Jazz Saxophone Legend: The Bob Sheppard Trio

We are excited to welcome jazz legends TheBob Sheppard Trio to the Cabin Creek listening room.

For more than four decades, the multi-instrumentalist has played on countless sessions with an astounding crop of A-list jazz giants—among them Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Lyle Mays, John Beasley and Steps Ahead—and artists within several other genres. He’s also recorded and toured as a leader, contributed to hundreds of movie and TV soundtracks, served as an educator and more.

Sheppard began playing professionally while still living in the Philadelphia area, where he grew up. He continued while attending college, working various stage shows and even the circus, and soon found gigs accompanying giants of the business such as Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and the 5th Dimension. A steady spot in the orchestra of Chuck Mangione provided vital learning experience.  As his reputation grew, Sheppard made the all-important decision to relocate to Los Angeles. The move paid off immediately when he went to work with trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard. The gig lasted several years. “Playing on the same stage as Freddie was a breathtaking and frightening experience,” Sheppard says. “Much like jazz survival training, it exposed everything good and bad about my playing and inspired me to work harder. How lucky I was to get that close to his talent.”

With a solid list of credentials building up, and his ability to play numerous instruments—he is virtuosic on all varieties of sax, flute and clarinet—Sheppard became a first-call musician, a valued sideman who could be counted upon to bring fresh ideas to any recording session or live gig.

Those gigs included work not just with the top jazz artists cited above, but also stars of the pop, rock and R&B worlds, among them Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Elvis Costello, Natalie Cole, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones, Boz Scaggs and many others. He also put in time playing in the TV bands of legendary hosts like Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers.  “Playing with the best of the best is huge; it makes me play better. I was able to get those calls mostly due to my improvisational and interpretive abilities, and of course my sound,” says Sheppard. “All those top 40 and funk bands in the ’70s were very much jazz gigs to me; they taught me styles, how to hear my way through music, how to play in horn sections with singers. The pop tunes of the ’70s and ’80s had great harmonies and forms that left much room for individuality and expression. Offers to play with artists don’t come by accident but from an accumulation of life experience, references and developing a reputation over time.”

By the early ’90s, it was time for Sheppard to step out front. In 1991, he recorded his first album as a leader, Tell Tale Signs, for the Windham Hill Jazz label. Since then he’s released several other solo projects, most recently Close Your Eyes and From The Hip, both for BFM Jazz. He remains involved with other leaders, however, and has spent significant time, in particular, working with pianist Billy Childs’ ensembles and drummer Peter Erskine’s trio. “All of these amazing players are friends that I love and have played with a lot over many years, and I also love being a part of a community of mutually respected professionals,” he says. “The musical connections are deep and comfortable. When I lead my own band, I know that all my musical history has contributed and helped me communicate something that’s my own.”

You can listen to Bob's music here on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ilsxNHgUGAFmA5TfOOUf4?si=uCAMzxgdSHaC_2XZ9XXOBQ

Or learn more on his official website:  bobsheppard.net

Doors open at 6:30pm

Concert 7:00-9:30pm

Tickets: $10

Donation-Based Wine Bar

Cozy Fireside Seats and Comfy Couches by the heatlamps are reserved for the first tickets sold