Fred Knapp Trio – 2016

Fred Knapp Trio

Saturday, Aug 6, 2016 – 5:30 to 6:45
North Stage

The Fred Knapp Trio, featuring Jeremy Siskind on piano and David Rosin on bass, remind us of the great trios of the past like the Oscar Peterson Trio, Bill Evans Trio, and Ahmad Jamal Trio along with the fresh sounds of trios of today like the Brad Mehldau trio, and the Bad Plus. Their repertoire consists of new arrangements of song book standards and originals from each member of the group. The Trio captivates with their high level of group interaction and dynamics.

Fred Knapp is a drummer, pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for having a special touch on the drum set with the ability to adapt to any playing situation. Fred studied with Quincy Davis, Tim Froncek, and Rupert Kettle in Grand Rapids and later studied at Western Michigan University, where he studied classical and jazz piano with Dr. Steve Zegree and drum set with legendary jazz drummer Billy Hart. During his first year at WMU Fred recorded his first CD, “Singin’ that Bop!” featuring his vocals, compositions, and lyrics. The CD received favorable reviews in both Down Beat and Cadence magazines. During his second year at WMU, Fred began to do most of his performing on drums and by the end of that year decided to concentrate his efforts on becoming the best drummer he could be. WMU provided Fred great performance opportunities, an amazing faculty, and talented musical peers.

Since graduation from WMU in 2003, Fred has been busy performing in the MidWest with his trio and working as a freelance musician. Fred also has a thriving teaching studio where he teaches piano and drum set. The Fred Knapp Trio has just released its seventh CD, “Song for Jaden”. Their previous release, “How Deep is the Ocean” received an editors choice award from CDBaby.com. Fred has performed and /or recorded with Xavier Davis, John Proulx, Rodney Whitaker, Conrad Herwig, Randy Napoleon, Diego Rivera, Sunny Wilkinson, Tad Weed, Tom Knific, Trent Kynaston, Shawn “Thunder” Wallace, Kerry Strayer, and a who’s who of local greats such as Jon Shea, Steve Talaga, Rob Smith, Terry Lower, Betty Joplin, Jim Cooper, Tom Hagen, the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, Big Band Nouveau, the Kalamazoo Big Band, and award winning area jazz ensemble Evidence.

Jeremy Siskind is one of the top jazz pianists in the world today, a Yamaha® Artist who is on a mission to bring the rich wonder of live music to a generation that grew up on recordings, electronica and spoken word. He has performed both jazz and classical music, touring the world, playing in the U.S., Japan, Switzerland, Thailand, England, India, France, and China in venues as big as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to small “house concerts” in private residences from Ashland to Kalamazoo. His current tour, the Housewarming Project takes his current album, Housewarming, to the people. It features vocalist Nancy Harms and Lucas Pino on reeds, with tracks featuring GRAMMY®-winning vocalists Kurt Elling and Peter Eldridge. Siskind, an Eastman/Columbia grad, was the winner of the 2012 Nottingham International Jazz Piano Competition and the second place winner of the 2011 Montreux Solo Piano Competition. Siskind has been the chair of the Piano Department at Western Michigan University since 2014, and gives back by touring the U.S., doing outreach to young musicians and to music educators to keep live music growing in the 21st century. He has received four-star reviews from industry ‘bible’ DownBeat Magazine for “Simple Songs” (2011) and “Housewarming” (2015). His album “Finger-Songwriter” made eMusic.com’s Top 100 CDs of 2012 in any genre.

David Rosin performs as a freelance double bassist in many diverse settings. He has performed across the midwest, primarily in Michigan, and completed a tour in Australia. On the midwest jazz scene, David has performed concerts with many top jazz artists including; Johnny O’Neal, John Proulx, Wycliff Gordon, Walter White, Frank Vignola, Barry Harris, Bobby Watson, Charles Mcpherson, Bill Heid, Wes Anderson, Victor Goins, Claudio Roditi, Greg Abate, Kareem Riggins, Gerald Cleaver, Ali Jackson, Julien Labro, Aaron Goldberg, Andy Carlson, Casey Cook, Melissa Morgan, and the Hot Club of Detroit.

David grew up in the metro Detroit area. He studied double bass with Dan Pliskow (WSU), Peter Dominguez (MSU), Rodney Whitaker (MSU), Tom Kinific (WMU), and Jack Budrow (MSU). While at Michigan State University, David was able to study privately with Gary Schunk, Branford Marsalis, and Andrew Speight. Over the years, he has worked with all the great Michigan jazz musicians including pianists; Gary Schunk, Kenny Cox, Rick Roe, Terry Lower, Steve Richko, Tad Weed, Cliff Monear, Jeff Kressler, Scott Gwinell, and Steve Talaga.

Throughout his career, David has been fortunate to hold the bass chair in groups led by Andrew Speight, Gary Schunk, Larry Nozero, and Donald Waldon. Currently, David is a full time member of the Fred Knapp Trio, The String Doctors, and Ray Kamalay’s Red Hot Peppers.

In 1995, David was a finalist in the International Society of Bassists (ISB) jazz competition. He has also performed as an orchestra member in the Lansing, Traverse City, and Midland Symphony Orchestras. Other unique performances include playing in the Wharton Center pit orchestras for “Beauty and the Beast,” “Titanic,” “Copacabana,” “South Pacific, and “Ragtime.” David even played three concerts with the legendary father of Rock N’ Roll, Chuck Berry.

David can be heard on the following recordings: Terry Lower’s 2010 releases “Four Trios” Vol 1 and Vol. 2, Andrew Speight’s Australian release (1998) ‘Andrew Speight Quartet;’ the U.S. release (1998) ‘Speight’, Ray Kamalays (2000) ‘Meet Me Where They Play the Blues,’ and with the Fred Knapp Trio (2007) “Music of Gershwin, Songbook Series Vol. 1, (2008) “Music of Cole Porter, Songbook Series Vol. 2,” (2009) “More Happy Jazz.,” (2011) “Standards and More, Vol 1.” (2014) “How Deep Is The Ocean”,and (2015) “Song for Jaden”.

Performer Website