11.2.12 Carol Robbins Quintet with Larry Koonse + Bob Sheppard + Darek Oles + Tim Pleasant

Born in Chicago, Carol Robbins grew up in Los Angeles, where piano lessons at an early age inspired her to experiment with jazz improvisation. By age ten she was studying harp and eventually became one of the handful of students ever accepted by the late pioneering harpist Dorothy Ashby.  One of the world’s few jazz harpists, Ms. Robbins has recorded and performed with an eclectic variety of artists including Billy Childs, Manhattan Transfer, Brian Wilson, Bjork, Dianne Reeves, Linda Ronstadt, Nina Simone, Teddy Edwards and Frank Sinatra. Her memorable television credits include Cheers, Frazier and The Tonight Show.
Highlight appearances in 2004 included a live radio broadcast on KCRW with Australian singer Sia, a duo with Bea Arthur at the Hollywood Bowl in A Tribute to Peggy Lee, and an engagement as performer and instructor at the Lyon Healy International Harp Conference in Salt Lake City.

In 2005 Ms Robbins, was nominated for a Grammy for her work on Billy Childs’ recording “Lyric”. She and her colleagues in Mr. Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble were nominated in the category of Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Ms Robbins has performed with this group in New York City, Los Angeles, Orange County and the Bay Area. Robbins also recorded with the Electronica band Bitter:Sweet on their debut CD “The Mating Game”.  Two of the songs from this album can be heard in the movie and on the soundtrack CD of “The Devil Wears Prada”. The song “Bittersweet Faith” features a harp solo improvised by Robbins.  The group did an in-studio performance and interview on radio station KCRW in April of 2006.

Ms Robbins released her third CD “Jazz Play” in February of 2006. This collection features many of her of original compositions and she is joined by a stellar group of jazz musicians. On July 4th of 2006 Ms Robbins played a concert and gave a seminar for the American Harp Society in San Francisco.  She gave a live radio interview for station KCSM in San Mateo a few days after the AHS performance. Robbins will be appearing extensively in concerts and clubs and on the radio with her group, Billy Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble and with Bitter:Sweet.

Carol Robbins website

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Born into a musical family, Larry has been playing the guitar since he was seven years old. At the age of fifteen he recorded an album with his father, guitarist Dave Koonse, entitled “Dave and Larry Koonse; father and son jazz guitars.” In 1984, Larry was the first recipient of a BM in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California.

Immediately after graduating from USC Larry toured extensively for six years as a member of the John Dankworth quartet, traveling all across the globe and backing up Cleo Laine. He is currently a member of Billy Child’s landmark chamber sextet which just released a CD entitled “Lyric” featuring Brian Blade and received a grammy nomination for instrumental jazz album of the year. He has also toured and recorded with Mel Torme, Terry Gibbs, Bob Brookmeyer, Billy Childs, John Patitucci, David Friesen, Karrin Allyson, Warne Marsh and was a featured performer with the Percy Faith Orchestra on a tour of Japan. At the invitation of Nelson Mandela and UNICEF, Larry traveled to South Africa to perform for the first annual SAMIX festival with the Steve Houghton quintet. He also performed with Gary Willis in Sao Paulo for a government sponsored concert at SESC Ipiranga. In his travels, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music, Disney Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and has been a featured soloist with the L.A. Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and many other orchestras throughout the world. Larry has recorded with Cleo Laine, Al Hirt, Jimmy Rowles, Lee Konitz, Larry Goldings, Alan Broadbent, Ray Brown, Bill Perkins, Toots Thielemanns, Rod Stewart, Clay Jenkins, Linda Ronstadt, David Friesen, Bob Sheppard, Charlie Haden and many other jazz artists. His solo guitar work was featured throughout “Crazy”, a feature film chronicling the life of the great guitarist Hank Garland.

The founder of the Player’s School, the renown bassist Jeff Berlin, contacted Larry in 1995 to write a guitar curriculum which is currently used for their program. He was co-leader of the L.A. Jazz Quartet which released their fourth CD, “Conversation Piece” (NAXOS Records) in September, 2000. The quartet’s first three CD’s, “Astarte” (GOWI), “Look To The East” (NAXOS), and “Family Song” (NTR), have received critical acclaim for their originality and musical depth. Larry’s most recent recording, “Storybook” is now available through Jazz Compass (www.jazzcompass.com). He has two other releases on the Jazz Compass label: Americana ( a recording featuring Scott Colley on the bass) and Dialogues of the Heart (featuring his father Dave Koonse in a guitar duo setting). Larry has been a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts since 1990.

