Mickey Roker, Drums, Miami, Fla, 1932
While growing up in Philadelphia, Mickey worked in various rhythm-and-blues groups and took part in jam sessions with his good friends and neighbors, Lee Morgan, the Heath Brothers, Reggy Workman, Kenny Barron and McCoy Tyner. In the late '50s Mickey went to New York and worked with Gigi Gryce at the Five Spot for about a year. He next worked with Ray Bryant for a few years during the early 1960s. During most of the '60s Roker freelanced around New York and worked with Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan and Mary Lou Williams. During most of the '70s he held a steady gig, working as a studio musician for Blue Note Records. In the early 1980s he became especially adept at playing Latin jazz through his close association with Dizzy Gillespie's band. In 1980 he also managed to tour Europe with Ella Fitzgerald and then freelanced again, this time working with Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, and Sam Jones. During the 1980s he resumed an association with Milt Jackson that he had started in the 1960s. Although Roker's drumming is in the swing style, his base is in the blues. Mickey Roker is active today working clubs in Philadelphia and recording.
Trigger Alpert, Bass, Indianapolis, Ind, 1916
During the late '30s Trigger studied music at Indiana University and also played in several student ensembles. He attained his first professional gig with Alvino Ray in 1940. This lasted around a year before he switched to Glenn Miller's band where he stayed until 1944. He recorded extensively with Glenn's band, also touring and playing with Miller's Air Force band. He took part in some radio shows with Benny Goodman and also recorded with saxophonist Bud Freeman, Ella Fitzgerald, Muggsy Spanier, and Roy Eldridge. Later he worked with such stars as Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman, and Louis Armstrong. From 1950 Trigger played for a dozen years with CBS in New York. During the '50s he also recorded with Artie Shaw,Coleman Hawkins, and the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, as well as with Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Mundell Lowe. Trigger's only recording as a leader was made in 1956 with Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Urbie Green. He ceased working as a musician in 1970, and, Like Stan Levey, persued a successful career as a photographer.
Roy Brooks, Drums, 1938, Detroit, MI
Roy sites the great Elvin Jones as his first important influence. His first major gig was with Yusef Lateef, along with Louis Hayes, Gene Taylor, and Doug Watkins. He next joined Horace Silver in 1959, remaining for five years. He later worked with musicians as varied as Pharoah Sanders, James Moody, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Stitt, Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon and Milt Jackson. In 1970 he became a founding member, with other post-bop percussionists, of Max Roach's group, M'boom. He returned to his hometown of Detroit in 1976, and founded a center for teaching jazz ,and the jazz business, to young people; his Aboriginal Percussion Choir performed ,with wide acclaim, at the Music Hall in Detroit during the Montreux-Detroit International Jazz Festival in 1980. Under the aegis of his educational program, Musicians United to Save Indigenous Culture (MUSIC), he has performed and recorded with the Artistic Truth, an ensemble dedicated to "redeveloping the dying arts of African-American music, dance, and poetry".
Peter Bernstein, Guitar, 1967, New York, NY
Since the late '80s Peter has been active in jazz in this country and abroad, participating in over 60 recordings and numerous festivals. As a leader, Peter has made five recordings, his latest "Heart's Content", features the all-star rhythm section of Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, and Bill Stewart. While a student at the New School, Peter met the legendary guitarist Jim Hall, who asked him to participate in his Invitational Concert as part of the 1990 JVC Jazz Festival. Hall says of Peter,"He's the most impressive young guitarist I've heard". Throughout most of the 1990s Peter has worked extensively with Lou Donaldson's band. Peter has also enjoyed long musical associations with Jimmy Cobb, Larry Goldings, and Bill Stewart. From 1995 to 1997 he was a member of Joshua Redman's band, playing on Redman's "Freedom in The Groove". He worked and toured with Diana Krall's quartet from 1999 to 2001. In addition, Peter has appeared with groups led by Nicholas Payton, Lee Konitz, Tom Harrell, and Eric Alexander. Peter has taught at the Julliard School, Berklee College of Music, North Texas State University, The New School Jazz Program and the Conservatory in Amsterdam. He continues to hone his style through writing and performing and has developed a distinctive and unforgettable voice that is all his own.
