Music
Press
Andrew Oliver is a post-bop composer of considerable talent. [...] This record is a delight, the playing outstanding, and the fact these guys are young doesn’t hurt either. They tip the hat to the masters, yet never play it safe. They’ve gone to school, but still bring something new to the party. These kids are dangerous. I can’t wait to see what they do next. - JazzScene Magazine
...a thoughtful improviser with
technique to spare...
an impressive first round for one
of Seattle's young musical gems.
- All About Jazz.com
Oliver's a "local boy leaves home, makes good, comes back and makes even better" type of story. A member of the Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra in its pilot year, he eventually spread his wings and landed in N'awlins, honing his skills as a leader and sideman and picking up some French along the way. After Katrina, he came back home to Portland and has been carving out a solid rep here ever since. - Willamette Week
...provides a rock-solid acoustic pulse and captivating, narrative solos. - The Shywriter
This night [pianist Darrell Grant] was accompanied by Eric Gruber on acoustic bass in excellent fashion. These guys have been performing together for some time now and it shows in their seamless interchange of solos and fantastic timing over complicated stretches. Gruber's solos were spot-on, inventive, and a beautiful fit with Grant's keyboard magic. - JazzScene Magazine
McCullough's terrific debut Origin release... has begun to introduce him to a larger audience, and it is high time he become appreciated on a level in accordance with his skills as an improviser and composer. - Earshot Magazine
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Drummer Tyson Stubelek and pianist Andrew Oliver grew up playing music together in Portland, OR. They were members of the Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra in its pilot year, and performed throughout the area. Later, Andrew spent three years in New Orleans and returned to Portland after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Meanwhile, Tyson moved Boston and completed a Masters’ at New England Conservatory, after which he relocated to New York City.
Andrew and bassist Eric Gruber performed together for several years in Devin Phillips’ group New Orleans Straight Ahead, which was selected to tour West and Central Africa as cultural ambassadors with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program in 2007. They also perform together in several other groups in Portland, including the Andrew Oliver Sextet, and are often joined by Tyson to form a trio which has been performing together on both the West and East coasts since 2005.
Tyson and Andrew began playing with Seattle-based trumpeter Chad McCullough at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music in 2009, where they were all participants. The musical chemistry was immediately evident and upon Tyson and Andrew’s return to Portland, Chad was invited down from Seattle to augment the long-standing trio into a quartet.
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Trumpeter / composer Chad McCullough has been on the Seattle music scene for over a decade, and has been an integral voice in many bands and projects throughout the country. Working as a soloist, lead player, and chamber musican, Chad keeps an active performance schedule in many varieties of music. He is also in high demand as an educator, and frequently speaks about jazz music and the trumpet to students of all ages, giving clinics at high schools and colleges throughout the country. As a composer, he has scored for film, written for various brass ensembles, dancers, and string quartets and quintets. His works have been performed and recorded throughout the Northwest, Alaska, California, and Canada. Chad graduated cum laude, with his Bachelor's in Music from the University of Idaho as a Lionel Hampton Scholar, in May of 2003, and was the first student to graduate with a jazz emphasis on his degree. He recieved his Master's in Music from the University of Washington in 2005. He now works closely with John Bishop and Matt Jorgensen for Origin Records, and the Ballard Jazz Festival, honoring their commitment of releasing the highest quality jazz music.
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Andrew Oliver is a pianist and composer from Portland, Oregon. He lived in New Orleans from 2002 until 2005, where he studied jazz at Loyola University and performed as both a bandleader and sideman. After evacuating from Hurricaine Katrina in the summer of 2005, he returned to Portland. He has studied piano with Randy Porter, Matt Lemmler, Michael Pellera, and Darrell Grant and composition with Charley Gray. He has performed throughout the Northwest and Europe with various musicians and groups, and in 2007, as pianist for Devin Phillips and New Orleans Straight Ahead, he was was selected to tour West Africa as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. under the State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program. His primary group, the Andrew Oliver Sextet, performs original creative music drawing on jazz, world music, and rock influences. He also composes for and co-directs the Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble and directs the Andrew Oliver Kora Band, a Seattle-based Jazz/West African group, as well as working frequently throughout the Northwest as a sideman, composer and private teacher.
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Eric Gruber was born in Concord, California in 1977. He began his classical studies at the early age of six; and after short trials on the piano and violin, found his match with the string bass. The bass came more quickly for him, and it wasn’t long before he was playing in a bluegrass band led by his private teacher. He continued playing classically in his school orchestra, eventually becoming the principal bassist for the All City Orchestra. He was not formally introduced to jazz until high school, but it was an instant connection. Eric decided to pursue jazz in college at the University of Northern Colorado and Whitworth College of Spokane, Washington. In 2000, he was awarded first prize in the bass solo division at the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival. Eric finished his studies at Portland State University in 2005. As a member of New Orleans Straight Ahead, led by saxophonist Devin Phillips, Eric and fellow bandmates Mark DiFlorio and Andrew Oliver participated in The Rhythm Road, American Music Abroad program in 2007, embarking on a month-long tour of five countries in Central and Western Africa not regularly visited by American musicians. Currently, Eric is highly sought after among Portland jazz professionals and is also gaining national recognition. He is often seen performing with variou
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