Steve Gladd

Steve Gadd is a native of Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, NY. After graduating from Irondequoit's Eastridge High School, he attended the Manhattan School of Music for two years before transferring to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, playing in wind ensembles and concert bands. After Gadd finished college in the late 1960s, he played regularly with Chuck Mangione and his brother Gap Mangione. His first recording was on Gap Mangione's debut solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind (1968).

Gadd was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent three years as a drummer in the Army Music Program, most of which was spent with the Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army Field Band in Ft. Meade, MD. Following his military service, Gadd played and worked with a band in Rochester. In 1972, Gadd formed a trio with Tony Levin and Mike Holmes, traveling to New York with them. The trio eventually broke up, but Gadd began to work mainly as a studio musician. Gadd also played with Corea's Return to Forever but left the group.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he toured internationally, and recorded with Paul Simon and also with Al Di Meola's Electric Rendezvous Band. In 1976, Gadd and other session musicians in New York City, including Richard Tee, Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree, formed the group Stuff. Their work included appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live, both performing on their own and backing Joe Cocker.

Steve Gadd has recently been busy touring with James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and producing an new album for Mika Yoshida. He is also recording and touring with L'Image (w/Mike Mainieri, Tony Levin, Dave Spinozza, and Warren Bernhardt) The Gaddabouts (with Edie Brickell), and his own band, Steve Gadd & Friends.

Joey DeFrancesco © Don Berryman

When DeFrancesco was only seventeen years old, Miles Davis asked him to join his band. DeFrancesco toured Europe and recorded Amandla with Davis. He became well known in the 1990s, however, through his work with John McLaughlin's trio Free Spirits. He has also played with jazz guitarists Pat Martino, Paul Bollenback, Jimmy Bruno, Dave Stryker as well as trumpet player Big Jim Henry and many others.

DeFrancesco's own recordings as leader, first with Columbia, and later with labels such as Muse and Big Mo, established what Chris Parker has referred to as "his importance as one of the most unfussily virtuosic torch-bearers of contemporary organ jazz."

DeFrancesco listened and learned from the B3 masters, especially Jimmy Smith, to whom he pays homage in his 1999 High Note release, The Champ. In 2000 he recorded the album Incredible! with Smith. He also pays tribute to Don Patterson in Tribute to Don Patterson: The Philadelphia Connection released in 2004. DeFrancesco also learned from McDuff, and recorded with him as well. DeFrancesco paired with Jimmy Smith on Smith's last effort, called "Legacy," finished just days before Smith died in 2005.

Joey DeFrancesco is an astonishing natural talent. He has blistering speed, complete control of the organ at all times and a tremendous ear for harmonics. His repertoire runs the gamut from straight-ahead jazz to blues, gospel and rock.

Cuber was in Marshall Brown's Newport Youth Band in 1959, where he switched from tenor to baritone sax. His first notable work was with Slide Hampton (1962) and Maynard Ferguson (1963-1965). Then from 1966 to 1967, Cuber worked with George Benson. He was also a member of the Lee Konitz nonet from 1977 to 1979. He can be heard playing in Frank Zappa's group in the mid-1970's, including the album Zappa in New York. He has been a member of the Mingus Big Band since its inception in the early 1990's. He was an off-screen musician for the movie Across the Universe.

Paul Bollenback © Don Berryman

• Tuesday, November 10 through Thursday, November 12, at Catalina's Bar & Grill, located at 6725 West Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles; reservations and information at www.catalinajazzclub.com.
• Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 15 at Yoshi’s in San Francisco, located at 1330 Fillmore. Visit www.yoshis.com for ticket information
• Monday, November 16 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, located at 320-2 Cedar Street in Santa Cruz. Call  (831) 427-2227 or visit  www.kuumbwajazz.org for ticket information.
• Tuesday, November 17, Voce Ristorante and Lounge, located at 9719 N Hayden Rd in Scottsdale, AZ. Call (480) 609-0429 or visit http://www.voceristoranteandlounge.com for ticket information.
  

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