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Bios

Mel Martin has proven to be one of the most versatile and creative musicians to emerge from the San Francisco Bay Area. His virtuosic abilities on woodwinds combined with his vast range of experience has brought him to a position of pre-eminence as one of the most inventive and innovative of performers. His unique abilities as an improviser, arranger and composer have made him a favorite of such greats as Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, and many others.

His work as a leader has been documented on several brilliant recordings with the groups Listen, Featuring Mel Martin and his current band Bebop & Beyond as well as his fine recordings of the music of Benny Carter, Mel Martin Plays Benny Carter and the recent Just Friends by The Mel Martin/Benny Carter Quintet. He has applied these talents to a wide variety of performing and recording situations including Santana, Azteca, Mongo Santamaria, Boz Scaggs, Cal Tjader, Vince Guaraldi, Denny Zeitlin, Hubert Laws, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, B.B. King, Billy Cobham, Freddy Cole, and the Afro Blue Band as well as a multitude of independent studio projects. In performance Mel displays a rare combination of fiery soloing abilities and telepathic communication and projects a joyously spirited vibrancy to his audiences.

Brad Buethe is a twenty-five year veteran of the San Francisco and New York jazz scenes. In 1971, at age eighteen, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, attending UC Berkeley. Two years later he became a full time musician and joined Bill Bell's group, backing such greats as Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams, and John Handy.

Brad also played with the San Francisco Jazz All-Stars and was a member of Mark Levine's quintet. Moving to New York City in 1982, he worked with Jack McDuff and Jaki Byard. In New York he also led a quintet of impressive jazz artists: Joe Levano, Danny Hayes, Mike Clark and Kip Reed. Brad returned to San Francisco in 1989, and since has been performing at the area's main jazz venues, as well as periodically touring abroad.

 

Robb Fisher - Robb grew up in Los Angeles, the son of a jazz musician who played in and directed an Air Force Band throughout World War II, arranged for the Dorsey brothers, and hosted a jazz show on KPFK. In 1967, Robb moved to San Francisco where he played his first gigs. For over seven years, he toured and recorded with the late, great Cal Tjader, anchoring Cal's Grammy Award winning album, "La Onda Va Bien" and Grammy Nominee album, "Gozame Pero Ya." He has recorded or worked extensively with such luminaries as Chet Baker, Art Pepper, Tania Maria, Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Poncho Sanchez and Clare Fischer. Along with his bass work, two of his compositions are featured on the Monarch CD entitled, "The Nighthawks Featuring Eddie Marshall," released in 1996. Rob recently performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival with Mel Martin's Bebop and Beyond with Bobby Watson, Jack Walrath, and Wynard Harper. He also performs locally with the group XNY that includes Rob Schneiderman and Ron Marabuto. He is also a member of the Mel Martin  All-Star Big Band and the Tenor Conclave.

Jeff Marrs - Jeff Marrs has a masters degree in performance and composition from the prestigious New England Conservatory where he worked with great trombonist/composer/arranger/band leader Bob Brookmeyer. Since returning to the bay area last year Jeff has become one of the most in demand drummers in town. He has performed with Blue Note recording artist Stephon Harris, Marcus shelby, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Mark Levine, Matt Clark, Michael Bluestein, The Collective West Orchestra, Dave Mac Nab, Art Hirahara, Mike Zilber and many other local greats. He is a current member of the Marcus Shelby Orchestra and the Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee group.  .