Trio West at the Edgewater Jazz Festival with Joel Frahm

Trio West is a New York City based piano trio. Producer-composer-arranger-drummer and leader, Tobias Gebb, was born and raised on the west side of Manhattan, thus giving rise to the name Trio West. The band plays regularly at venues around New York City. In 2007, the band debuted their very successful release -Trio West Plays Holiday Songs-which climbed to #13 on the national jazz radio charts, was ranked in many Top 10 picks including about.com's 'best jazz holiday recordings' and was featured on Amazon.com. Currently, the band is achieving another success with thier release -An Upper Westside Story. This album was featured in Hot House's centerfold "spotlight", was voted best of 2008 by the Jazz Journalists Association, received a 5 star review in Primetime Magazine and has been called "one of the best of this new year" at ejazz.com. Tobias is currently preparing to record his third release with veteran alto saxiphonist Bobby Watson. As accomplished degree-holding musicians, the members of Trio West have performed with a wide variety of internationally known artists both within the jazz genre and beyond. See below for more details.

Members of Trio West

Tobias Gebb - Drummer, Composer, Arranger, Producer, Band Leader
Tobias has a bachelors degree in composition from Berklee College of Music and a masters degree from Manhattan School of Music. As a teenager growing up on the Westside of Manhattan, his love of jazz was solidified by frequenting the infamous jazz club Augie's (now Smoke), where he had the opportunity to listen and sit in with many great jazz musicians. For the last 12 years Tobias has been freelancing as a drummer here in NYC and has been fortunate enough to work with a wide range of musicians both within the jazz genre and beyond such as Cab Calloway, Buster Williams, Curtis Lundy, Joel Frahm, Duane Burno, Ron Blake, Mark Gross, Micheal Leonhart, Peter Yellin and many more. In addition, he has appeared on records with pop icons such as Lenny Kravits and Donald Fegan. He won a 1996 Grammy competition with the collaborative group Skizm (with musicians Micheal Leonhart of Steely Dan and Mauro Refosco of David Byrne's group). He learned valuable lessons in production by working with legendary producers such as Phil Ramone and Terry Manning. He has performed on numerous television and radio broadcasts such as ABC, NBC, Much Music, Univision, and The World Cafe with David Dye. Currently, his days are spent teaching drums, bass, piano, guitar, and music theory to private students around New York City, while on any given evening playing freelance gigs and/or subing for veteran drummers around town such as Elliot Zigman (Bill Evans), Rudy Petschauer (Diana Krall, Fathead Newman) and Andy Watson (Jon Hendricks).

Neal Miner - Bassist
Also a fellow Manhattanite, Neal started playing regularly at the formerly mentioned upper west side jazz bar Augie’s at the age of 19. It was there that he was initiated into the New York City jazz scene, backing many young jazz stars such as Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Brad Mehldau, Eric Alexander, Chris Potter, and Roy Hargrove, all of whom have gone on to garner critical acclaim. Over the years Neal has accompanied other jazz legends such as Annie Ross, James Moody, Bob Dorough, Bill Henderson, Frank Wess; new jazz stars like Jane Monheit, Stacey Kent, Ann Hampton Callaway, Dena DeRose, Loston Harris; and fashion celebrity and T.V. personality Isaac Mizrahi. Neal has also held the bass chair in large groups such as the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Big Band, and the Village Vanguard Jazz Band. He currently works with top jazz vocalists Jane Monheit and Jon Hendricks. [www.nealminer.com]


Eldad Zvulun - Pianist
Originally hailing from Israel, Eldad now lives in the N.Y.C. area. He earned his jazz credentials via many late night sessions and gigs at the infamous downtown jazz club Smalls, where he had the opportunity to play with musicians such as Billy Kay, Duane Eubanks, Avishai Cohen, and many more. He has also played with The Arnie Lawrence Group, and Peter Yellin. You can hear Eldad play piano every Wednesday and Sunday at the age-old pizza/jazz restaurant Arturo’s.
[http://www.myspace.com/daddyz]

Guests

Joel Frahm - Tenor Saxophone
Tobias is proud to have Joel Frahm as a guest artist on Trio West’s upcoming record, An Upper West Side Story. Not only did Joel play in Tobias’s graduation recital back in 1994, but they were also neighbors on the upper west side for many years. Having made a name for himself through his associations with singer Jane Monheit and boyhood friend, pianist Brad Mehldau, Frahm hones his own voice on his latest release, We Used to Dance, which places him in the company of master musicians Kenny Barron (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Victor Lewis (drums). Joel has also worked with a vast array of musical peers and jazz legends including Maynard Ferguson, Betty Carter, Matt Wilson, Larry Goldings, Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andrew Hill, Ben Allison, Pat Martino, Ingrid Jensen, Dena Derose, and The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. In addition, Joel was recently selected in DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll as a Rising Star in the category of tenor saxophone. [www.joelfrahm.com]

Champian Fulton - Vocalist
Tobias is excited to have this young guest artist sing a couple of songs on Trio West’s upcoming record. This talented young singer/pianist moved to New York City in 2003. Since then Champian has quickly become a part of the Jazz scene here in the city. Besides leading her own gigs, Champian has been able to play with some world-class musicians such as Louis Hayes, Jimmy Cobb, Frank Wess, and Lou Donaldson. You can catch her at a number of different venues in Manhattan including Birdland, where Champian performs every Tuesday
with David Berger & the Sultans of Swing. [www.champian.net]