QUINTESSENTIAL with Alex Murzyn, Rich Malloy, Robert Beasley, Gordie Johnson & Robert Fox.
Alex Murzyn has a versatility and musicianship that has made him one of the most in demand saxophonists in New Mexico. Relocating from the San Francisco area, where he played with numerous bands, including Huey Lewis and the News, Dizzie Gillespie, Freddy Hubbard and the Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra, with a career spanning three decades. He has three CDs under his name, and is working to complete the fourth soon to be released. His music stems from traditional and contemporary jazz, soul, rock, funk and latin. He is equally accomplished on flute and clarinet.
Rich Malloy is a drummer with a background playing many styles of music,, from rhythm and blues, country, classical and pop/rock, with artists including Freedy Johnston (Rolling Stone Songwriter of the Year), Brenda Lee (Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Carmen Bradford (Count Basie Orchestra) and Lorrie Morgan (Country Music Hall of Fame), on such shows as David Letterman Show, BBC, and Grand Ole Opry, and has toured the USA, Ireland, Britain and Italy.
Robert Beasley is a trumpeter and versatile composer and arranger, writing high quality music for jazz ensembles including for his own big band, the Band of Enchantment. He has also written collections of etudes and duets. As a performer, he has backed up many touring artists, most notably Ahmad Jamal, The Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra, The Temptations, Maelo Ruiz, Tony Vega, and Frankie Negron, and also theater works, as well as recording for many composers.
Gordie Johnson is a bass player extraordinaire - fluid, inventive, smart, tasteful. His world tours include Maynard Ferguson, Gene Bertoncini, Roy Buchanan, the Paul Winter Consort, CBS All Stars and Chuck Mangione. He has contributed to over 150 recordings, from jazz (Jimmy Hamilton, Maynard Ferguson, etc.) to blues/R&B (Buchanan, Doug Maynard) to bluegrass (Becky Schlegel) to folk (Greg Brown, Arlo Guthrie). Network television appearances run the gamut from the Merv Griffin Show to Soul Train. He has played with scores of national artists, including Joanne Brackeen, Herb Ellis, Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton, Michael Johnson, Jay McShann, Dewey Redman.
Robert Fox is an amazing Pianist and Composer. He holds degrees in Jazz Piano Performance from the Berklee School of Music and the University of Miami. He has appeared with Stanley Turrentine, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, Dave Stryker, and many others, and is a co-founder, with John Trentacosta, of the quintet Straight Up. He was the featured artist at Santa Fe’s Club Legato for many years.
