Feb.2011

Whaz up peops...Feb.was a busy month. A month where i played with 3 different loooong time musical configurations.
Aaron Goldberg Trio w/ Mark Turner @ the legendary Village Vanguard in NY(that blurry pic is us with Lorraine Gordon the long time club owner)...Joshua redman trio in Eastern Europe(the pic is of us freezing our tails off in Russia).
And the third group was with my Virgin island brethren(no pic). We did workshops and played a concert @ the BAK middle school in West Palm Beach FL. The music program is ran by a fellow St.Thomian by the name of Cleve Maloon. He has by far the best music program i've ever witnessed on a a middle or HIGH school level. Unbelievable!!! Keep up the great wk Cleve!!!

Extremes!!!!

Hey peops.....started out the new year right! Was at the Punta Del Este Jazz Festival in Uruguay with my longtime friend Jimmy Greene's Quartet. It was such a great hang with all the fabulous musicians that were at the fest in that 85 degree weather.
Check out the shots of the great Museum i visited.
I'm currently on a 2 week New England/NY run with the Charles Lloyd New Quartet....it was -22 degrees in Burlington VT the other night!!! Ughhhhh!!!!
All for the love of the music.....:)

For you Wino's...

Saw this one in a bathroom stall in Hamburg....nice. :)

Thanks and giving

Finally found sometime time and motivation to write a little hello to my peops out there...
It's been a lengthly European tour this month with the Charles Lloyd Quartet.
Unfortunately we'll all be away from our families for Thanksgiving this year...we have a concert in Perugia Italy tom. Atleast there will still be some gooood eating!!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!
One more thang....stay tuned for some updates to my website come 2011!!!

Road Warrior....

I get alot of emails/comments about my life on the road asking how can
i stand all this up and down!

Frankly when u love what u do as much as i do and your able to share it
with countless folks around the world.....there is no other option
ya dig?
There is no rhyme or reason to what we do......it's a kind of calling
i think.
Students are always curious about how they can get to the point of
doing the same thang.....i just say be prepared, professional and have
a good attitude/wk ethic and everything that's supposed to come to u
will....i think that goes with anything u do in life.

I'm now jumping on the second half of a Joshua Redman trio tour going
to Asia after i jumped off for a couple weeks to join the Charles
Lloyd Quartet for a European run...(which was amazing by
the way).
Have i ever told ya'll how much i like the Japanese culture? (even
though it can be a little rigid at times). :)

I can truly say that I am blessed to be playing music on a very high
level with some of the baddest boys in da buisness.....Wow.
Thanks fellas.(that nod is to Schway AND Chuck + company btw) :0)

RR

2008 Highlights

Hey Everyone!! Once again i've been a bad boy and haven't put a blog out in over a year!!! Forgive me once more.....i hate when i go to people's site and not see updated stuff....now i'm doing the same!!! Ughhh! Shame on me!!

Well anyway here's a review of last year! ;0)

Jan.

Aaron Goldberg Trio

My longest existing musical relationship is with two of my closest friends....Eric Harland and Aaron Goldberg.

It's been a pleasure to wk with these guys for the past 12 years.....so easy, so fluid to wk with them. And believe it or not we all still get along!!! :)

We started the year out playing at the now defunct (IAJE(International Association of Jazz Educators)Convention in Toronto Canada. It was coooold but fun to play there....sad that the convention is no more...it was a great place to catch up with old friends and meet new people. Hopefully it'll be revived somehow.

After that we went into the Jazz standard in NYC with special guest saxophonist Mark Turner. Wow that boy is baaaaaad!

As of this blog creation Marks recovering from a severe hand injury....i hear he's healing well though. We miss u bro!!

Later that month i played in St.Barths with my man John Ellis and crew... What a beautiful island!! We had a blast being the only Jazz group in a classical music fest!! Such great Hospitality!! Thanks Jill(and mom)!!

Right after that i hopped over to my homeland St.Thomas and did yet another benefit for the United Way...this time with all my homies Ron Blake, Dion Parson, Rashaun Ross and a host of others with the 21st Century band. Besides raising money for the orginization we paid homage to one of our mentors Jon Lucien. Man that was a blast!! We miss u Jon!! Thanks To Raymond ,Cherise and the whole United Way for bringing us hm!!

Feb.

I spent this month touring with the great trumpeter Chris Botti. It was a fun couple weeks..especially linking with my old buddies Mark Whitfield and Peter Martin. The hang on and off stage was great. We even went back to St.Thomas!!

Mar.

This month i started back up with Joshua Redman's Trio....the drum chair swapped between Brian Blade and Greg Hutchinson.

Going back to Hawaii was a blast....went whale watching for the first time... Loved it! Also saw a live active Volcano!!!

Yes i am living da life.....:)

The end of the month we went into the world renown Village Vanguard in NYC before recording Josh's next project called Compass which involved Brian Blade and Greg hutchinson on Drums plus Larry Grenadier and myself on Bass. Wow...what a great experience!! We all played together on half of the album!!! Yall gotta check it out!!!

