians on both coasts. Anchoring this session is top NYC drummer Antonio Sanchez (renowned for his work with Pat Metheny, among others), who Sheppard met while collaborating with him on the Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Sextet and Michael Brecker´s Quindectet tours. Completing a powerful rhythm section Sheppard chose the young bassist, Gabe Noel, and split the piano and organ duties between longtime friends John Beasley and Alan Pasqua. Other key contributors on this inspired CD are trumpeter Alex Sipiagen, percussionist Walter Rodriguez and guitarist Larry Koonse.

Sheppard has been a steadfast member of the Billy Childs Ensembles and the Peter Erskine trio for over a decade. Additionally over the years, he has toured with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs, and brought his diverse talents to more recent performances with James Taylor, Natalie Cole and Queen Latifah and most notably with the legendary Joni Mitchell on her current four-disc set and her 2007 Grammy-winning, Shine. He also played on a live studio video with Mitchell and Herbie Hancock.

Bob Sheppard website

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Reggie Hamilton was born in NYC. He spent his formative years on the east coast and started playing bass at age 11. He was also fortunate enough to have New York bassist Kim Clarke as his first teacher. Two years later, Reggie would take up the acoustic bass to strengthen his foundation as a bassist. Much of Reggie’s early playing experiences were spent in r&b and jazz clubs.He later worked as a house bassist in Atlantic City. Although Reggie had declined a scholarship at the Philadelphia Music Academy, he studied double bass with Craig Thomas and Philadelphia Orchestra’s Neil Courtney. He also studied composition with Dennis Sandole. Since arriving in Los Angeles, Reggie has toured and/or recorded with a wide array of artists including Seal, Eros Ramazzotti, Babyface, Thalia, Queen Latifah, Billy Childs, Christina Aguilera, Anita Baker, Bette Midler, George Duke, Whitney Houston, Stanley Clarke, David Lynch, John Mellencamp, Warren Zevon, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and many, many others. At present he is recording his second CD and working on a Doublebass concerto.

Reggie Hamilton website

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Michael Baker is that rare musician’s musician whose nearly 20-year career in the music business is a testament to his adaptability, talent and ambition.

“I’m getting back to my roots in rock, which is my first love,” he admits. “There is definitely a way to go about continuing to be successful in music. People who get hit after hit know what they’re doing.”

Michael Baker has learned from some of the best of them, from his gig barely out of college touring Europe with big band trumpet legend Clark Terry alongside old pal Branford Marsalis to stints with jazz pioneers like Hammond B-3 organist Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Phil Upchurch, Kenny Burrell, Billy Childs, Bobby Lyle, Stanley Turentine and, more recently, Weather Report’s Joe Zawinul.

What’s unique about Baker, though, is that he continues to work with mainstream pop artists like Brandy, Duncan Sheik, Candy Dulfer, Aaliyah, Celine Dion and Italian superstar singer Georgia, among many others, as well as working on the occasional soundtrack, like Robert Townsend’s 1989 movie, “The Five Heartbeats,” for which he and wife Aisha Ahmad-Baker wrote and recorded two of the songs in their home studio.

Born in Richmond, CA, Baker began playing drums at the age of seven while living in Japan with his mother, father and three brothers. After moving to Duluth, Baker sang, wrote and played drums in a local rock band called MA Free Press, which released an album called “Once In A Million” in 1976 and toured the region in “an 18-foot Ryder truck filled to the top,” according to Michael. The following year, Baker moved to Texas to attend North Texas State University as a music compostion major with a minor in dance. While there, he discovered drummers like Billy Cobham and Narada Michael Walden and began to study jazz. Horn-player Clark Terry recruited him to tour in Europe in a band that included Berklee grad Branford Marsalis for $250 a week. “It was like being in the Army,” marvels Michael. “You learn how to do things on the fly.”

Baker moved to L.A. in 1981, where he joined the Broadway production of the show “Sophisticated Ladies” at the Schubert Theater with Gregory Kines and performed on TV shows like Merv Griffin and “Fame,” with Debbie Allen. He then joined organ legend Jimmy Smith’s trio with Phil Upchurch for a series of albums, including several as featured vocalist. He’s also appeared on albums by Billy Childs, Bobby Lyle, Stanley Turrentine and other notable jazz artists.

Despite the respect he earned in the jazz arena, it wasn’t enough for Baker, who continued to favor pop-rock.

“You have to learn how to play every kind of music,” says Michael, whose own influences include drummer/singers like Don Henley and Phil Collins. “That education keeps you working. And that’s the key. It’s a long road and some guys just get there much faster.”

Along the way, Michael honed his own vocal abilities by releasing a 12-inch single in Europe, “Don’t You Want My Lovin’,” on the independent Passion label. He also played the annual “Save The Rain Forest” concerts at Carnegie Hall alongside superstars Sting, James Taylor, Elton John and Tammey Wynette; the UNICEF concert with Celine Dion, Dionne Warwick, Bryan Adams, Taylor Dayne and Diane Warren, and Quincy Jones’ 50th anniversary gala with Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, Ashford and Simpson’ Bernadette Peters, Chaka Khan and James Ingram.

Michael Baker website