J. Chriss & Company 60 E. 8th St., Ste. 32N New York, NY 10003 PHONE: 212-353-0855, FAX: 212-353-0094 Chris Mees: Director, Management & Booking E-mail: [email protected] ROBERT HURST Robert Hurst has had a meteoric rise to become one of the top ranked and most in-demand Bassist across genres of this century. A Detroit native, Hurst’s extraordinary career as a musician, composer, and recording artist spans three decades. His early private instruction with Detroit’s Jazz and Motown Masters, to becoming a NEA, U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, to his post-college recruitment into two of the most iconic quartets of the 1980s lead by Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Hurst set a pace for progress that is rare and revered through tours and recordings yielding multiple GRAMMY® awards & nominations and RIAA® Gold & Platinum albums with: Sir Paul McCartney, Michael Bublé, Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis, Barbara Streisand, Kenny Garrett, Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, YoYo Ma, Chris Botti and Diana Krall. Robert Hurst As the inaugural bassist in the House Band of "The Tonight Show" with Trio instrumentation(s): Jay Leno for eight years, Hurst made nightly on-air contributions via Bass, Piano, Drums; Bass, Piano, arranging, composing, and acting for the NBC program which were Percussion; Bass, Piano, Guitar highlighted with four EMMY® awards in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999, and Quintet instrumentation: was admitted into The Bass Players Hall of Fame in recognition of his Bass, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, music directing on the show. As a bandleader, Hurst has released seven Drums. (Vocals optional) internationally acclaimed recordings on Columbia, DIW and the Bebob Label, and routinely performs to sold-out shows. Hurst has also penned Backline: original music scores for several films including: The Wood (MTV/ 1 Concert Grand Piano Paramount Productions) and Brown Sugar (Fox Films), with his solos 1 Yamaha Motif ES8 Keyboard Set featured on over 30 Major Motion Picture & Video Soundtracks including: 1 Bass RiG Mo Better Blues, Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen and Good Night, 1 Maple Drum Kit LP-10 pc: ConGas, Djembe, Timbale, etc. and Good Luck. Robert Leslie Hurst, III is adored by students, critics, promoters, master Discography: musicians and fellow educators alike. His exceptional ability to blend hip- BoB: a Palindrome, Unrehurst, Vol. 2, hop back beats, definitive gritty swing & nuanced African & Latin textures Bob Ya Head, Unrehurst, Vol. 1, is boundless and heralds Hurst as a sophisticated conceptualist, and the (Bebob) Robert Hurst, One for ideal Contemporary Jazz Bassist. His virtuosity, improvisational prowess Namesake, Robert Hurst Presents: and authoritative presence on American Culture in Music have served Robert Hurst (Columbia, DIW 1992) him well as a tenured Associate Professor of Music and Director of Small Jazz Ensembles at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance. “BoB a Palindrome is jazz bassist Robert Hurst’s sixth studio recording and his best yet. That’s a big deal. In 2011, Hurst released two masterworks Bob Ya Head and Unrehurst Volume 2. …Hurst isn’t just the best jazz bassist on earth right now; Hurst is also a killer composer.” By Charles L. Latimer, idigjazz.blogspot.com “BoB: a Palindrome is a superb showcase for Hurst's improvisational skill, songwriting ability, and talent for assembling an all-star band. This is urbane, highly creative, and straight-ahead modern jazz at its finest.” By Matt Collar, AllMusic.com www.jchriss.com .