To finish off the Month i had a great west coast run with my Charles Lloyd Fam.....i tell u...this group is growing with every Performance! Proud to say the last album we did(Rabo de Nube) was Jazztimes album of the year!! Check it out!!!! 

Apr.

Back in Dianne reeves camp for the month of Apr.....we did a 3 week European run. It was great to play with my old college buddy Antonio Sanchez who subbed for Greg Hutch on this run. He's gotta a new record out called Migration...check it out.

To end the month i did a rare "Reuben Rogers" group gig in Sacramento California. Always weird to get  back in that "leaders" saddle once you've been away from it for awhile. It was a blast though....thanks Kendrick, John and Danny and of course Ken for hooking it up!!

May

Finally got back to the New Orleans Jazz fest!!!! Hadn't played there since before Katrina.....it was so good to get back. Such a greay energy from that city!! I love it!!

Played there with Dianne Reeves...once again she had the crowd in the palm of her hands.

After that we headed to the St.Lucia jazzfest where i did double duty with Dianne and my old Berklee buddy saxophonist Jacque-Schwartz Bart. He mixes jazz with music from his native land Guadeloupe......very lovely and original.

Next i got to do some gigs with my buddy Taylor Eigsti along with Eric Harland and Julian Lage.....man i love playing with those guys!!! We did some east and West Coast dates.....thanks to all who came out to celebrate Tay's new CD Let it come to you....check it out!!

Jun.

Ahhhh...Summer. I love this time of year!! What a great way to start it but with some great wine and Jazz!!

Started the month off playing with the Charles Lloyd Quartet with special guest Zakir Hussain at the Healsdsburg California Jazzfest in the Wine country ......what a blast!!

After that i headed to Australia with the Aaron Goldberg trio with Gregory Hutchinson on drums....it was good to play with my old Joshua Redman bandmates again....thanks Ingrid for hooking up such a great tour once more!!!

Jul.

After finishing some late Jun.Canadian and East coast dates i headed to Europe with the Charles Lloyd Group once more....always a treat to do the Summer festivals every July.....get to eat great food, run across old friends and play great music in great weather!! What a life indeed.....

Aug

I had the oppurtunity to tour and record with some new friends this month....Italian Saxaphonist's Daniele Scannapieco and Max Ionata along with my old friend Clarence Penn on drums.....we had a blast every night playing(and eating :)

At the end of the tour we went into the studio and recorded a cd called Tenor Legacy...Look out for it!!

Thanks Sergio!!!

Later that month i also got a chance to do a great gig in Haarlem Netherlands with the Dutch Pianist Peter Beets who i had the pleasure of recording with a year before!! That boy is a monster!! Check him out!!

At the end of the month I went back to the Johannesburgh Jazz fest in South Africa with the Joshua Redman trio.....i learned sooo much about South African history first hand. Thanks Pat!!! 

After the fest i visited Capetown for a few days......all i have to say is....WOW.......Such a great city!! Wonderful natural beauty!!! And so much to do and experience!! I recommend....

Sept.

Back in the Dianne Reeves Camp we started our Asian Tour in Taipei Taiwan.....we almost didnt make it because of the huge typhoon that hit the city the day before we arrived! It all worked out in the end.....Next stop was Japan.....We played the Billboard live venues which were formally Blue note venues(except for Tokyo which still has a blue note club). 

The Japanese sure know how to run a tight ship!! A bit rigid at times but always together....much appreciated here...:)

After stops in Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo....we headed to Korea to finish out the tour.

I have alot of my shirts made in Seoul.....yes tailor made shirts for a fraction of the price you'd get them in the states!! Don't hate!!!!! :)

Thanks Hamilton Shirts!!!!

Oct.

I got to do another rare gig with my trio at the the Duane Library at Fordham University in Bronx NY.....such a great turnout!! Thanks to all who came out!! Special Thanks to Danny and Hutch!! Sorry for my sad playing!! :(

This month i also got a chance to record with a great friend and one of my favorite young tenor sax players Jimmy Greene. I know Jimmy from my Boston days when i was fresh outta St.Thomas.

Once more he put together a stellar cast of musicians...Eric Harland on Drums and Xavier Davis on Piano along with the great Lage Lund on guitar. The Cd is called Mission Statement....check it out!

Nov.

Once again i was on the road with the Joshua Redman Trio this time with Brian Blade on drums for one half of the tour then Eric Harland the other half! Maaaaan it was a blast. Playing in this pianoless trio setting has become my favorite most challenging, fullfilling musical experiences of my career. Kicks my butt everynight!!! Wow...thanks fellas.

Dec.

Well...i ended the year the way i started it....with my best friends and musical compadres....E and A with the Aaron Goldberg Trio.

We had a blast for a week in Switzerland.....visited some cities i had never been to. It wasn't to cold and we didnt have to wake up early any of the days(the worst thing about traveling)!!! Yeeees! The Swiss now how to eat by the way. :)

Thanks for hooking up such a great tour Rog!!

