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Reuben Rogers

Reuben Rogers was imbued with both groove and spirit from birth. Raised in the Virgin Islands by parents who were both ministers, Rogers grew up playing gospel in church while absorbing the calypso and reggae rhythms of the islands. The discovery of jazz in his teens added the elements of freedom and improvisation to those innate qualities, creating the unique chemistry that would make Rogers one of the most distinctive and in- demand bassists in modern jazz.

Rogers’ versatile mastery of both the acoustic and electric bass has led to opportunities on stages around the world alongside some of the music’s most renowned artists, including Charles Lloyd, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Tomasz Stanko, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Jackie McLean and Dianne Reeves, among many others.

The range of styles and approaches represented by that partial list reflects the diversity and adaptability of Rogers’ virtuosic and communicative gifts. Whether laying down a window-rattling groove, painting lush harmonic colors or whispering with delicate lyricism, Rogers’s passion and singular voice shine through in any setting. While he is constantly adapting his always-recognizable voice to new settings, styles and challenges, Rogers’ career is remarkable for the longevity of many of his artistic relationships. He maintains musical partnerships reaching back to his earliest mentors, and enjoys rewarding long-term collaborations with several other artists, including notable tenures with Joshua Redman, Charles Lloyd and the Aaron Goldberg Trio that have lasted for a decade or more.

That blend of long-lasting relationships with novel encounters has led to an entrancing richness in Rogers’ playing, an evolution that is the extraordinary result of deep exploration combined with fresh surprises. Over the last two decades, he’s been featured on more than 100 recordings and countless international tours. In addition, in 2015 he released his first upright bass loop and sample collection, Reuben Rogers Volume 1.

Rogers’ sole release as a leader is the 2006 all-star session The Things I Am, which features Redman, Payton, Goldberg, drummers Gregory Hutchinson and Adam Cruz, percussionist Kahlil Kwame Bell, saxophonist Ron Blake, and guitarists Mark Whitfield and David Gilmore. Embracing new challenges while continuing to evolve the profound bonds he’s formed with his most long-lasting associations has provided such a rich avenue of self-expression that he thrives in his role as, to use his own joking term, “Super-Sideman.”

Born in 1974, Rogers was always drawn to music and dabbled with the clarinet, piano, drums and guitar before discovering his true passion in the bass – a love of low end that he attributes to the earth-shaking sounds of bass-driven calypso and reggae that emanated from nearly every car driving around his native Virgin Islands. His natural abilities were nurtured by his high school music teacher, Georgia Francis, who would continue to provide support and encouragement even after Rogers left the Islands to study at Berklee College of Music.

Ron Blake, feat. Reuben Rogers & John Hadfield: SCRATCH Band

Read "SCRATCH Band" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 16, 2025

There several interesting features that single out saxophonist Ron Blake's new recording with what he refers to as his SCRATCH Band. First, the Puerto Rican-born Blake, best known for his work on tenor saxophone, plays baritone sax on five of the album's nine numbers, tenor sax on only three, tenor and soprano (separately) on one of his four original compositions, “Appointment." Second, the SCRATCH Band is actually a duo with bassist Reuben Rogers on four tracks, a trio with drummer ...

Liner Notes

Ralph Bowen: Keep the Change

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 7, 2024

I can still remember the impression that Ralph Bowen made on a young jazz enthusiast trying to break into radio and be part of the hip jazz crowd. I had decided to get involved with the programming end of a local non-profit arts support organization and on a letter perfect July evening our committee had lined up a double bill that included Kevin Eubanks and the mid '80s collective Out Of The Blue. An hour or so before OTB was ...

Album Review

Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

Read "Mistaken Identity" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 3, 2023

Once hailed as a promising young lion, Puerto Rico-born saxophonist Ron Blake is more a crafty old fox these days, bringing his wealth of experience and undeniable talent to bear on Mistaken Identity, his first album as leader in fifteen years. To assure a broad comfort zone, Blake invited guitarist Bobby Broom, a longtime friend and music partner, to join him alongside drummer Kobie Watkins and bassists Nat Reeves (five numbers) and Reuben Rogers (four). Among the ...

