On April 30, 2022, Eric Vaughn and Brad Kellar got together for a few sets at The Backyard in Henderson, Nevada.
And here’s what they played:
Eric Vaughn – Piano, Organ (track 10), Vocal (3,12,21)
Brad Kellar – Bass & Hi-Hat
Set 1: 1-9 / Set 2: 10-20 / Set 3: 21-25
Rehearsal tracks at Eric’s house, 4/29/2022
ERIC VAUGHN BIO:
Bronx, New York-born Eric Vaughn grew up in Greenwich, CT and studied piano with Sal Mosca, the pianist closely associated with the Lenny Tristano school of jazz. Vaughn studied music during the ’70’s at the University of San Francisco and obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music performance. During this time he met bassist Brad Kellar. They performed as a duo and also with the New World Jazz Ensemble quartet in Palo Alto, Stanford, and Los Gatos.
Vaughn spent two years in the early ’80s playing in Europe with bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz, another former Mosca student, then moved to Oakland and became part of a circle of avant-garde players that included saxophonists Ghasem Batamutu and Julius Hemphill, trumpeter Rasul Siddik, and bassist James Lewis. In 1985 he moved to Vancouver, BC and remained there for 12 years, performing regularly at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and working a steady club engagement with trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach. He also spent two years in the early ’90s touring as a member of former B.B. King bassist Russell Jackson’s blues band, and played with his own groups and those led by tenor saxophonist Bert Wilson and conga drummer Billy Poindexter (son of Pony Poindexter). He recorded three little-noticed albums — a solo piano date titled Reflections: Past and Present; the trio session A New Beginning; and The Chaotic World We Live In, on which he overdubbed piano and melodica parts. With Poindexter’s quartet, he recorded Live at the Birkshire (2007).
Vaughn’s “minor relocation” back to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 marked an exciting new chapter in his musical life with the recording of his first nationally-released album. He is joined with Bob Kenmotso on tenor saxophone, as well as Mark Bullis, John Wiitala, and Nate Omdal on bass; Kent Brison, Jamiel Nance, and Nicholas Quitevis on drums; and Bernie Williams on flute. The band performed at Yoshi’s famed Oakland jazz club to celebrate the release. Vaughn also reunited with old friends Brad Kellar and Dave Burns for gigs in Fairfax and the Bodega Bay area.
Vaughn currently lives in Henderson, Nevada.
Eric Vaughn – (702) 913-4877