Larry Bunker, Drums, 1928, Long Beach, CA
Larry plays the vibraphone as well as the drums. Early in his career, Larry worked as a freelance, spending much of his time in the studios, where he played drums and vibes. His early work was with Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, Neal Hefti, and Nelson Riddle. During this same period he was active on the West Coast playing and recording with Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Warne Marsh, and Clare Fisher. Bunker is a versatile musician equally at home on drums or on the vibes, small group or big band. He is highly respected for his sensitivity and his wide-ranging musical capabilities. Larry has worked in a number of symphony orchestras as well as with many jazz groups.
Ralph Sutton, Piano, 1922, Hamburg, MO
During the late '30s Ralph played in and around St. Louis before joining Jack Teagarden's band in the early '40s. By 1947 he was a regular on the weekly television show, This is Jazz. From the late '40s to the mid '50s he worked steadily at Eddie Condon's club in New York. In 1968 he was a founding member of The World's Greatest Jazz Band, and continued working with the group until 1974, and from that time on he performed as a freelance in clubs and with numerous jazz groups. Sutton's playing is in the Harlem stride tradition of Fats Waller and James P. Johnson. He has a wonderful and tastefully controlled technique, and a precise sense of rhythm. Ralph is known performing the work of Bix Beiderbecke, Meade "Lux" Lewis and popular songs and rags. Ralph's style is enhanced by a sparkling and subtle polyrhythm.
Jeff Lorber, Keyboard player, 1952, Philadelphia, PA
Jeff began piano lessons before he was five years old, and by the time he was in high school he was working with rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues bands. He was inspired by the work of Herbie Hancock, to which he was exposed while a student at the Bereklee School in Boston. He actually analyzed the work of Hancock, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea while at Berklee. He left Berklee before graduating, to study with Ran Blake and some other like-minded teachers. By 1973 Jeff was living in Portland Oregon and teaching at Lewis and Clark College. With a group of his own Jeff released several successful albums around the end of the 1970s. His album "Wizard Island" well represents his style of this period. His melodies are jagged and precise, and the keyboard and saxophone solos combine bop phrases with lines reminiscent of the style of funk. In order to appeal to a wider audience, Jeff began singing and playing the guitar, touching on soul and pop music.
Joe Benjamin, Bass, 1919, Atlantic City, NJ
