Join us for an evening of jazz as part of the celebration of regional jazz musicians, Hudson Valley Jazz Fest.
Band leader, Bob Meyer, brings together Circular Jazz; The Guitar Trio to perform music from the great American Song Book plus selections by jazz greats such as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and others. In addition they will present select music from the late, great Bert Wilson.
The trio consists of Bob Meyer on drums & cymbals, Adam Coté on bass, and Luke Franco on guitar. Read more about them below!
Artist bios:
Bob Meyer:
Born in 1945 in the New York metro area, Bob grew up in a musical family. He discovered jazz around 1950 and drums three years later. He has been playing professionally since 1961. Among those he has performed with are Mal Waldron, James Moody, Gary Peacock, Kirk Leitsey, Stanley Cowell, Diane Schuur, Art Davis, Andy Statman, Perry Robinson, Bert Wilson & Judi Silvano, Nina Sheldon, Ratzo Harris, Cameron Brown, Denman Maroney, John Hart, among many others.
He has toured extensively with Joe Lovano & John Abercrombie. He is on Joe’s Blue Note CD, Viva Caruso. Jackalope, a band with John Abercrombie and Loren Stillman on “Saltier Then Ever” on Challenge Records. Other CDs include Steven Frieder’s debut, “After Time”, the band alt.timers, Crispr (2017) and Martingale (2020) , Judi Silvano’s Lessons Learned [The Zephyr Band] released in 2019, “The Long and the Short of It”, Snap Dragon, the Duo Improvisations of Travis Sullivan and Bob Meyer (2020). 2021 to the present; Presenting The New Adirondack Jazz Quartet with Steven Frieder, saxes, Luke Franco, guitar and Bryan Copeland, bass and The Bob Meyer Trio with Dan Blake, saxes and Bryan Copeland, bass. Both groups feature the music of the late, great Bert Wilson.
Bob has taught drums for over 40 years both privately and as adjunct at The New School and Lehman College in NYC. He lives in Cortlandt Manor, NY, USA with his wife Jody.
Adam Coté:
Adam Coté is a double bassist born in Burlington, VT, and now based in the Hudson Valley in New York. He has been a part of New York City's creative music scene for the past 15 years and is regarded for his lyrical solos and supportive accompaniment.
Adam has been fortunate to collaborate with esteemed musicians like George Coleman, Philip Harper, Billy Drummond, and Myron Walden. He has also played with Ian Hendrickson-Smith's band featuring James Poyser of The Roots, and was a founding member of the jazz quartet Walking Distance, led by saxophonist Caleb Curtis.
Walking Distance's debut album, "Neighborhood", was released in 2015. “Coté cleverly walks the line between rhythm player and melodic voice” writes Dan Bilawsky of All About Jazz. Their sophomore album, "Freebird", featured pianist Jason Moran and was included in the New York Times' “Best Jazz of 2018” list where it was called "utterly fresh".
Currently, Adam can be found performing with Jay Collins every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month at Tinker Street Tavern in Woodstock, NY, alongside guitarist Matt Finck. He can also be heard at other venues in the Hudson Valley, New York City, and the Berkshires.
Luke Franco:
Luke Franco has built a strong reputation as a performer and recording artist. Having started his musical career in Croton on Hudson, NY, he has become an active member of the New York jazz community. Alongside numerous performances as a sideman, Franco co-leads a quartet in collaboration with saxophonist Guillaume Laurent of Paris.
After recording a solo classical guitar recital performed on an electric guitar with the guidance of his mentor Robert Hansmann, Franco was awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music where he studied with renowned guitarist/philosopher Mick Goodrick. After graduation with a degree in guitar performance Franco continued to study harmony and conceptual improvisation under pianist Charlie Banacos and later with Garry Dial. Currently, he is playing gigs, writing music and teaching guitar in and around New York whilst working on recording his original music.
More about Bert Wilson:
Bert was born in 1939. At 4 he developed polio which nearly killed him. Taking up the clarinet saved his life by helping develop his lungs. Since then his 73 years were all about creative music both as multi reed player (soprano, alto, tenor, clarinet and bass clarinet) and composer. His book is a challenging rich tapestry of creative writing in the deepest of jazz traditions. Although not a "household name", within the jazz world he is revered by many of best in the business.