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Red Hill Quartet

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About Red Hill Quartet The Red Hill Quartet is an eclectic Los Angeles-based jazz group comprised of top musicians from varied backgrounds who have come together to create the music they want to play. The members bring the influences of African, Indian, and Middle Eastern music while being solidly entrenched in the jazz tradition. This unique blend, coupled with an all original repertoire, has generated enthusiastic response from traditional jazz audiences as well as those who never considered themselves jazz fans. For this reason, the band has been very successful in reaching younger music fans.

The Red Hill Quartet originated in the 1990s as a quintet called Red Hill and formed by saxophonist Harvey Lane and vibes player Ricky Luther. Harvey and Ricky had played together for years and wanted to form a band that would expand conventional thinking on what a jazz band could be. The band brought together the talents of some excellent musicians with very different backgrounds. Percussionist Frank Bennett had an impressive resume as a jazz drummer, classical Indian percussionist, film score composer and orchestrator, and educator. Bill Torma was highly respected acoustic bass player, and Frank’s son Anand was a teenage prodigy on violin and electric mandacello, an instrument he designed.

The band played jazz clubs and concerts in the Los Angeles area and released one album for Aim Records called Mixed Messages. When Frank and Anand had to leave the group due to other commitments, Frank recommended multi-talented Leonice Shinneman as his replacement. Like Frank, Leonice has an extensive background in Indian percussion as well as jazz drumming and brings a great deal of rhythmic fire and variety to the band. Leonice plays tabla, as well as other Indian and African percussion, on a number of the band’s compositions. Leonice brought in bassist Mark London Sims, an old friend and colleague from his days at the California Institute of the Arts. Mark is a great bass player and has the ability to hold the time together no matter how complex the piece, giving Leonice the freedom to float the rhythm on top of the overall sound.

The band has been playing clubs, concerts (including a solo concert in Pershing Square for the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs), and festivals in the Los Angeles area and has 3 CDs currently available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and other online retailers. Their latest CD, Analog Man in a Digital World is getting airplay on internet radio and has generated hundreds of new fans around the world.

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Red Hill Quartet Los Angeles

DECEMBER 8, 2011 BY WILLIAM WOLFF You never know where you’re going to run into top-caliber jazz in L.A., as I was reminded of the other day. I was checking out an art sale when I happened to encounter a particularly intriguing band playing outside the art gallery in the frigid weather we’ve been hit with lately.

As described on their website (http://www.redhillquartet.com/) the members of the Red Hill Quartet “bring the influences of African, Indian and Middle Eastern music while being solidly entrenched in the jazz tradition.” The group, based in Echo Park just northwest of downtown L.A., consists of Harvey Lane on tenor and soprano saxes, Ricky Luther on vibraphone and keyboards (he played only vibes on this gig), Mark London Sims on electric bass and Leonice Shinneman on drums and tablas.

They play original tunes almost exclusively, many written by vibraphonist Ricky Luther. If I had to categorize their original material, I’d venture to say that it’s a sort of post post-bop mélange of shifting modes and altered modes, topped off with memorable melodies and underpinned by an unwavering commitment to swing.

The arrangements offered plenty of room for all the players to stretch out and develop solos thematically without being self-indulgent. Thankfully, the band demonstrated respect – without condescension – for its audience by framing bass and drum solos with chordal downbeats signaling the start of a new chorus. And, in another demonstration of the band’s generosity, you can hear complete versions of a couple of their tunes on their website.

They opened their set with a Luther tune called “Squeezer Floyd,” a luscious exploration of the above-mentioned modes in 6/8 time. I’ve been a sucker for the churning, rolling rhythms of 6/8 time ever since I cut my teeth on Mingus’ “Better Get It In Your Soul” and Coltrane’s “Afro Blue,” so I was hooked after four bars. Luther wrings a ton of mileage out of his vibes, filling out the middle with richly textured comping and soloing as if he were born with mallets in his hands. Lane was quite the high-fly act, delivering adventurous yet organic variations on the melody on his soprano sax. Bassist Sims laid down the bottom with a terrific, warm tone, alternately walking and punctuating with propulsive rhythmic counterpoint. And drummer Shinneman provided the glue that held it all together, utilizing his prodigious chops to both complement and spur on his bandmates.

Later in the set, the band launched into a jazz interpretation of “March of the Lion,” from French late- Romantic composer Saint Saens’ musical suite, “The Carnival of the Animals.” A stately, haunting melody that shows just how much emotion and depth you can get out of Dorian mode, the tune showcased Shinneman playing tablas. Now, there are a lot of guys out there who play at playing the tablas, but Shinneman demonstrated a virtuosic command of tone and phrasing.

They closed with a blistering post-bop tune composed by saxophonist Lane entitled “Mobeus Trip.” By this time the sun had gone down and Lane was shivering and his teeth were chattering. But I never would have guessed it from the heat coming off the bandstand.

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