Album Review

Kendrick Scott: Corridors

by Chris May
April 8, 2023

Some of the press releases coming out of Blue Note's Los Angeles HQ since the pandemic have been ripe for inclusion in British satirical magazine Private Eye's Desperate Marketing column. In this, the Eye prints particularly egregious, or just plain laughable, attempts by publicists to hook-up what they are selling with headline news events, or to make eye-wateringly hyperbolic claims, or to manufacture an intellectual or cultural context for an artefact where none such exists. True, one ...

Liner Notes

Jimmy Greene: Gifts and Givers

by C. Andrew Hovan
March 12, 2023

The two-tenor battle is not a new idea, with iconic pairings from the jazz pantheon running the gamut from Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray to Eddie Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin. In more recent times, Eric Alexander and Grant Stewart have fueled the fire with their own incendiary adventures as heard on the current albums Wailin' (Criss 1258) and Cookin' (Criss 1283). As with any healthy blowing session, the idea is to keep each player on his toes while pushing ...

Album Review

Kendrick Scott: Corridors

Read "Corridors" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 10, 2023

Drummer Kendrick Scott's A Wall Becomes A Bridge (Blue Note, 2019) was everything to everybody and then some. Optimistic yet well aware of the roiling contradictions beneath it all, the formidable Corridors, its revivalist tenor intact, carries on that spirit of interplay and common alliance. Breaking from the start with the loping, street-smart, stride of “What Day Is It?" Scott with Corridors take a sure journey, featuring conversant saxophonist Walter Smith III and the equally versed bassist Reuben ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd: Tone Poem

by Eric Gudas
March 30, 2021

Charles Lloyd and The Marvels' April 2017 performance at UCLA's Royce Hall, with guest vocalist Lucinda Williams, was nothing but highlights--from Lloyd's dance moves across the stage as one or other of his bandmates soloed, to Williams' impassioned performances on such songs as Bob Dylan's “Masters of War" and Jimi Hendrix's “Angel." They also played a song by Beach Boys. ("In My Room"). But the night really got going when the band played about fifteen minutes of Ornette Coleman material, ...

Performance / Tour

The Reuben Rogers Group at the Jazz Gallery in NYC

Source: Two for the Show Media
May 9, 2007

The Reuben Rogers Group will be performing at The Jazz Gallery in New York City in celebration of his most recent release “The Things I Am" on May 24th, 2007 - Showtime 8:00 PM

The Reuben Rogers Group Reuben Rogers -(bass) Ron Blake - (sax) Gregory Hutchinson - (drums) Danny Grissette -(piano) “Reuben's impeccable musicianship and fresh approach to each performance keeps me perpetually inspired. His consummate playing allows him to rise ...
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Radio

Mike Schwartz/KSJS December Guest List Includes Aaron Goldberg, Myra Melford and Reuben Rogers

Source: All About Jazz
December 2, 2006

The weekly “Straight No Chaser" Broadcast each Sunday on 90.5FM KSJS San Jose, CA and www.ksjs.org 6-10AM Pacific/9AM-1PM Eastern times Hosted by Mike Schwartz. The Artist Feature utilizes the final hour of the program devoted to the guest 9-10AM Pacific/12-1PM Eastern. 12/03 Pianist/Composer: Aaron Goldberg new “World" CD [Sunnyside] 12/10 Pianist/Composer/Bandleader: Myra Melford new “Be Bread" CD [Cryptogramaphone] 12/17 Bassist/Composer/Bandleader/sideman extarordinaire: Reuben Rogers latest CD “The Things I ...
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Recording

Bassist Reuben Rogers releases his Debut CD "The Things I Am"

Source: All About Jazz
June 14, 2006

Bassist Reuben Rogers releases his Debut CD The Things I Am On June 15th, 2006

“Reubens impeccable musicianship and fresh approach to each performance keeps me perpetually inspired. His consummate playing allows him to rise comfortably in most any musical situation. ~ Dianne Reeves, Grammy award winning jazz vocalist

The Things I Am, is a brilliant testimonial from the creative, young bassist/composer Reuben Rogers. On his debut recording as a leader, Rogers takes the listener through a time line of ...
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