Tobin's Run on 51: Billie and Ella, Side by Side

Having toured the world as an esteemed performer, clinician, recording artist, vocal instructor and ambassador, she has proven herself a reigning member of the jazz community. Her collaborations, covering a wide range of music and stylistic directions, have been cited and celebrated, far and wide.

Roseanna Vitro is a soulful communicator, showcasing a thirst for swinging hard and possessing an ear for melodic invention. Her strengths include rhythmic acuity and free-spirited spontaneity, often heard in her improvisations, using both scat syllables and lyrics.

Ms. Vitro’s signature energy and grace can be heard on a host of recordings, notable among them, her breakout recording on Telarc (Passion Dance), which featured Elvin Jones, Christian McBride and longtime musical partner, Kenny Werner, and compelling tributes to Ray Charles (Catchin’ Some Rays), Bill Evans (Conviction), and Brazil (Tropical Postcards), The Delirium Blues Project: Serve or Suffer on Half Note Records, 2008- is a live, blues-based recording of jazz and pop repertoire featuring Kenny Werner’s  arrangements and an all-star band of Kenny Werner, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Ray Anderson, Adam Rogers, John Patitucci, Rocky Bryant, Geoff Countryman.  In 2010, Roseanna formed the RNP Band (Randy Newman Project Group) with Mark Soskin, piano and arranging, Sara Caswell, Violin, Dean Johnson, Bass and Tim Horner drums. After many hours of research and rehearsals, “The Music of Randy Newman” was released by Motema Music. In 2011, “The Music of Randy Newman” was nominated for best vocal jazz album.  In 2012, Roseanna Vitro and Mark Soskin turned their attention in a new direction to the late, great Clare Fisher’s songbook. A musician’s musician, Clare is renowned for his harmonic and melodic depth. Clarity, The Music of Clare Fischer is slated for release on Random Act Records on September 30th, 2014.  Six new songs brought to life with lyrics by Paul Wickliffe (Roseanna’s husband and recording engineer), Roger Schore and Cheryl Pyle. 

Her band mates – on stage and in the studio – have included Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, George Coleman, ‘Fathead Newman,’ Eddie Gomez, Arnett Cobb, Elvin Jones, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, Eddie Daniels, Joey Baron, Al Foster, Rufus Reid, Buster Williams, Ben Riley, Allen Farnham, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner, Mark Soskin, Sara Caswell,  Randy Brecker, Ray Anderson, Adam Rogers, John Patitucci, Mino Cinelu.

Having served as an official Jazz Ambassador, sponsored in 2009 by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department and in 2004 by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. State Department, she has presented concerts and workshops around the world. Her celebrated performance in the Jazzaar 2010 – The Aargau Youth Pops Orchestra playing The Great American Songbook, (arranged by Bob Freedman – and Kevin Field conductor in Aarau, Switzerland will be aired on Swiss PBS Concert Series in 2011.  The Maribor Philharmonic in Slovenia was a televised Christmas ‘Special’ in Eastern Europe in 2001. Her studies of Indian vocal technique are documented in an article, “From Bebop to Bombay,” heralded by the International Association for Jazz Education Magazine.

Given her lifelong commitment to the art of jazz singing – exemplified by her myriad of achievements on the bandstand, in the studio, and in classrooms fronting jazz’s next generation – Roseanna displays a heart and a soul rare by any standards. She is a consummate artist whose professional outreach improves us all.

Mark Soskin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Soskin has recorded and performed with such diverse musicians as Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Buster Williams, Eddie Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Mann, John Abercrombie, Sheila Jordan, Gato Barbieri, David"Fathead"Newman, Mark Murphy, Slide Hampton, Miroslav Vitous, and many others.

Soskin attended Colorado State University where he pursued classical studies, but at this time his interests in jazz music were growing. In 1973 he enrolled in The Berklee College of Music, studying composition as well as arranging. In Boston he began to work professionally until moving to San Francisco, eventually going on to work with some of the west coast's finest players.

Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, Soskin was introduced to the Latin music legend, Pete Escovedo. Along with Pete's daughter, percussionist Sheila. E, they toured and recorded as Azteca, a group in which Soskin's keyboard, writing, and arranging talents were showcased. Eventually, the group, which now included Tom Harrell on trumpet, went on to record two discs for Fantasy Records, produced by drum ace Billy Cobham. Soskin was enlisted in Cobham's band, a stint that lasted for two years and which produced two recordings for Columbia. Between tours for Cobham, Soskin did a tour and live recording for the CBS All Stars with Tom Scott, Alphonso Johnson, Steve Khan, and Billy Cobham. At this time Soskin was very active as a session player at Fantasy studios in Berkeley, California and veteran jazz music producer Orrin Keepnews took notice.

Soskin signed his first recording contract with Prestige (a subsidiary of Fantasy) produced by Keepnews, entitled "Rhythm Vision." This featured the likes of Benny Maupin and Harvey Mason with the album eventually making it into Billboard's top ten Jazz Chart. Keepnews introduced Soskin to Sonny Rollins, which started a long, fruitful collaboration (14 years). Besides the extensive touring throughout the world, Soskin can be heard on a number of critically acclaimed recordings with the tenor sax master, including a video,"Saxophone Collosus”.

Since 1981 Soskin has resided in New York City, remaining active as sideman and as a leader. He has ten of his own recordings to date and three as co-leader.

He continues to maintain a busy tour schedule as well as giving master classes and workshops. Television performance credits include the HBO hit series, "Sex And The City." 

Soskin is currently on the faculty of The Manhattan School Of Music. He signed with the Kind of Blue label and produced three recordings for the company, all critically acclaimed. 

Bassist Peter Brendler grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He began his musical studies on electric bass, but soon gravitated towards the upright bass. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 2001 from Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, Peter was selected by the bass faculty to receive the John Neves Scholarship: a merit based scholarship awarded to an upright bassist who shows outstanding promise and commitment. During that time, he performed extensively throughout the Boston area after which, he relocated to NYC where he is now one of the most in demand bassists on the scene.

Returning to school from 2002 he earned his Masters in Music from Manhattan School of Music. He’s since worked with artists such as John Abercrombie, Rich Perry, Victor Lewis, Jon Irabagon & many more. In addition, Peter has also recorded three albums as a leader/co-leader the latest of which "Message in Motion" (Posi-Tone) was released in 2016.

David Mason was born in Dublin in 1976, and as a teenager studied drums with John Wadham. While still a resident in Dublin, he played regularly with Louis Stewart, Ozone and the Michael Buckley Quartet, and also performed with visiting artists such as Art Farmer and Charles McPherson. In 1995 he went to study with Keith Copeland at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and two years later (with the help of an Arts Council award), with Joe Chambers, Billy Hart and Carl Allen, at the New School in New York. During this time he returned to Ireland for a Music Network tour with Jean Toussaint and also to accompany Ingrid Jensen, Grant Stewart and Gerard Presencer at the Cork Jazz Festival. After completing his degree at the New School, he became a member of the house band at the Jazz Standard with David O'Rourke until 2001, and since then has divided his time between session work and tours with several notable groups, most recently the James Hunter Six. In 2010 he joined the Danish avant-pop ensemble Hess is More , and in 2011 formed his solo project, Listening Center, an outlet for his analogue electronic compositions, and which has released albums on UK labels Ghost Box and Polytechnic Youth. He continues to write, record and perform as a member of Hess is More and Listening Center; recent collaborations include those with Queens Poet Laureate Paolo Javier, novelist Michael Idov, and Mikkel Hess at the Royal Danish Ballet.

Phil Robson is a multi-award-winning, internationally-acclaimed guitarist, composer and bandleader. Originally from the UK, he relocated to NYC at the end of 2015 and is rapidly becoming one of the major figures on the music scene. He's worked with many of the greats, including David Liebman, Charles Earland, Steve Lacy, Maceo Parker, Barbra Streisand and BBC big band, and has also led his own bands featuring US stars such as Mark Turner, Billy Hart, Donny McCaslin, James Genus, Adam Nussbaum and many more. He and partner Christine Tobin have co-led the seminal UK band Partisans for more than 20 years.

Photo credit: Anthony Statham