Bios

 

2023  BIO  BRIEF

A 25-year veteran New York based artist now teaching at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University, Phil Haynes is featured on more than 85 LP, DVD and CD releases by numerous American and European record labels. The international media have compared his drumming to masters Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, and his 60+ diverse compositions to Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, Charles Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

His recording credentials include many of the seminal musicians of this generation: saxophonists Anthony Braxton, Ellery Eskelin, and David Liebman; trumpeters Thomas Heberer, Herb Robertson, and Paul Smoker; bassists Mark Dresser, Ken Filiano, and Drew Gress; keyboard artists David Kikoski, Denman Maroney, and Michelle Rosewoman; vocalists Theo Bleckman, Nicholas Horner, and Hank Roberts; violinist Mark Feldman, as well as the composers collective Joint Venture.

Current Haynes touring ensembles include his: definitive saxophone trio, No Fast Food, featuring NEA jazz master David Liebman; romantic jazz-grass string band, Free Country, featuring vocalist/cellist Hank Roberts; Three Shamans, with trumpeter Herb Robertson & bassist Ken Filiano; plus the romantic piano trio, Day Dream, a cooperative with Yamaha artist Steve Rudolph and Drew Gress. https://philhaynesmusic.bandcamp.com/music  https://www.chasingthemasters.com/

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 www.cornerstorejazz.com/shop/

 

2023  FULL  BIO

 Adrianne L. Schot

A veteran artist based in New York for 25 years, Phil Haynes is featured on more than 85 LP, CD, and DVD releases by numerous American and European record labels. Haynes’ debut, The Paul Smoker Trio’s QB with Anthony Braxton, was named the #1 recording of 1985 by esteemed critic Kevin Whitehead. The international media have compared his drumming to masters Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, and his 60+ diverse compositions to Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, Charles Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. His performances were recently noted to be “The perfect middle between tradition and avant-garde, between power and sophistication, between accessibility and adventure. . . standards with a new sense of drama, dynamics, and true moments of fun.”

In addition to the critically acclaimed three recordings for Enja Records by the composer’s collective, Joint Venture, Haynes’ diverse and distinctive fifteen recordings as a leader include: Continuum (violinist Mark Feldman’s jazz debut); the ground breaking and iconic ensemble 4 Horns & What?; his first recording of jazz standards, A Couch in Brooklyn (featuring Israeli born pianist Micu Narununsky and bassist Drew Gress); The Hammond Insurgency with B-3 organ virtuoso Jeff Palmer; Free Country’s trilogy of Americana with cellist/vocalist Hank Roberts; the singular solo drum-set recording, Sanctuary, as well as No Fast Food, his defining saxophone trio featuring NEA jazz master David Liebman.

Moving to central Pennsylvania in 2003, Haynes founded the nationally noted Jazz@Bucknell chamber series in 2005 and was subsequently appointed as Bucknell University’s Kushell Jazz Artist-in- Residence. From 2007-2012, Haynes taught courses in Jazz History, directed his multi-media/new music Bucknell Interdisciplinary Improvisation Ensemble (BIIE), coached the University Jazz Band rhythm section and soloists, worked with various small ensembles and recitalists, maintained a vigorous private studio, and led the Bison Band. Recent years have featured appointments as interim Director of Jazz Studies for both Susquehanna University, PA, and Nazareth College, NY.

Artists Haynes has appeared on CD with include Theo Bleckman, Anthony Braxton, Adam Caine, Joe Daley, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Ellery Eskelin, Mark Feldman, Ken Filiano, Vinny Golia, Drew Gress, Thomas Heberer, Mark Helias, Lindsay Horner, Ed Jackson, Ritsu Katsumata, David Kikoski, Frank Lacy, Andy Laster, David Liebman, Tony Malaby, Denman Maroney, Michael McNeill, Micu Narunsky, Jeff Palmer, Hank Roberts, Herb Robertson, Ned Rothenberg, Rich Rothenberg, Ted Rosenthal, Michelle Rosewoman, Steve Rudolph, Steve Salerno, Ed Schuller, Paul Smoker, Michael Stevens, David Taylor, John Tchicai, Andreas Willers, Gebhard Ullmann, and Tom Varner.

Other acclaimed performers that Haynes has appeared with in concert include John Abercrombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Bobby Bradford, Don Byron, Bill Carrothers, Billy Childs, Marilyn Crispell, Joshua Davis, Jack Dejohnette, Bill Dobbins, Marty Ehrlich, Jon English, Michael Formanek, Joel Frahm, Charles Gayle, Steve Gilmore, Ben Goldberg, Arnold Hammerschlag, Peter Herbert, Ingrid Jensen, Dean Johnson, David Liebman, Albert Manglesdorf, Tony Marino, Ron McClure, Tony Micelli, Ben Monder, Glenn Moore, Varden Ovsepian, Paul Plimley, Eddie Severn, Louis Sclavis, Leni Stern, John Stowell, John Swana, Steve Swell, Greg Tardy, John Tchicai, Gary Thomas, Thomas Ullrich, Roseanna Vitro, J.D. Waters, Tim Warfield, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, Larry Willis and Andrea Wolper.

