Jamie Baum Septet member biographies
[Click
here for Jamie's bio.]
| Ralph Alessi · George Colligan · Drew Gress · Jeff Hirshfield · Tom Varner · Doug Yates |
Ralph
Alessi (trumpet) began studying the trumpet
at the age of six with his father, Joseph Alessi. He
attended California Institute of the Arts and received
a BFA and MFA degree in jazz performance. In 1990,
Ralph moved to New York and soon became an active New
York sideman performing and recording with the likes
of Sam Rivers, Don Byron, Michael Cain, Fred Hersch,
Mark Helias, David Gilmore, Bobby Previte, Muhal Richard
Abrams, and Lonnie Plaxico. Since 1994, he has
toured and recorded with Steve Coleman, with whom he
has made six records. He is also a member of Uri
Caine's "Mahler Revisited" and "Goldberg
Variations" bands as well as the Ravi Coltrane Quintet. As
a leader, Ralph released his first recording as a leader
on Love Slave Records entitled Hissy
Fit and two more solo recordings on RKM Records.
[Visit Ralph's website: www.RalphAlessi.com]
George
Colligan (piano, electric piano) has been on
the New York scene since moving to Brooklyn in 1995. He
has toured, recorded, and performed as a sideman with
Cassandra Wilson, Gary Bartz, Gary Thomas, Eddie Henderson,
Buster Williams, Ralph Peterson, Vanessa Rubin, Steve
Wilson, Jane Monheit, Michael Brecker, Nicholas Payton,
Christian McBride, Billy Hart, Mingus Big Band, Rodney
Holmes, Mark Turner, David Binney, Don Braden, Lee Konitz
and Stefon Harris, among others. In addition to
his work as a bandleader, George currently is first call
pianist for the bands off Don Byron, Lonnie Plaxico,
Jamie Baum, Robin Eubanks, David Gilmore, Ravi Coltrane
and Greg Tardy. George Colligan is the winner of
the 2001 jazzconnect.com competition and appears on at
least 60 recordings, 11 of which he has released as a
leader for the Steeplechase and Fresh Sound labels.
[Visit George's website: www.GeorgeColligan.com]
Bassist/composer Drew
Gress has performed extensively with artists
on the cutting edge of contemporary improvised music. His
latest project as a leader, Spin & Drift (Premonition
Records), features Drew's original compositions, as well
as his pedal steel guitar playing. He also leads
the quartet Jagged Sky; their debut recording, Heyday (Soul
Note) was released in 1998 to widespread critical acclaim. When
Drew is not leading his own ensembles, he can be heard
with the Dave Douglas String Group and Witness, Uri Caine's
Bach Project and Trio, the Don Byron Quintet, Tim Berne's
Paraphrase, the Fred Hersch Trio, Andy Laster's Hydra,
the Marc Copland Trio, the Bill Carrothers Trio, and
the Mark Shim Quartet. Drew has toured North, South,
and Central America, Europe, and Asia and has served
as Artist-in-Residence at St. Petersburg Conservatory
in Russia and at the University of Colorado/Boulder.
[Visit Drew's website: www.DrewGress.com]
Jeff
Hirshfield (drums), known as a consummate and
versatile jazz drummer, has recorded over 100 CDs as
a sideman. He has also toured the United State,
Europe and Japan several times. A native New Yorker,
his credits include Jim Hall, Toots Thielmans, Charlie
Mariano, Joe Lovano, Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan, Kenny Wheeler,
John Abercrombie, Dr John, Toshiko Akiyoshi/ Lew Tabackin,
John Taylor, Randy Brecker, John Zorn, Mose Allison,
Bennie Wallace, Bob Brookmeyer, Paul Bley, Eliane Elias,
Mike Mainieri, Mike Stern, Woody Herman, Fred Hersch
and many others. His work with flutist Jamie Baum
began in 1986 and includes recordings Moving
Forward, Standing Still, Undercurrents, Props
for Pops and Sight
Unheard. He plays Zildjian Cymbals/Sticks/
Brushes, Drum Workshop Drums/ Hardware, and Aquarian
Drums Heads exclusively.
Tom
Varner (French horn) is internationally known
as the top living pioneer of jazz French horn and as
an inventive, witty, and passionate composer for his
different ensembles. Tom's ninth and tenth CDs
as a leader, Second
Communion and Swimming,
on the OmniTone label, have been listed as "Top
10" recordings worldwide as was his seventh Martian
Heartache (Soul Note) in 1997. As a sideman,
Tom has worked in North and South America, Europe, Japan,
and Russia with such leaders as George Gruntz, Steve
Lacy, Reggie Workman, Bobby Previte, John Zorn, the Mingus
Orchestra, the Vienna Art Orchestra, Bobby Watson, Jane
Ira Bloom, Mathew Rosenblum, Annea Lockwood, LaMonte
Young, Jim McNeeley, George Schuller, Peter Schaärli,
Franz Koglmann, and Quincy Jones with Miles Davis at
Montreux in 1991.
[Visit Tom's website: www.TomVarnerMusic.com]
Doug
Yates (alto sax, bass clarinet) has recorded
and performed with George Garzone, Medeski/Martin/Wood,
Sam Rivers, Julius Hemphill, Either Orchestra, Your Neighborhood
Saxophone Quartet, Perfumed Scorpion, Jon Ballantyne,
and Thor Madsen. He has also recorded with Kenny
Werner, Dewey Redman, and David Binney and has performed
with Carla Bley, Stan Getz, David Liebman, Kenny Wheeler,
Jerome Harris, Gary Burton, Bob Moses, Mingus Orchestra,
the Mingus Big Band, Makoto Ozone, Cab Calloway, the
Phil Woods Little Big Band, and The Fringe. He
is currently an active member of the Mingus Orchestra,
George Garzone Quintet, Jon Ballantyne Quartet, Thor
Madsen Quartet, Freedom Art Quartet, Jamie Baum Septet,
and Perfumed Scorpion. This recent tours have included
jazz festivals in Copenhagen, Germany, Italy, and Israel,
as well as festivals in New York and San Francisco.
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