ABOUT DRAA HOBBS

A Fortunate Man

I'm originally from Chicago but have made Southern Vermont my home since 1980. I studied with some truly great musicians - Attila Zoller, the jazz guitar legend Jimmy Raney, Gene Bertoncini and Peter Leitch. 

I have been fortunate to play with many great musicians: I performed with the great bassist Dave Shapiro (Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, etc) for 23 years. After studying under Attila Zoller, Attila invited me to perform in clubs, concerts, and radio with him. The list of his peers that I got to play with is fairly staggering: pianists Roland Hanna, Don Friedman, Larry Willis; bassists George Mraz, Ron McClure, Michael Formanek; saxophonists Lee Konitz, and Nick Brignola to name just a few.  I performed with Attila and New York Philharmonic composer/ multi-instrumentalist David Amram. Through Attila I met and played with Tal Farlow and Jimmy Raney and spent a day with Jim Hall.

I was fortunate to perform twice in concerts honoring Attila. In the first concert I shared the stage with Vic Juris, Russian guitarist Andrei Ryabov, and drummer Barry Altschul (Chick Corea, Dave Holland). For the second concert, I was the musical director and performed Attila's music with jazz legends Don Friedman, Ron McClure, and Eliot Zigmund. I was honored to sit in on a concert starring Peter Bernstein (and also played an informal concert with Peter). I recorded a duo with pianist Eugene Uman for a CD on the German label ENJA called "Message To Attila." That CD contained some very heavy musicians: Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, John Abercrombie, and Peter Bernstein. Unfortunately, I had to perform on that CD with a badly broken wrist (!!).

Currently, I am enjoying a decade-long professional relationship with the great guitarist John Stowell. I also perform with many of the best players in New England. All in all, not bad for a guy living in Southern Vermont! As for all the great jazz legends mentioned above,  I was just lucky as hell.
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I continue to perform in the New England region and take great joy in my guitar students and ensemble classes.

- Draa Hobbs