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Guitarist - Composer Please see Bob’s website at www.bobdevosjazzguitar.com for up-to-date calendar listing, and for links to reviews and audio clips. Contact Bob at deviousguitar@aol.com
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Early History Bob DeVos was born Robert Wayne DeVos in Paterson, New Jersey. No one in the family played a musical instrument, but Bob absorbed standards and the best of Big Band and rhythm and blues from listening to his parents’ and older brother’s record collections: Basie, Ellington, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, James Brown, King Curtis, B.B. King, Chuck Berry. Bob picked up the guitar at age twelve, within weeks was memorizing guitar solos off of these records, and was performing professionally at thirteen. As an older teenager, he was the guitarist for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons but more telling for his future, he was exploring the soul jazz clubs of Newark, New Jersey and hearing the Hammond B-3 Organ greats, including his future collaborators for Blues Leaf, Gene Ludwig and Billy James. Rock could not meet the needs of his musical creativity and intellect; “I needed more chord changes…” In his early twenties, he chose jazz over rock. Musical Influences Through his teens, Bob performed with groups influenced by B.B. King, Otis Redding, James Brown and other rhythm and blues artists. He was soon inspired by Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, and Pat Martino. He subsequently recorded with Martino. He studied with Harry Leahy (guitar), Edgar Grana (composition), and Dennis Sandole (guitar and composition). An extraordinarily mature and versatile musician, Bob is a modern player with strong traditional roots. He is equally at home with straight-ahead jazz, rhythm and blues, jazz fusion and more. Formative Experience Bob’s initial jazz experience began while he was a student of Harry Leahy and the legendary Dennis Sandole. In 1970, when Sandole sent his leading students out to audition for the brilliant and underated organist Trudy Pitts, Bob was the one chosen. His early jazz experience was with groups featuring the Hammond B-3 organ, beginning with Trudy Pitt’s trio. Bob went on to play with groups led by Richard “Groove” Holmes, featuring saxophonist Sonny Stitt, and by Jimmy McGriff and Hank Crawford. Bob later toured and recorded extensively with organist Charles “The Mighty Burner” Earland’s group that included Eric Alexander and Jim Rotondi. Performances As a member of the Jimmy McGriff-Hank Crawford Quartet, Mr. DeVos appeared in the PBS-TV video Live From Elario’s, aired nationwide on PBS’s Club Date series. He toured as a member of saxophonist Gerry Neiwood’s group Timepiece, including Dave Samuels. As a member of composer Teo Macero’s Nonet, Bob recorded and performed with Pepper Adams, Dave Leibman, and Dick Oatts. He has also performed and/or recorded with Eric Alexander, Hugh Brodie, Junior Cook, Joey DeFrancesco, Bill Doggett, Larry Goldings, “Screaming” Jay Hawkins, Etta Jones, Mike LeDonne, Gene Ludwig, Jack MacDuff, Ron McClure, David “Fathead” Newman, Adam Nussbaum, Houston Person, Irene Reid, Rufus Reid, Mike Richmond, Bob Sheppard, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Stanley Turrentine and Buddy Williams among many others. Composition Mr. DeVos’ writing has been cited by the New Jersey Council on the Arts where he is a past grant recipient for composition. Critics universally cite and acclaim his composing for both his first CD as a leader and the CDs of others: “Breaking the Ice,” “Rue de La Burner”, and “Tri-Hog-Myth” on Breaking the Ice (Savant); “Maine-Stay”, “Shorter Story”, “West Side Blues”, and “In Search of Times Lost” on Matchpoint (Steeplechase, with the Ron McClure Quartet); “Pause for Fred’s Claw”s on Groove ORGANization, with the Gene Ludwig Trio (Blues Leaf); and “Memorial Day” on Keepers of the Flame: Charles Earland, (HighNote, with the Charles Earland Tribute Band anchored by Joey DeFrancesco). “Shorter Story” and “Shifting Sand” have been recorded by West Coast tenor great Bob Sheppard on his In The Now and Tell Tale Signs (BMG Records). Current Work Bob leads his own quartet and plays and records frequently with Groove ORGANIZation (Gene Ludwig, Bob DeVos, and Billy James). He is a member of forward looking Ron McClure Quartet and of Tribute~The Charles Earland Tribute Band with organist Joey DeFrancesco and featuring Eric Alexander and Jim Rotondi. In recent years, Bob has performed at the Kennedy Center, The Blue Note, Birdland, Iridium, SMOKE, Sweet Basil, Zanzibar Blue, The Van Dyke Café, and numerous festivals in the US and worldwide, including the JVC Jazz Festivals in New York City and Miami Beach, and The San Franciso Jazz Festival. An in-demand freelance player, he is heard frequently on jazz stations nationwide. Mr. DeVos is on the music faculty at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and teaches privately. He can often be heard there and elsewhere as part of Bill Warfield’s New York Repertory Orchestra. An innovative and sensitive teacher, he has done extensive work in jazz clinics and has also taught at William Paterson University.
As a Leader: The late 1999 release of Breaking The Ice on Savant Records marked Bob DeVos’ stunning four and half star CD debut as a leader. It features Charles Earland on Hammond B-3, legendary percussionist Master Henry Gibson, and drummer Vince Ector. Bob’s next CD, Devos Groove Guitar, Spring, 2003 on Blues Leaf Records, reunited Bob with Hammond B-3 master Gene Ludwig and legendary drummer Billy James, and includes Emedin Rivera on percussion. As a Sideman: w/Richard “Groove”
Holmes - Groove’s Groove (32 Jazz) 1977 w/Hugh Brodie - And The Real Thing (Kheba Records) 1979 w/Teo Macero - Impressions of Charles Mingus (Palo Alto Jazz) 1983 w/Charles Earland
- Organomically Correct (32 Jazz) 1996 w/Irene Reid - Million
Dollar Secret (HighNote) 1997 w/Ron McClure - Matchpoint (Steeplechase Records) 2002 w/Gene Ludwig - Groove Organization (Blues Leaf Records) 2002 w/Charles Earland Tribute Band - Keepers of the Flame: Charles Earland (HighNote Records) 2002, featuring Joey DeFrancesco and Eric Alexander, with guest Pat Martino Forthcoming: Bob recently recorded a second CD for Steeplechase with the Ron McClure Quartet and will record another as part of Groove ORGANization for Blues Leaf in 2003.
All About Jazz Magazine, Paula Edelstein, November, 1999 - article and interview. Just Jazz Guitar, Adrian Ingram, February 2000 Recorded Video Performances Live From Elario’s,
part of PBS’s nationwide Club Date series, as a member of the Jimmy
McGriff-Hank Crawford Quartet. Reviews: Bravos for Bob DeVos and Breaking the Ice: Just Jazz Guitar—February 2000, Adrian Ingram: I first heard Bob DeVos playing in an organ group and was immediately struck by his mastery of the idiom. It is fitting, therefore, that his debut album as a leader should feature the groovy Hammond B3 of the great Charles Earland. And what an album it is, burning from beginning to end with that real "60s" organ group vibe… A storming recording. DeVos is a master of the style, building his solos from economically spaced entrances to double-time or Grant Green-like rhythmic displacement. His sound is to die for, rich, full, deep, positive, round and warm. All About Jazz Magazine—November 1999, Paula Edelstein: When is comes to the jazz guitar debut of Bob DeVos’ Breaking The Ice, DeVos breaks through with an icy hot illustration of guitar forms and improvs. The jazz is cool and hot…He’s a "a musician-to-his-audience" communicator that reaches for you and has you immersed until the last note is played and tucked away in your musical senses. The Audiophile Voice—July 2000, Jack Skowron: DeVos’ approach has Grant Green’s percussiveness (and bluesiness), George Benson’s rich tone, with a touch of B.B. King for added grit…DeVos does his version of the Midas thing, turning everything he touches into blues. "Tri-hog-Myth" and "Blues for Bee Dee" allows him to flex those Bebop chops, which are in fine shape, thank you…DeVos offers nice note choices, off-center lines, and swings his kazatzkas off. 20th Century Guitar Magazine—April 2000, The Jazz Box DeVos is an able bluesman. His bright tone, phrasing, and long held notes invite favorable comparison to Grant Green…Breaking the Ice is a funky affair from beginning to end. Vintage Guitar Magazine—"More Good News For Jazz Guitar Fans": Bob DeVos is active in the New York scene and his debut CD, Breaking the Ice, has nine tracks of first-rate straight-ahead guitar and organ based tunes. Bob has a fine tone and great melodic sensibilities. In "Tri-Hog-Myth" (another cool DeVos original), the head is exceptionally catchy/quirky and there’s plenty of energy and drive …Bob starts his solos in a slow understated and very smooth manner, expertly adding/blending more notes as he goes. Nice! Guitar great John Abercrombie: He plays so damn good…logic, swing, warmth, inventiveness, humor and clarity…get to know Bob DeVos. Detroit Based Michael G. Nastos for AllMusicGuide This is quite a
refreshing date. Bob DeVos where have you been all of our lives? Highly
recommended.
John Barrett, Jr. for All About Jazz Magazine on LIVE, Charles Earland for Cannonball: Bob DeVos snakes everywhere: he darts long like Pat Martino, with a cleaner tone. Jack Bowers on Blowing the Blues Away, Charles Earland for Highnote: Earland and De Vos have their share of solo space too, and neither one disappoints. Earland loves the sustained upper–register preambles that instantly draw one’s attention to the B–3 (and give way to down–home choruses that never fail to charm), while De Vos favors lyrical single–note lines that are as lovely as Earland’s outbursts are kinetic. |
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