After Switzerland we spent a week in Italy doing a 7 city tour. It's unbelievable how much people like jazz in Italy!!! When ever we would pull up to these town/venues my first thought was always.....are people gonna be at the gig in such a small town? Sure enough everytime it was packed!!!!! Thanks for the great tour Toti!! (Despite your crazy driving )   :0)

Well thats it folks.....i'm months late with this so maybe i'll stop with the year reviews and do a periodic blog.....of course if i dont...forgive me again!!! :)

Peace.

RR

07 Highlights..

Hey yall......it's been almost a year since i wrote a blog......alot
has happened since then fo sho.
Where do i start??? Well let's see....

Nov.06 - Got a chance to do a whole tour in Norway with Dianne.....we
went to a few cities i had never been to. We got the chace to play in
some tiny towns where everyone and their moms(literally) came to hear
us play.....The Norwegian government sponsored the tour so that made
going to these small markets possible. Loved the trip despite the
cold weather!! :)

Jan.07- Visited Chile for the first time......got to do it with a few
of my long time compadres......A dawg, E and Josh. We played in
Santiago and Vina del Mar.
That was a Fabulous trip....the folks loved the music and treated us
very very nice........Thanks Felipe!! (oh yeah, won some cash at the
casino for the first time also!!! ha ha ha)

Right after that trip i was able to take part in a live CD/DVD with a
Japanese Rock Pop star named Tomoyasu Hotei......
Flew over to Tokyo had 3 days rehearsal and did the show.......man
that was a great time. Everyone was soooo professional.
Thanks Terreon, Simon,Ebony, Luis,Tiffany and of course Hotei!!

Feb.07- Man that was a crazy busy month.....i don't think i had more
than 3 days off!!
It was great to link with my old buddy Eric Reed......we played 6
nights at the Village Vanguard with his group. The line up was Willie
Jones on drums, Stacey Dillard and Seamus Blake on saxes and Eric on
Piano.Every single night was smokin!!!

That month i co produced my first project(that wasn't mine)......it
was for a German/American Vocalist named Stephanie K.
The record came out great!! It featured Aaron Goldberg,Eric
Harland,John Ellis,Ryan Scott and myself. Look out for it!

Mar 07- Had a chance to do some interesting recordings with some
great musicians(and people)....Kate Mcgarry and Keith Ganz + friends.
We recorded 60 2 to 3 min songs for some childrens books over the
course of 3 days.....
It was a challenge to keep everything fresh from song to song....but
i think we pulled it off!!!

Later that month i had the chance to go back hm to St.Thomas and be
featured with the UVI jazz ensemble. I also did a master class at the
University. Thanks to all the kids and (Kids at heart) :) that came
out.....i had alot of fun.

April-May 07- Had a great time playing alot with the great Charles
Lloyd who i have been playing with for the past 3 years or
so......Jason Moran replaced Geri Allen on this tour. Man did J rock
it!!! Turns out that the concert we did in Basel Switzerland is gonna
be a live CD!! Look out for it next year!!!

Thanks to all that came out to support me and my group in NY and
Boston. I finally found sometime to do my OWN gigs!!! They were
Grrrrreat!

Jun-Jul 07 It's great to be playing with my old compadre(and boss)
Joshua Redman again....I was a part of his Quartet from 98 to 01. We
had a nice lengthly run of 7 weeks this summer.
This time around it's just trio with no piano. A nice change of pace
for me.....very challenging context. i absolutely love it.

Aug 07- It was good to link up with my fav trio with Aaron and Eric
featuring Mark Turner for a six city tour of Italy. Goodness they
know how to eat in Italy!! Even roadside truck stops know how to do
it up!!!! I love it!!
Small note: "Mark is truly one of the most original saxophone voices
of our time"...check him out if you haven't.

Which brings us to Now Sept 07...

1.It was a pleasure to record with Dianne Reeves for the 3rd time
earlier this month.....we recorded quite a mixture of songs. A little
something for everyone....look out for it late this year or early
next year.

Also i'm proud to have accepted a position at the University of
Greensboro North Carolina's. Music Dept. Special thanks to Steve
Haines(head of jazz studies) for the invite. Had my first visit last
week....it's gonna be a fun year. :)

I'm writing this entry on my flight back to the states from South
Korea.....was over there with Charles Lloyd.....this timeTrio)no
piano) instead of Quartet!!
My chops better improve in these configurations!!!

Man that was a long ride over there.....to almost not play!! It
rained non stop the evening of our concert.....and it was an outdoor
festival!!!! Ughhhh!
The folks stood in the rain with umbrellas and plastic coverings as
we played a shortened set under a half covered stage(while still
getting wet).
Thanks for trying to brave the weather with us folks!!!

As you can see on my Itinerary page....it's gonna be a crazy busy
fall also. I'm hoping to start writing some music for my next project
threw it all.
Keep you posted on that fo sho......

Can't promise that it'll be soon that i'll write again. But i sure
will try.....forgive me advance ok!! :)

RR