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Tobias Gebb

Tobias Gebb is a drummer, composer and educator based in New York City. Over the years he has shared the stage or recording studio with a wide variety of artists. From Blue Note jazz guitarist Peter Burnstein to Donald Fegan of Steely Dan. From the famed west coast jazz pianist Smith Dobson to the famed rocker Lenny Kravits. He has a BA in composition from Berklee College of Music, an MA from Manhattan School of Music and a dual MSE in general and special education from The Bank Street School. His album Free At Last was in the Top10 on American jazz radio charts and through his licensing business his group Trio West has been heard on shows such as Dexter, Madam Secretary, Key and Peele and others.

Tobias began studying the violin at age 6, switched to classical piano studies at 8 and finally switched to the drum set when he was 16. He began studying drums at the Drummers Collective in New York City with Ricky Sebastian, Mike Clark and Kim Plainfield. At Berklee College of Music he studied with Jon Hazilla and John Ramsey, along with famed Boston drummer Gary Chaffee. Back in New York at Manhattan School of Music he studied with John Riley and Justin DiCioccio. Additionally, he occasionally meets for private lessons with great New York City-based drummers like Ben Perowsky and Ari Hoenig.

Tobias Gebb & Unit 7: free at last

Read "free at last" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
June 11, 2010

Tobias Gebb's prodigious talents as a composer, arranger, bandleader, and drummer run throughout the admirable free at last. A positive, good-natured quality pervades the project. Despite the disc's eight tracks being relatively short, each is substantial and complete unto itself.

Gebb writes distinctive melodies, clothes them in a variety of forms, and arranges the material in imaginative and enjoyable ways. His own “Spitball" moves between funk and medium tempo swing, while the standard, “You Don't Know ...

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Album Review

Tobias Gebb & Unit 7: free at last

Read "free at last" reviewed by Terrell Kent Holmes

by Terrell Kent Holmes
April 10, 2010

On free at last, drummer Tobias Gebb shows great depth and maturity as a composer and arranger. This recording is a balanced mix of originals and standards, from various musical genres, combined to produce rich sounds and vibrant colors. Veteran altoist Bobby Watson and young tenor lion Stacy Dillard take star turns on the brisk “Blues for Drazen," one of several tunes with a hard bop pedigree. Joel Frahm's gritty tenor, Joe Magnarelli's fluttering trumpet and Mark ...

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Album Review

Tobias Gebb and Unit 7: free at last

Read "free at last" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 29, 2010

Like a bird uncaged, drummer Tobias Gebb expresses himself without restraint on free at last, recorded with Unit 7. The collection is a mix of original songs and covers. Gebb is a freelance musician on the New York scene. Having appeared on recordings with Lenny Kravitz and Donald Fagen, Gebb has also served as a leader with the piano-bass-drums group Trio West, and a larger ensemble known as Unit 7. For free at last, Unit 7 is actually ...

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Album Review

Tobias Gebb & Unit 7: free at last

Read "free at last" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 8, 2010

New York-based drummer Tobias Gebb assembled a stellar cast for free at last. The format of Unit 7 follows the instrumentation tradition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The three-horn frontline and three-man rhythm section allows this group to sound bigger than it is at times, while also having the flexibility to make things more intimate. Gebb covers plenty of stylistic ground over the course of these eight songs and he wastes no time getting started.“Blues for Drazen" begins ...