JOHN grew up and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. He started playing guitar at age 14 after becoming obsessed with recordings of Mahavishnu Orchestra. In college he fixated on the music of Charlie Parker then Thelonious Monk. Jazz, free, rock, punk and classical music inspires him. He still plays in a pianoless Monk cover band. Along the way he studied guitar with Harry Andrew (a graduate of New England Conservatory) and Adam Levy (long before his stint with Norah Jones) and learned much in Attila Zoller's Vermont workshops with Jim Hall and others.
RICK RIVERA'S approach to drumming is wonderfully melodic, especially in solos. Rick has recorded with several unusual musicians, including Tolem McDonas. Rick is from Boston and sometimes lets his accent loose.
Bassist RYAN LUKAS relocated to California in 2007 from upstate NY with intense enthusiasm but no accent. Ryan's work in bands encompass many styles -- Afro-beat, Hip Hop, Funk, Rock, Jazz and Fusion. Accomplished on both acoustic and electric bass, Ryan teaches bass at Santa Clara University and BandWorks School of Rock. His recordings with the jazz band “Brian Patneaude Quartet” and the Latin band “Alex Torres y su Orquestra” get radio play worldwide.
GABE DAVIS was born into a musical family and really didn't have much of a choice about becoming a musician. He settled on bass after a dispute in a Green Day cover band. He's since played in jazz, rock, funk and techno bands and even classical orchestras. Music takes Gabe throughout the U.S. and Europe. (He never mentions this, but he graduated with a degree in music from Stanford University.)
ROB RHODES played drums on tracks 2, 8 and 9 of the 2009 CD "Technot." Rob lives in Oakland and plays jazz, R&B, heavy metal, funk and experimental music in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country.
JEFF CHAMBERS played bass on 6 tracks on the 2006 CD, "John William Gordon." Chambers is an inspired bass player. He's played with many wonderful musicians, from Dizzy Gillespie to Freddy Hubbard, Herbie Hancock and many others. He holds bebop close to heart but also loves latin and fusion jazz and Indian music -- he even had his own Mahavishnu-Weather Report cover band.
TODD SICKAFOOSE played on 3 tracks on the first CD, "John William Gordon." He lives in New York and has recorded with several fine musicians plus released his own fine CDs. Sickafoose coordinated a vacation trip to the San Francisco Bay Area with recording with us in Berkeley at Fantasy Studios. He played wonderfully, in spite of catching a flu-like glarg thing from me and the drummer (it screwed up Todd's vacation and caused him to miss his good friend's wedding). He was gracious and philosphical about this, and after mostly recovering, hunkered down in the studio for a day of grimy inspired playing.
Dave Wellhausen is an excellent engineer with over 25 years experience. He knows how to make a relaxing vibe in the studio. Dave has recorded many big names in rock, jazz, blues and other genres. Dave also rips on blues harp and has recorded several of his own blues and bluegrass CDs playing harmonica, mandolin and guitar. Davewellhausen.com
John created the art and layout for the 2009 CD, "Technot." Audrey Heller took the cover photo for the 2006 CD, "John William Gordon." Audrey is a professional fine art photographer. Audrey Heller Photography. Alex Kopps layed out the graphics on the back, inside and front of the 2006 CD. Alex shows worldwide.