Larry Koonse 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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Darek “Oles” Oleszkiewicz was born on February 20, 1963 in Wroclaw, Poland.
At the age of five Darek began his music education at the State Music School in Wroclaw.
Piano was his first instrument, but later he played guitar, electric bass and finally at eighteen years old, he switched to accoustic bass. While in his teens he played with amateur groups, evolving in popular music styles from rock, blues, jazz-rock to straight ahead jazz.
In the early 1980′s, Darek participated in various jazz festivals and national competitions for young musicians. In 1983, he was the most awarded musician at the Jazz Juniors in Cracow, winning the first individual prize, first prize for jazz composition and a second prize in jazz combo category. Later that year Darek was invited by Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski, a jazz legend in Poland, to join saxophonist’s quartet on tour.

In the following five years Darek Oleszkiewicz was working steadily with some of the best jazz bands in the country such as: Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet, Tomasz Szukalski Quartet, Henryk Majewski Quintet, Wojciech Karolak Trio and Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio and Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski Quartet. With those groups he recorded for Polish Jazz, Polskie Nagrania, East Wind and also for the radio and television in Poland and abroad. Darek was touring extensively in Poland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Cuba, Mexico and performed at major festivals, concerts and jazz club venues.

In 1988, Darek arrived in Los Angeles with a simple plan in mind: to broaden his musical horizon.
One year later he received a full scholarship from California Institute Of The Arts and began studies with the legendary bassist Charlie Haden. After graduation in 1992, he accepted a teaching position at the Institute, where he has been
conducting jazz ensembles and teaching bass ever since. Since 2002 Darek has been a jazz faculty member at the University Of California in Irvine.

Aside from his teaching duties, Darek has been very active as a performer and became one of the most sought after bass players on the West Coast. “Oles” (his American nick-name) had the opportunity to perform and record with the greatest masters in jazz. A partial list of his collaborations include:
Brad Mehldau, Billy Higgins, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Eddie Henderson, Charles Lloyd, John Abercrombie, Bennie Maupin, Lee Konitz, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, Bennie Wallace, Victor Lewis, Harvey Mason, Dave Grusin, Art Farmer, Horace Silver, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, James Newton, Arthur Blythe, Lew Tabackin, Steve Kuhn, Gary Smulyan, Ronnie Cuber, Billy Hart, Kevin Hays, Munyungo Jackon, Steve Hass, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Marian McPartland, Janis Siegel, Bob Brookmeyer, Curtis Fuller, Roy McCurdy, Tom Harrell, Larry Goldings, Bill Stewart, Chris Potter, Kei Akagi, Billy Childs, Bob Sheppard, Joe LaBarbera, Bill Cunliffe, Patrice Rushen, Bennie Golson, Piotr Baron, Teri Lynn Carrington, Buddy De Franco, Terry Gibbs, Anthony Wilson Nonet and Los Angeles Jazz Quartet.

With these and many others artists Darek has recorded approximately 100 albums and performed hundreds of concerts throughout America, Europe and Asia. Several of those recordings were nominated for Grammy Awards.
In 2003, Darek was also nominated to Fryderyk’s Awards in Poland in the category “Jazz Musician Of The Year”.

Darek’s first recording project as a leader “Like A Dream” with Brad Mehldau and Bennie Maupin was released byCryptogramophone Records in 2004 and gained a critical acclaim worldwide. In 2005 Darek “Oles” Oleszkiewicz was voted the “Best Accoustic Bassist” in the Jazz Top readers poll in Jazz Forum European Magazine.

Darek Oles website

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Tim currently resides in the Los Angeles area.  His background includes a degree in music from the University of Iowa and has studied with Harold Jones, an alumnus of the Count Basie Band.

In the early and mid 70’s, Tim was a member of the fusion group Solstice.  His tenure with this innovative collection of musicians provided a great foundation in various musical styles from jazz fusion and World music to be-bop.

In late 1978, Tim arrived in New York City from Minneapolis to further his real world music education.  During his twenty-one year stay, he has had the opportunity to perform with Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, Jaki Byard, Johnny Ray, Charles McPherson, Frank Lowe and Kurt Rosenwinkel.

Tim moved to the Los Angeles area in 2000 and has become a mainstay of the vibrant Los Angeles Jazz scene. He has performed with many of the L.A. area’s most noted jazz musicians, some of which include Alan Pasqua, Anthony Wilson, John Pisano, Charlie Haden and Larry Goldings.

Tim Pleasant website