Mobius Fourtet
About The Band
Dino Vera and I had played together for years in a more commercial, upscale hotel format. Stu Reynolds lives around the corner from me, and Heath had played with all of us numerous times. We began jamming at my house just for fun. Subsequent opportunities to play together demonstrated a concordance of concepts, an intentionality of ideas, that worked together well as an improvisatory framework. So we decided to take it to the next level and began writing, rehearsing and recording at The Soundsmith. This series of tunes is from that collaboration
First Time’s The Charm’
Original material and Classic Jazz
About the Compositions
Three Out Of Four
by Stu Reynolds
Ita
by Heath Proskin.”
For Jimmy
by David “Dasher” Kempton, dedicated to Jimmy Smith
Save Your Love For Me
vocal by Dino Vera
Barnstormer
About the Barnstormer Concert
This recording is from a private concert at a wonderful venue in Gilroy. Sound is taken straight from the mixing console, so the mix is odd – too much piano and the sax is in the next room – but the music is smokin’!
Stu’s Attitude
by Heath Proskin, for the inimitable Stu Reynolds…
Padiddle
by David Kempton. A Padiddle is a car with one headlight out. I learned this from all the adults in my family, but most everyone would play if you were with a child – first person to point at the offending headlight and say – or yell – “Padiddle!” won, Apparently an East Coast thing.
The song Padiddle uses the rhythmical timing of Perdido with the funky bite of hip-hop to create a masterpiece of angular improvisational.
For Jimmy
by David Kempton. Up-tempo post-bop piece with fluid melodies and structured trading. Written for B3 master Jimmy Smith.
Ita
by Heath Proskin. Pretty composition in 3/4 gives a lift to your spirits. Recorded live at the Community Church of Carmel Valley.
Three Out Of Four
by Stu Reynolds
Co-Heath-Ive
for Heath Proskin by David Kempton. Check out the single bar of 3/4, the “Heath bar…”
About the Personnel
Dino Vera:
Dino Vera, vocalist and drummer, has played with pop icons Jimi Hendrix and James Taylor. He says he “got his Master’s in Music on Bourbon Street in New Orleans,” playing with such notables as Ellis Marsalis (father of Wynton and Branford Marsalis), the Meters and Fats Domino. Dino’s vocal stylings are soulful and personal, filled with warmth and power.
Stu Reynolds:
Playing the tenor, alto and soprano saxes as well as clarinet and bass clarinet, Stu Reynolds has performed with groups ranging from rock and blues to world beat and straight ahead jazz. He’s played numerous festivals including San Francisco’s Reggae in the Park, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Taste of Chicago, the Big Sur Jazz Festival and the San Jose Jazz Festival, and has opened shows for the Yellowjackets, Carlos Santana, Airto, Los Lobos, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Cliff and many others.
Heath Proskin:
Heath Proskin is a first-call bass player in the Monterey area and has appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival as well as numerous venues throughout the area. Raised in New York, He received a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music and worked with many of the finest players in the Boston area. After six months gigging in the Caribbean, he moved to California, completed a doctorate at UC Santa Barbara and relocated to Monterey, where he resides today.
David “Dasher” Kempton:
David ‘Dasher’ Kempton has made music all his life. He has played Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Montreux, the Northsea Festival, the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Monterey Blues Festival, among others. He has performed and recorded with luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie, Lou Rawls, Willie Bobo and Sonny Simmons. His original jazz compositions range from big band avant-garde romps to solo piano explorations. Major influences include Joe Sample, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy McGriff.