In addition to his Sanctuary solo concert presentations, as well as duet performances with David Liebman & Herb Robertson, current Haynes touring ensembles include his: romantic, folk-Americana string band, Free Country, featuring cellist/vocalist Hank Roberts; signature saxophone trio, No Fast Food, w/ bass titan Drew Gress and NEA jazz master David Liebman; as well as the classic piano trio, Day Dream, with Yamaha artist Steve Rudolph.

https://www.philhaynes.com/    https://philhaynesmusic.bandcamp.com/music    https://www.cornerstorejazz.com/

 

 

HANK ROBERTS

Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, in Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York jazz scene of the 1980s and is strongly associated with its post-modern tendencies.  In the early 1980s Roberts made a number of recordings for the German JMT label, was a featured member of the Bill Frisell Quartet, and was an important voice in many groups of saxophonist Tim Berne. Roberts also recorded three discs with the Arcado String Trio, a seminal improvisational chamber group featuring Mark Feldman, violin, and Mark Dresser, double bass.  He continues to perform internationally and to release recordings, including with the progressive folk group Ti Ti Chickapea.  More recently, Roberts released Green (with Jim Black and Marc Ducret) on Winter & Winter, Stefan F. Winter’s handsome label subsequent to JMT.  In addition to re-releasing Hank’s entire JMT back catalog, Winter and Winter released Roberts’ Everything Is Alive in December, 2011.

www.hankrobertsmusic.com

JIM YANDA

grew up as the youngest son of a dairy farming family outside of Anamosa, Iowa.  His earliest professional experiences included the dance halls of NE Iowa, performing both kinds of music – Country AND Western.  By the time he was in high school, gigging garage Rock bands added to his stylistic influences, as Yanda fell in love with guitarists Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page.  He graduated from Coe College in 1982, where he was introduced to jazz and avant garde 20th Century notated music by maverick trumpeter & university mentor, Paul Smoker.  Yanda then spent time in Chicago’s North side jazz scene for several years before moving to New York to live and work with longtime roommate, Phil Haynes.  Since that time, Yanda has recorded his own music on Regional Cookin, released recordings with Phil Haynes & Free Country, Damon Short’s National Group, and the open music ensemble Moral Hazard with Herb Robertson.

 www.jimyanda.com

DREW GRESS

Bassist/composer Drew Gress performs extensively with artists on the cutting edge of contemporary improvised music. His latest project – The Irrational Numbers (Premonition), features Drew’s original compositions for quintet. Earlier releases include the critically-acclaimed 7 Black Butterflies (2005), Spin & Drift (2001), and Heyday (1997). Future projects include a new quintet project, a solo bass recording, and an electronics projectȳoon to be unveiled.  Drew can also be heard within the ensembles of John Abercrombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Mark Feldman, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby, and John Surman.

www.drewgress.com

 

DAVID LIEBMAN

David Liebman’s career has spanned over four decades, beginning in the early ‘70s with his “apprenticeship” period performing and recording in the groups of drummer Elvin Jones (“Live At The Lighthouse”) and Miles Davis (“On The Corner”). Since then he has lead his own groups (Lookout Farm; Quest;The Dave Liebman Group) featuring musicians such as John Scofield, Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Adam Nussbaum, Al Foster, John Abercrombie and Vic Juris. Lieb has consistently placed among the top three in the Downbeat Critics Poll for Soprano Saxophone since 1973; winning first place in both the Downbeat and Jazz Times Critic’s Poll in 2011. As well in 2011, Liebman received the NEA Masters of Jazz Award, the highest honor for jazz given by the United States government.

www.daveliebman.com

 

STEVE RUDOLPH

 

PAUL SMOKER

Paul Smoker (R.I.P.) studied and performed both jazz and classical music while growing up in Davenport, Iowa.  He attended the University of Iowa (eventually receiving a DMA in trumpet) where one of his fellow students was David Sanborn. While in high school and college he played in the clubs across the Mississippi River in Rock Island and Moline, as well as Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, getting to work with Dodo Marmarosa (pianist with Charlie Parker), among others.  He was also a member of the Iowa Brass Quintet, touring throughout the United States, and the U of Iowa Center for New Music.

