Tobin’s Run on 51: Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Christine Tobin, an Irish born vocalist and composer renowned for her unique, rich voice and original compositional style, is based between New York City and London. With eleven highly acclaimed CDs and four major awards under her belt, Christine is treasured in the UK and beyond as one of the leading lights in the contemporary music scene. In 2008, she won Best Vocalist at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards.

Christine’s voice was described by the Guardian as “24 carat,” praising her both for the poetry of her compositions and the warmth of her voice. Her style, though rooted in jazz, is eclectic and draws on a broad range of influences: the Irish Times called it “music that veers from grungy, post-industrial grooves to wispy romanticism to abstracted contemporary classical.” She has led various projects and in 2012 won a British Composer Award for Sailing to Byzantium, her settings of WB Yeats’s poems. The following year, she won a Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her show A Thousand Kisses Deep, her imaginative versions of the late Leonard Cohen classics. In 2014 she won Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Earlier in her career Christine won Best Vocalist at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards.

International touring vocalist Michelle Walker is a NYC based jazz singer that All About Jazz called "a singer with extraordinary musicality" and the Washington Post said "has a soul-comforting allure." As a solo artist, she has amassed an extensive touring resume and audiences have fallen in love with her arrangements and genre-bending approach to jazz vocal art. She recently completed a tour in South East Asia with Kurt Elling, Patti Austin, the Yellowjackets, Sting, Chris Botti, Monty Alexander and more, including headline shows at the JAVA Jazz Festival in Indonesia. Michelle studied music at the University of Maryland and Amsterdam Conservatory of Music. She also holds a masters in economics and public policy from American University. 

Born in Oakland, CA, and raised in Salt Lake City, Sam Bevan took classical piano lessons from the age of four. He sang and played professionally before deciding to dedicate himself to bass and composing. Sam moved back to Northern California in 1999, where his versatility and creativity in jazz, funk, folk and Afro-Cuban music performance has kept him busy with projects both in California and New York. Sam has worked with artists including David Grisman, Roswell Rudd, Stacey Kent, Joshua Redman, Monk’s Music Trio, Kenny Washington, Meklit Hadero, Peter Apfelbaum, Jacqui Naylor, Zigaboo Modeliste, Jim Kweskin, Maria Muldaur, Houston Person the Industrial Jazz Group, and the Matt Flinner Trio. He has released three CDs as a leader; Emergence is the most recent. Sam also holds a BA in French.

Sean Fitzpatrick has been an active member of the New York jazz and creative music scene as both sideman and leader for 16 years. He has built a reputation as a performer, arranger and composer, and his collaborations with musicians from diverse musical backgrounds have seen him tour extensively throughout the US, Europe and Japan in venues including the Blue Note, Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Tokyo City Opera House, the Montreux Jazz Festival and Jazz a Juan Festival (Juan Les Pan, FR). He has performed with the likes of Eric Reed, Victor Goines, Ron Affif, Bill Saxton, Frank Lacy, Memo Acevedo, Matt Wilson, the Rat Pack, Charlie Persip, Alex Sipiagin, Antonio Hart and New York Voices.

At LIU-Post, he has held the positions of area director for the jazz program, director of Jazz Ensemble, co-director of the Jazz Combos, accompanist for the Long Island Sound Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and taught courses in jazz improvisation and jazz theory.  

Since 2012 he has been the accompanist for the NYSSMA All-State and Nassau County vocal jazz groups and also works as accompanist/musical director in the NYC area for musical theater productions, including West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Into the Woods and Fiddler on the Roof.

"Joy and spirited musical communication" are what characterize the artistry of Alvester Garnett's drumming. Legendary singers such as Abbey Lincoln and the late great Betty Carter, instrumentalists Wynton Marsalis, James Carter, Regina Carter, and Cyrus Chestnut have all called on Mr. Garnett for the energy and fire that he brings to the bandstand. Mr. Garnett has also worked in the bands of many other great artists. The list includes, Roy Hargrove's Quintet, Benny Golson, Al Grey, Stefon Harris, Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center's Jazz For Young People Concerts, James Carter's Quartet and Quintet, Lou Donaldson's Quartet along with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jackie Terrason's Trio, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Rodney Jones, Kevin Mahogany, Clark Terry, Eric Reed, Wycliffe Gordon, Sherman Irby, Pharaoh Sanders, Jimmy Witherspoon, Milt Hinton, Marcus Printup, Greg Osby, John Hicks, Wes Anderson, Teddy Edwards, Ellis Marsalis, Ron Affif, Jeff Clayton, Ronald Westray, Fabio Morgera, Werner "Vana" Gierig, Dr. Michael White and the Richmond Symphony. Currently Mr. Garnett resides in Brooklyn, New York where he continues to grow musically and performs throughout the country and internationally.

Phil Robson is a multi-award-winning, internationally-acclaimed guitarist, composer and bandleader. Originally from the UK, he relocated to NYC in 2015 and is rapidly becoming one of the major figures in 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 bands of his own featuring US stars such as Mark Turner, Billy Hart, Donny McCaslin, James Genus, Adam Nussbaum and many more. He and his partner Christine Tobin have co-led the seminal UK band Partisans for more than 20 years.