Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts

"A NIGHT OF THE COOKERS" featuring Jeff Rupert, Dan Miller, Marty Morell, Richard Drexler, Ben Kramer and special guest Jeff "T-Bone" Gerard.

The group plays Soul Jazz and Hard Bop.

Jeff “T-Bone” Gerard is a musician’s musician. He is a vocalist, trombonist and bandleader who associates with top artists and music venues in NYC. His band has been a mainstay in NYC for decades with concert and club performances, and he has toured domestically and throughout Europe and North Africa. T-Bone’s vocal prowess transcends category. He sings with sensitivity beyond compare, and on a dime projects with power and clarity that would garner Barry White and Tom Jones’ curiosity. His talents have landed him on stage singing with Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and numerous other internationally acclaimed acts.

Saxophonist Jeff Rupert is the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida. He has been a featured soloist on dozens of recordings with artists including Sam Rivers, Mel Tormé, Diane Schuur, Benny Carter and Maynard Ferguson. He played on Benny Carter's Harlem Renaissance which won a Grammy and has performed with Kevin Mahogany, Ernestine Anderson, Joe Farnsworth, Ray Drummond, Harry Allen, pianist Benny Green, Kenny Drew jr, trumpeter Michael Philip Mossman, and pianist and singer Judy Carmichael.

Jazz trumpeter Dan Miller, grew up in the vibrant musical scene of Chicago during the 1980’s. He spent eleven years (1990 – 2000) as a member of the Harry Connick Jr. Orchestra, traveling the world and recording numerous albums and television specials. Dan also toured internationally and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, Tom Jones and Woody Herman. Since 2005, he has split his time between NYC and Florida and he’s currently a member of the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra and the musical director of the Naples Philharmonic Youth Jazz Orchestra. Dan is a Yamaha Clinician and Performing Artist and works with college bands, high school bands and private students nationwide. He is an Artist-in-Residence for the University of Central Florida’s School of Music in Orlando. For more on Dan Miller, visit www.danmillerjazz.com

Marty Morell is a jazz drummer who was a member of the Bill Evans Trio for seven years. Before joining Bill Evans, he worked with the Al Cohn-Zoot Sims Quintet, Red Allen, Gary McFarland, Steve Kuhn, and Gábor Szabó. He has taught drums and percussion at the University of Central Florida and has recorded with The Jazz Professors, a band consisting of university faculty members: saxophonist Jeff Rupert, bassist Richard Drexler, pianist Per Danielsson, trombonist Michael Wilkinson, and guitarist Bobby Koelble. The band has had two albums on the top of the chart at Jazzweek magazine in 2011 and 2013.

Multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger and producer Richard Drexler, an Illinois native, has been based in Florida since 1985 and is now on the road frequently with the Jeff Berlin Trio. A couple of long house pianist stints kept him busy for nine years in the Tampa Bay area, where he performed with many visiting artists. More recently he has done some touring with the Jeff Berlin Trio and with the Woody Herman Orchestra and trombonist John Allred, among others. He has been working as bassist in the Kenny Drew Jr. trio and regularly appearing as a bassist or pianist/vocalist in the jazz clubs of central Florida. Singers he has accompanied include Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Bob Dorough, Mose Allison, Roseanna Vitro, Vic Damone, Al Jarreau, Connie Francis, Dena DeRose and Karrin Allyson.

Ben Kramer is the Program Director, Music Production Online at Los Angeles Film School and former Associate Course Director at Full Sail University. He studied Recording Arts and Sciences at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Ben is a top-notch bassist and can be seen and heard at premier locations in Orlando, Florida.