As a trumpeter his influences include avant-garde classical sources as well as the jazz trumpet tradition, and also the saxophonists John Coltrane and Anthony Braxton.  For over twenty years he taught trumpet, jazz, and 20th-century ‘classical’ music at the Universities of Iowa, Northern Iowa, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Coe College. During his tenure at Coe he founded the Paul Smoker Trio with Ron Rohovit and Phil Haynes, and they began to receive international attention, recording five albums and playing jazz festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Since the mid-80’s he has made over fifty recordings as a leader of his own groups and with Anthony Braxton, Joint Venture, Vinny Golia, Lou Grassi, Phil Haynes, Herb Robertson, Jay Rosen, Adam Lane, Burton Greene, Dom Minasi, et al. He has also worked with David Liebman, Evan Parker, Don Byron, John Tchicai, Art Pepper, Frank Rosolino, Barry Altschul, Gerry Hemingway, Ellery Eskelin, Borah Bergman, Mark Dresser, and on and on…

Paul presently directs the jazz studies program at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, and has been composer-in-residence at Rochester’s School of the Arts and Cornell University. The Paul Smoker Notet debuted in 2003 at Tonic in New York City, and includes Smoker, guitarist Steve Salerno, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Phil Haynes. Notet recordings include Live At the Bop Shop, Cool Lives, and the new Landings.  It Might Be Spring, a live duo concert with Phil Haynes, in Buffalo, NY, was released in 2013.  https://paulsmoker.bandcamp.com/music

 

www.paulsmoker.com

2023  PROGRAM  BIO

PHIL HAYNES (b. 1961, Hillsboro, OR),  a veteran artist based in New York for 25 years, is featured on more than 85 LP, CD, and DVD releases by numerous American and European record labels.  His recording credentials include many of the seminal musicians of this generation: saxophonists Anthony Braxton, Ellery Eskelin, and David Liebman; trumpeters Thomas Heberer, Herb Robertson, and Paul Smoker; bassists Mark Dresser, Ken Filiano, and Drew Gress; keyboard artists David Kikoski, Denman Maroney, and Michelle Rosewoman; vocalists Theo Bleckman, Nicholas Horner, and Hank Roberts; violinist Mark Feldman, and the composers collective Joint Venture.

Haynes’ debut, The Paul Smoker Trio’s QB with Anthony Braxton, was named the #1 recording of 1985 by esteemed critic Kevin Whitehead.  International media have compared his drumming to masters Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, and his 60+ diverse compositions to Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, Charles Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.  His performances were recently noted to be “The perfect middle between tradition and avant-garde, between power and sophistication, between accessibility and adventure. . . standards with a new sense of drama, dynamics, and true moments of fun.”

Notes Phil, “Whenever work by improvisers disappoints me, it is usually due to a lost sense of collective artistic discipline (sufficient self editing), thus presenting unbalanced musical ‘run-on sentences’.  Such stream-of-conscious expression can collapse under its own weight/length when it lacks the quality and clarity of sturdy thematic ideas meshed with well timed and edited formal development.  Some of the most exciting material ever conceived, however, comes via spur of the moment pre-conscious ‘Ah ha’ experiences.  Bridging the apparent opposites of conscious vs. subconscious creativity is a perennial challenge for every artist.”

“Legit/classical percussion writing often falls short as well, especially when it relegates performers to that of mere sound effects generators, or worse yet, un-imaginative, ill-orchestrated and non-lyrical ‘drummer parts’.  My work is to reshape the percussionist’s role in all situations – as more than just a time keeper, colorist, and sensitive engine – striving toward a style that suggests melody, counterpoint, harmony, and compositional relevance, seeking to meaningfully contribute to my instrument’s evolution.”

“All my ensembles are encouraged to: improvise first theme(s) spontaneously; develop these ideas generously while adopting one of the earliest exit points for each section or movement; group these contrasting movements into larger multi-sectional works during performances via experienced intuition combined with advance tune list planning; always allow significant pause to highlight the natural decay of instrumental ringing-out , thereby creating artistic/negative space before beginning another compositional cycle or acknowledging our audiences at crafted endings.”

As a leading educator, Phil Haynes’ mission for the past decade has been to introduce audiences in central Pennsylvania to world-class jazz.  In 2003 Haynes moved his full time residence from New York City to Lewisburg, PA, where he founded and was appointed producer for a new concert series, Jazz@Bucknell, presenting a challenging and esteemed international ‘who’s who’ of improvisers over its first decade.  Haynes assumed a multi-year position as Bucknell University’s Kushell Jazz Artist in Residence. In addition to teaching his courses in jazz history & literature, he directed the University’s Bison Band, founded the Bucknell Interdisciplianry Improvisation Ensemble (BIIE), and was appointed as one of five inaugural leaders of the interdisciplinary Bucknell Innovation Group (BIG).  Haynes’ past few years have featured appointments as interim Director of Jazz Studies for both Susquehanna University, PA, and Nazareth College, NY.  In October, 2014, Haynes was featured in the international journal, Jazz Ed.

