Rich Lesnik Quartet
Alto saxophone player Rich Lesnik has been active
on
the SF Bay Area jazz scene since moving here in 1986.
Early influences included Sam "the man" Taylor, Stan
Getz, Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond and Art Pepper.
Growing up in Southern California, in the '60s Rich moved East for
college, politics and music. He eventually found his
way into New York's premier Brazilian jazz ensemble,
Thiago de Mello and Amazon, where he had the
opportunity to play with Claudio Roditi, Marcos Silva, Mike Formanek,
DuDuca Fonseca, Harvey Weinapel, Dick Oatts, Paquito d'Rivera,
Nilsson Matta, Valtinho, Dom Salvador, and Dom um Ramao.
Since moving to the Bay Area, Rich has played with the
Bill Bell Septet, played lead alto in several Bay Area
big bands, co-led the Gene Gilbeaux Swing Orchestra
(with Marty Wehner), worked with numerous local musical-theatre groups (TheatreWorks,
Broadway by the Bay), and, from time to time, in the
ever dwindling local jazz clubs. He also appears periodically with his
wife, singer Jenny Ferris.
Piano: Paul Mindrup
He hasn't quit his day job, but jazz piano is
Paul Mindrup's primary avocation. He has pursued it (in roundabout
fashion)
since his childhood in Dallas, by way of Palo Alto, Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore,
Los Angeles, and, for the last 10 years, San Francisco. Along the way
he's
studied with Alfred Mouledous, Herb Mickman, and Mark Levine.
He appears
on saxophonist Michael Gold's album "Personal Standards" performs
regularly at local jazz venues such as Cafe Bastille and the Crossroads
Cafe.
Bass: Scott Chapek
Scott Chapek is a San Francisco bassist and composer
who has performed with many jazz, latin, rock, and
popular ensembles. He comes from a family that
includes accomplished musicians on both sides. "Raised
on the blues" in Chicago,Scott is also classically
trained on the string bass. He has performed with many
noted bay area musicians such as: Mary Stallings, Mad & Eddie
Duran,
Warren Gale, Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier, Hal Stein,
Vince Wallace, and Paula West. Some of Scott's other
interests are in the visual arts: illustration,
painting, sculpture. He loves to "be out
in nature", and is an avid birder.
Drums: Tom Hassett
Tom Hassett has been an active member of the Bay Area
jazz community, though unrecognized by some and
repudiated by a few, for over twenty years. Study with
master drummer Jerry Granelli in the '70s left him
largely unfit for most commercial work, and so he
remains today. In recent years he worked with the
Susan Chen Trio at Harris' restaurant from 1988 -
2000, and appears on their cd "Harris Nights".
Since 1994 he has played locally, toured and recorded
with Phillip Greenlief and Dan Seamans as The Lost Trio.
See http://www.evandermusic.com
for the recordings.
He and Scott and Paul have been playing as a unit for
three years, first as a rhythm section with
saxophonist Michael Gold and since last fall as an
independent trio.
Tom was heard most
recently at Chez Hanny with pianist Laura Klein and
bassist Carol DeArment in March 2002, and he has also
preformed with another artist from Frank's concert
series, singer Jenny Ferris. Tom and Rich's musical
association goes back 10 years or so, and in 2000 they
completed a cross-country bicycle trip together.
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