Rob Wagner/Hamid Drake/Nobu Ozaki Trio appear in concert during the N.O. Jazz Fest Tuesday April 27 at Zeitgeist. New Orleans, Louisana - April 5, 2010. Valid Records presents the Rob Wagner/Hamid Drake/Nobu Ozaki Trio Tuesday April 27 at the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center. This will be their first show in New Orleans since their appearance at the 2008 N.O.J &H.F. Wagner, Drake, and Ozaki recorded their critically acclaimed Trio cd (Valid Records VR-1013) in December, 2005 shortly after Hurricane Katrina, on Frenchmen Street, the once and future pre-eminent music zone of New Orleans.

Rob Wagner studied classical saxophone and composition at DePaul University, Chicago. After graduation in 1991, he relocated to New Orleans, where he fell in with the street music scenes: the brass band revival on display in the TremŽ neighborhood, and the eclectic club situation emerging on Frenchmen Street. RobŐs longest lasting association has been as clarinetist and composer with the infamous New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, and he also was an integral member of the funk/hip-hop collective Iris May Tango, Latin dance bands Mas Mamones and Los Vecinos, and Michael Ray (of Sun Ra Awkestra and Kool and the Gang.) For the past fifteen years, Wagner'sŐ main musical focus has been his creative jazz trio. For five years prior to Hurricane Katrina, he held a weekly gig at the D.B.A. bar on Frenchmen Street, all in the company of bass master James Singleton, and succession of great New Orleans drummers, with whom he recorded three cds for Valid Records. Hurricane Katrina blew him to New York, but Wagner returns to New Orleans frequently to perform with the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars and Ven Pa ‚a flamenco ensemble. Drummer Hamid Drake is a true superstar in the creative jazz world. He is in constant worldwide demand, and he flies off to Europe two or three times a month to play with a wide range of internationally known artists: David Murray, Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Laswell, William Parker, Kidd Jordan, Ken Vandermark, and Peter Brštzmann as well as every important member of the European and American avant-garde jazz world. In addition Drake is a student of the whole world of percussion styles, and he is a master of numerous hand drums as well as the trap kit. His first appearance in New Orleans was back in the early 1980's with the Mandingo Griot Society, lead by kora player Foday Muso Susa, and he also has spent many years playing with reggae artists including: the Heptones, the I-Tals, Michael Rose, and Sister Carol. A peek at his discography will give some idea of the breadth and depth of his musical alliances. Hamid Drake is on tour with Peter Brštzmann, and this duet will appear in New Orleans Monday April 26 at the Big Top, presented by Anxious Sounds. Bassist Nobu Ozaki arrived in New Orleans from Japan 12 years ago as a drummer, but when a band leader offered to hire him if he got a bass, he began playing hundreds of dates a year, adding his tremendous ears and musical facility to trad gigs, the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, and all sorts of creative projects. Now he holds down a gig at the Ritz-Carlton with trumpeter/singer Jeremy Davenport, but he too is up for (and to) anything he can schedule.