In addition to solo Sanctuary concert presentations and duet engagements with David Liebman, Herb Robertson & Paul Smoker (R.I.P.), current Haynes touring ensembles include his acclaimed: romantic, folk-Americana string band, Free Country,  featuring cellist/vocalist Hank Roberts; signature saxophone trio, No Fast Food, w/ bass titan Drew Gress and NEA jazz master David Liebman; as well as the collaborative classic piano trio, Day Dream, w/ Yamaha artist and pianist Steve Rudolph + Drew Gress.   https://philhaynesmusic.bandcamp.com/music  www.cornerstorejazz.com/shop/  https://www.chasingthemasters.com/ https://philhaynesmusic.bandcamp.com/music

2023 Program BIO variant

Modern jazz master and educator Phil Haynes’ recording debut, The Paul Smoker Trio’s QB, with Anthony Braxton, was named the #1 recording of 1985 by Kevin Whitehead in Coda Magazine.  Critics have compared Haynes’ drumming to Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, and his 60+ diverse compositions to Ellington, Ives, Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.  Of his more than 85 commercially published recordings, Haynes has released well more than dozen as a leader, with an additional dozen as co-leader.

As a collaborator, Haynes has appeared on numerous published discs with artists in the vanguard of new jazz, including Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Joe Daley, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Ellery Eskelin, Mark Feldman, Ken Filiano, Vinny Golia, Drew Gress, David Liebman, Thomas Heberer, Mark Helias, Ed Jackson, David Kikoski, Frank Lacy, Andy Laster, Tony Malaby, Hank Roberts, Herb Robertson, Ned Rothenberg, Ted Rosenthal, Rich Rothenberg, Michelle Rosewoman, Paul Smoker, John Tchicai, Gebhard Ullmann, and Tom Varner.

Haynes’ definitive trio, No Fast Food, with bass titan Drew Gress and NEA jazz master David Liebman, carries on the great tradition of Sonny Rollins’ famed “Way Out West” and Elvin Jones’ pivotal “Puttin’ It Together” sax/bass/drums trios.  NFF’s al dente renderings of Haynes’ diverse book of originals presents a democratic ensemble dialogue of acoustic muscularity with transparent sensitivity.

Haynes’ Americana jazz-grass string band, Free Country, explores the our country’s pop music landscape — from the 1960’s rocking psychedelia back through Aaron Copeland, Hollywood soundtracks, Stephen Foster, Gospel, Scott Joplin, Scotch & Irish traditional materials, native Indian themes, Revolutionary & Civil War marches & anthems.  Free Country is iconic American music re-imagined through singular acoustic interpretations: Hank Roberts, cello/voice; Drew Gress, bass + pedal steel; and guitarist Jim Yanda. In a more traditional context, Haynes’ classic piano trio Day Dream – with Steve Rudolph & Drew Gress – features the great American songbook paired with the ensemble’s  lyrical original compositions.

As a leading educator, Phil Haynes’ mission for the past decade has been to introduce audiences in central Pennsylvania to world-class jazz.  In 2003 Haynes moved his full time residence from New York City to Lewisburg, PA, where he founded and was appointed producer for a new concert series, Jazz@Bucknell, presenting a challenging and esteemed international ‘who’s who’ of improvisers over its first decade.  Haynes assumed a multi-year position as Bucknell University’s Kushell Jazz Artist in Residence. In addition to teaching his courses in jazz history & literature, he directed the University’s Bison Band, founded the Bucknell Interdisciplianry Improvisation Ensemble (BIIE), and was appointed as one of five inaugural leaders of the interdisciplinary Bucknell Innovation Group (BIG).  Haynes also served as production coordinator for the popular Janet Weis Cabaret Series.  His past few years have featured appointments as interim Director of Jazz Studies for both Susquehanna University, PA, and Nazareth College, NY.  In October, 2014, Haynes was featured in the international journal, Jazz Ed.

As an international clinician, Haynes’ enjoys introducing all levels of musicians to ‘practice-performance’ and the essentials of sensitive & liberating ‘spontaneous composition’.  Haynes is adept at eliciting active participation from all learners,  including classically trained, rock-rooted, folk musicians, and even self-proclaimed non/un-musical attendees.   With his touring ensembles, each group workshops not only current and classic compositions by Haynes, but also participant requested jazz standards.  Haynes & his ensembles excel at master classes on all aspects of jazz history – its harmony, composers, arranging techniques and performance practices – whether for post-graduate, university, high school, elementary, or even preschool participants.

https://philhaynesmusic.bandcamp.com/music   www.cornerstorejazz.com/shop/  https://www.chasingthemasters.com/

 

2010

Bucknell archive

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA