Discover Some Fascinating Details On The Chuck Pafenbach Trio

By Deborah Morgan


At present times, younger and more experimental musicians are emerging into the scene, causing many to redefine numerous genres of music today. With more musicians receiving their share of the spotlight, men and women today feel compelled to explore their musical tastes and preferences. Yet without the prominence of older artists who established these genres, none of them would exist today.

Jazz is one of those musical genres that have influenced other styles and created a huge impact with audiences across the world. The sound is defined by its use of poly rhythms and is heavily influenced by swing and blues. A band that has been playing songs that belong to this genre is the Chuck Pafenbach trio. For more information about them, here are some interesting facts you probably are not aware of.

From the name itself, there are three members that comprise it and one of those is Jeff Helmer. Best known as a professor and director of the Jazz Department over at the University of Texas. As a band mate, he has contributed as their key piano player but has also experimented with his style and went on to join various solo competitions across the nation. While failing to bag any awards, the was a finalist two consecutive times, proving his skill and mastery.

The bass player is named John Fregmen, who also has a teaching career at the University of Texas. He is known to be an associate professor and teaches how to play the bass and improvising while playing the instrument. The David Letterman show actually had him as a guest in one episode and his work has been featured on numerous American sitcoms and movies. As a solo artist, he has released four studio albums, one of which is titled Pieces of String.

Evidenced by their name, Chuck is the person credited for founding the band and bringing the three of them together to perform and record songs. He is the appointed drummer and is also a Jazz professor working for the same university. He was featured a few times in many Austin magazines and newspapers, who sited him as an excellent drummer in their area.

Two years after their initial conception, the trio released their first title appropriately called Introducing. While it had only three songs, it was enough to garner some attention with their talents and unique style of playing. The three tracks were all arranged musically by them and contained a hearty cover of Round Midnight by Thelonius Monk.

When 2005 rolled around, they released High Life. This time, it comprised ten tracks, which were also respectful renditions of old singles that are considered classics by most enthusiasts and fans of this genre. Sam Seifert is cited as their producer, who also directed the band musically to create a more defined sound. For their album artwork, Ann Pinion is its designer tasked with creating a good cover.

Jazz Dance was released two thousand eight, and featured the artwork La Danse, by the famous painter Henri Matisse. Seifert worked once more with them, but contained some songs that were mixed by Chuck himself. It was recorded in the same studio and once again, contained ten songs.

Their latest production was released for their fans in 2011, which comprised nine tracks. The release was given the name World Beat and this time, they also enlisted Will Harrison for its production. For its art cover, Jose Mata was enlisted as well.




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