“I
play and compose to
explore a new potential of the Hammond B3 organ trio genre without
losing the tradition, the spirit, and--at heart-- the blues feel of the
great organ trios I came up with''.
The Bob DeVos Organ Trio
has been performing to enthusiastic, full houses and great acclaim since
coming together in 2005. Bob is joined by two accomplished
musicians: Hammond B3 organist Dan Kostelnik and drummer Steve Johns.
With long, blues drenched
melodic lines and a distinctive style, guitarist-composer Bob DeVos has
been hailed as “a master with a sound to die for: rich, full, deep,
positive, round and warm.“ As a young player, he started out in the
1970s replacing Pat Martino in the Trudy Pitts & Mr C. Trio, then went
on to perform and record extensively with other Hammond B3 organ group
legends Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff-Hank Crawford, Richard “Groove”
Holmes-Sonny Stitt, modern organists Joey DeFrancesco, Mike LeDonne
and Dr. Lonnie Smith, as well as with many, many jazz greats past and
current outside the organ jazz genre.
Dan Kostelnik brings a
mastery over the traditional organ idiom combined with the ability to
handle modern, harmonically complex structures. An in-demand player, Dan
tours extensively in Europe and recently recorded his first CD as a
leader. Like Bob, Steve Johns is a complete musician—dynamic and musical
with extensive experience playing and recording in a wide range of styles.
Currently part of the Sonny Fortune Quartet, he is a past member of
the Billy Taylor Trio, and has played with many great artists including
Jimmy Heath, Benny Carter, Stanley Turrentine, and Randy Brecker, among
others. Steve’s own CD releases as a leader include his original
compositions.
You can hear in his drumming that he also plays piano.
Bob has been composing with
Dan’s and Steve’s playing in mind. “Each of us has developed our
own, unique sound and style on our instruments and I compose to create a
unique organ trio sound. We share many musical influences and goals.
We all like what Larry Young-Grant Green-Elvin Jones did during the
1960s.”They were soulful, but they weren't playing soul/jazz. They
were playing jazz. We look to bring the Young-Green-Jones
organ trio tradition of playing jazz into the 21st
Century.
Bob's latest CD, the
critically acclaimed Shifting Sands, features Dan and Steve
along with guest tenor saxophone great Eric Alexander, with whom Bob has
been playing consistently since their years together with Charles Earland
in the 1990’s. Gary Fritz lends percussion to a few tunes.
The CD was 15 weeks high up on the National Airplay Top Fifty Jazz CDs
Chart, and highlights Bob's compositions and his arrangements of a few
standards. Bob’s previous releases as a leader for Savant and BluesLeaf
have earned rave reviews throughout the jazz media and nationwide airplay.
"A POWERHOUSE TRIO THAT DELIVERS...Guitarist Bob
DeVos exemplifies what to look for in a mainstream jazz artist: an
appealing sound around a glowing center, an assured rhythmic bounce, a
hearty swing, a creative thinker who seeks the best notes for a given
situation and executes them seemingly without effort. He presents top-rate
material in a way that is both inventive and accessible… The world-class
guitarist did not need a warm-up. He
came out cooking...."
Zan Stewart
(READ ENTIRE REVIEW)
