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Roland Guerin
With a new band and a new project entitled PROG:FUNK, New Orleans based singer-songwriter-bassist Roland Guerin is starting a new musical chapter. Drawing from a wide spectrum of genres, including American folk, blues, zydeco, rock and jazz, Guerin creates a singular style at the heart of which are stories told through multi-layered melodies, rhythms and expressive lyrics in the range of Steely Dan, Sting and Peter Gabriel.
Raised in a musical family – his father was a great lover of jazz and classical music, his mother, a blues and zydeco bass player – Guerin began playing bass at the age of 11. Throughout his formative years, Guerin was strongly influenced by pop, rock and R&B music of the 70’s and 80’s. Bands and artists such as Cameo, Dazz Band, Rush, the Brothers Johnson, Gerry Rafferty, America, and Booker T & The MG’s seeded his love for great songs and inspired him to write music of his own.
While studying Marketing at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Guerin joined legendary jazz educator Alvin Batiste’s Band, The Jazztronauts. Having inherited much of Batiste’s musical innovations and concepts, Guerin developed ways to bring his own musical voice to life. The jazz genre became his avenue toward success. Over the course of his career, Guerin toured and performed with legendary musicians, such as George Benson, Jimmy Scott, Frank Morgan, Vernel Fournier, Gerry Mulligan, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, John Scofield, Mark Whitfield, Ellis Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, and Paul Gilbert. He also participated in the recording of numerous albums, including the Blind Boys of Alabama’s Grammy Award winning album Down in New Orleans, Marcus Roberts’s Grammy Award nominated recording of George Gershwin’s classic Rhapsody in Blue, and Allen Toussaint’s album Connected.
As a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio from 1994 to 2009, Guerin performed at the head of symphony orchestras across the world, among which the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, and Seiji Ozawa’s New Japan Philharmonic. From his collaboration with Ozawa and Roberts, Guerin developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of orchestration and arrangement, both of which carry great importance in his own musical composition.
In 1998, Guerin released his first album, The Winds of the New Land, featuring Peter Martin on piano, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Donald Edwards on drums, and Mark Whitfield on guitar. The record was acclaimed for its innovative style of composition and arrangement. JazzReview called it "a literal piece of art", while the New Orleans Magazine named Guerin a Contemporary Jazz All-Star. He followed up with an album from the Roland Guerin Sextet, Live at the Blue Note, released by Half Note Records, and Grass Roots on Louisiana Red Hot Records. Guerin performs with his own band at major venues and festivals worldwide, such as the Blue Note in Tokyo and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Guerin joined the Allen Toussaint Band in 2008, touring and performing with Toussaint until his passing in 2015. Soon thereafter, Guerin joined the band of legendary Dr. John, becoming his last Musical Director. During his time with Toussaint and Dr. John, Guerin found his way back to his musical roots. Integrating American folk melodies, blues, zydeco, African rhythms, and rock with jazz soloing and orchestral arrangements, Guerin creates an entirely new and singular musical experience.
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Clifford Lamb: Blues & Hues New Orleans
![Read "Blues & Hues New Orleans" reviewed by Kyle Simpler](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/014d188a12d6005ba3f86df41fbcc642.jpg)
by Kyle Simpler
There are quite a few cities in the world that have an important musical legacy, and in many cases, the city's musical history might be one of the first things people associate with it. Take New Orleans. Commonly known as the birthplace of jazz, it's hard to imagine New Orleans without conjuring up brass bands, jazz clubs and juke joints. San Francisco-based pianist Clifford Lamb explores New Orleans' musical and cultural aspects with Blues & Hues New Orleans by offering ...
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by Jim Worsley
Collaborations are quite common projects in the jazz world, and in most forms of music, for that matter. Collaborations, however, are slightly more rare when a modern day composer's album is in conjunction with a composer from the nineteenth century. Such is the case with the works of Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) melding with composer and trumpeter Yohan Giaume. Giaume has had a deep connection, both musically and intellectually, with Gottschalk for many years. Gottschalk's world travels, influences, and notable ...
read morePianist Clifford Lamb's 'Blues & Hues - New Orleans' Features Nicholas Payton, Herlin Riley, Donald Harrison, Roland Guerin & More!
![Pianist Clifford Lamb's 'Blues & Hues - New Orleans' Features Nicholas Payton, Herlin Riley, Donald Harrison, Roland Guerin & More!](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/014d188a12d6005ba3f86df41fbcc642.jpg)
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Following the success of his previous live, two track recording, Blues & Hues, jny: San Francisco pianist Clifford Lamb again teams up with producer Jeff Weber to pursue their concept of the jazz “mashup”—the process in which a Lamb composition is stirred into an existing jazz work to offer a new perspective on history and culture. This time, they took their show on the road —despite COVID-19 restrictions—to record in jny: New Orleans, the storied birthplace of jazz, whose gritty ...
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Roland Guerin Quintet @ The Blue Note -- TONIGHT (4/7)
![Roland Guerin Quintet @ The Blue Note -- TONIGHT (4/7)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Monday, April 7, 2003 - 8:00pm & 10:30pm
Roland Guerin Quintet Featuring: Roland Guerin (bass); Mike Morano (guitar); John Ellis (tenor); Aaron Goldberg (piano); James Alsanders (drums)
Bassist, composer and arranger, Roland Guerin has already made a formidable contribution to the world of jazz. From providing unique and melodic bass lines, to dazzling audiences worldwide with his mastered slap bass technique. In addition to being the leader on three recordings of his own (a fourth to ...
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