All About Me Hello, my name is Nicole Armed with the four jazz tunes they all
knew, the trio produced a tape that was good enough for the band to be hired by Kilpatrick Stockton, one of the largest law firms in
Raleigh, for their gala celebration opening their new offices. They knew four tunes wouldn't be enough to last them the entire three hours
they'd agreed to play at Kilpatrick Stockton, though, and to increase their repertoire, the three practiced long into the night in the basement
of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where the guitar player's father was the minister. By November 16, the group - now known as "The
After-Hours Jazz Combo" because of those marathon practices that would last until 2 in the morning - impressed the lawyers and their
guests enough that the firm offered to recommend the band if they ever needed a reference.
Over three years later, in 2003, the After-Hours Jazz Combo is still alive and well. The members of the band, all of whom are students
or graduates of N.C. State in non-music fields, have come together and stayed together through their mutual love of playing and
performing. Their influences could hardly be more varied (from classical Bach to heavy-metal Rush and a lot in between), but as a group,
all their influences mesh to provide an enjoyable and unique mainstream jazz sound.
The band began in that practice room with pianist Rob Lamarche, bassist Stewart Aull, and guitarist Jon Lanford, and for their first few
months, the trio played exclusively at university functions. In January 2000, drummer Chris Richardson joined the band, and in December
of the same year, saxophonist Courtney Long joined as well. 2001 was the year the combo began to shift their focus from playing
university jobs to playing in public restaurants and other spots. Bookstore chain Borders was one of the first places to give the band a
shot, and the combo moved from there to upscale eateries such as Irregardless in Raleigh and (now-defunct) Trilogy in Greensboro. After
Jon, one of the combo's original members, went his separate way due to time commitments in August 2001, the band's personnel has
remained steady. The piano-saxophone-bass-drums quartet has been our lineup since then, and those players and instruments have given
us a wide range of creativity and musical expression. We continue to add to our book constantly with "new" standards as well as original
tunes we've composed ourselves.
Today, we play in places we never even considered in that dank, sharply-lit practice room, huddled around our one copy of the music.
In April 2002, we released our first public CD, which, although free, was a major step in our development. Back
in 1999, our biggest recording project was a tape of Christmas arrangements (written by someone else) we created as a present for our
parents. Our website back then was a one-page, white-background, bare-bones creation, and what you're looking at now is perhaps the
most visible representation of our growth. However, amid all these changes, our mission and driving force remains the same - to create and
bring to you music that we enjoy playing and that you will hopefully enjoy listening to.
So, thanks for coming to our site. Spend a few minutes browsing around - read our bios, listen to our online tracks, check out our
upcoming calendar. Then talk to us; let us know what you think.
Enjoy your visit ... hope to see you at a performance soon ... and keep swinging!
