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Mel Nusbaum

I'm originally from Chicago (played blues guitar and bass with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Mike Bloomfield, jazz guitar with John Klemmer and Hart McNee); Madison (co-founded the Original Imitations and Sebastian Moon; played with Michael Moss, Ben Sidran, Roscoe Mitchell); currently live in Tenafly, New Jersey; I have played jazz, funk, Latin and fusion guitar with the groups of Cecil Payne, Harold Ousley, Chico Hamilton, Howard McGhee, (including McGhee's big band with George Coleman), Patato Valdez, Cliff Dukes, The Brecker Brothers, Booker Ervin, Tom Malone, (producer of my first album, "Further Adventures of Sebastian Moon" with pianist Jose Hunt, drummer Rudy Lawless, and saxman Joe Ferguson). I've played guitar and enhanced the groups of Ted Curson, Lonnie Smith, Milt Larkin, Bill Hardman, and many others.

I am a very rhythmic player, at home in a hard driving rhythm section. Many people have described my style as exciting and creative. I've jammed and played with some of the great drummers, including Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Al Drears, George Brown and Charli Persip; pianists such as Harold Maeburn, Billy Taylor, Toshiko Akioshi, Joanne Brackeen, Richard Wyands, and Sir Roland Hanna. My bass mates have included Reggie Workman, the great Jimmy Garrett (musical director of the Supremes), Wilbur Bascomb (Aretha's bassman), Vishnu Wood, Paul Ramsey, Marcus MacLaurine, Stanley Banks and Mike Richmond.

Not content to stay in one place musically or mentally, I count versatility as one of my traits. For example, I've backed up the "Clown Prince of Bebop", Babs Gonzales; played 50's doowop rock 'n roll with the Crests; jammed with Rahsaan Roland Kirk; played at the Newport Jazz Festival with the U of Illinois big band. For a while, I could be found playing with funky jazz groups in the clubs of Harlem, and Latin groups in the Bronx after hours scene. I formed the Sounds of Space, a jazz/pop fusion group, and played the downtown free jazz loft scene. I organized a party and wedding band for upscale events that included veteran sidemen John Purcell, Wilbur Bascomb, Stanley Banks, Steve Butler and Jimmy Madison. I've played concerts and gigs leading a jazz quartet including Tim Armacost, Mike Richmond, and Eliot Zigmund. Switching over to piano, I have gotten deep into harmonies and composition. I studied with Roland Hanna and Barry Harris. Playing keys, I created Zone, a fusion group that has performed at the Jersey City Jazz Festival, Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center, Westbeth Music Festival, and numerous gigs and concerts around New York.

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