Randy Ingram 

Piano

Pianist and composer Randy Ingram has been hailed as “gifted” by JazzTimes and as “a pianist drawn to contemporary harmony and a sleek rhythmic sensibility… Astute, self-possessed” by The New York Times. Ingram’s artistry as a pianist and composer is on full display on his 2024 trio record Aries Dance, a celebration of musical motion and expression that features the legendary drummer Billy Hart alongside the esteemed bassist Drew Gress and received a coveted 4.5 star review in DownBeat. 

Previously, Ingram released several acclaimed recordings on Sunnyside Records in duo, trio and quartet formats. 2022’s Play Favorites is a perfectly matched duo collaboration with vocalist Aubrey Johnson, while The Means of Response features Ingram’s working trio drummer Jochen Rueckert and Gress, the latter of whom Ingram engaged in an intimate collection of duos on The Wandering (2017). 

Ingram has also performed and recorded with such leading musicians as John Patitucci, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ari Hoenig, Mike Clark, Ben Monder, Tierney Sutton, Toninho Horta, Jon Irabagon, Ingrid Jensen, Kendrick Scott, Jaleel Shaw and the late Billy Higgins.

Rufus Reid 

Bass

 Rufus Reid is a revered bassist, composer, and educator whose distinguished career spans more than five decades. Raised in Sacramento, California, he first played trumpet through junior high and high school, then entered the United States Air Force as a trumpet player, where he developed a serious interest in the double bass. After his military service he moved to Seattle to study with James Harnett of the Seattle Symphony, and later continued his education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, studying with Warren Benfield and Chicago Symphony principal bassist Joseph Guastefeste, earning a Bachelor of Music in 1971 as a double bass performance major. 

 Reid’s professional career took root in Chicago and flourished after his move to New York City in 1976, where he has performed with hundreds of leading jazz artists. He is notably the bassist Dexter Gordon chose upon returning to the United States from his decade in Denmark. Reid enjoyed a brief but pivotal tenure with the Bill Evans Trio in 1978, performing at New York’s Village Vanguard and Boston’s Jazz Workshop. 

 As he shared with Ingram, he opted to continue working with Dexter Gordon and J.J. Johnson, but took away an important lesson from the experience. Nervous about following in Eddie Gómez’s footsteps, he was reassured by Evans that he had been enlisted for his own individual voice, not to imitate someone else’s. 

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Joe La Barbera 

Drums

 Joe La Barbera grew up in Mount Morris, New York, and began playing drums under the guidance of his father, his first teacher. He attended Berklee College of Music for two years in the late 1960s before going on tour with singer Frankie Randall. Following his studies, he served for two years with the U.S. Army Band at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He launched his professional career with Woody Herman and the Thundering Herd, quickly establishing himself as a dynamic and versatile drummer. 

 LaBarbera’s reputation expanded significantly in the 1970s through four years of recording and touring with Chuck Mangione. He has performed as a sideman with an impressive roster of jazz greats. In 1979 and 1980, he was a member of the Bill Evans Trio alongside bassist Marc Johnson, and he later spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s performing with Tony Bennett. 

 La Barbera became a mentor to Ingram during the pianist’s formative years in Southern California, making his involvement a celebration of two integral relationships, generations apart.