Ardeshir

Saxophone 

Ardeshir Pourkeramati is currently  based in Vancouver, BC, and works within different jazz idioms, from hard-bop to jazz fusion. A graduate of the doctoral jazz program at USC’s Thornton School of Music, he has worked with notable Canadian jazz musicians including Brad Turner, Cory Weeds, John Korsrud, Steve Kaldestad, John Lee, Jodi Proznick, and Jon Bentley. He has also been a part of the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra, the Hard Rubber Orchestra, Goma Dura, the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, and the Colin Sankey Group. Ardeshir currently leads his jazz quintet, as well as his fusion group “ArdyTronics”. Regardless of musical genre, his sound and adventurous spirit make him a compelling presence in the present jazz scene. 

​

A long-time student of saxophone guru Stan Karp, Ardeshir completed his doctorate in jazz studies at the University of Southern California, where he studied with jazz greats Bob Mintzer, Clarence Penn, and Vince Mendoza. During his studies, he played in the Thornton Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Bob Mintzer and was also mentored by the legendary Ralph Moore and Eric Reed. Ardeshir received his master’s degree from the University of Oregon under the direction of Steve Owen. There he had the chance to perform with guest artist Sean Jones with the Oregon Jazz Ensemble, while also playing with the school’s honors “JazzArts” combo. During this time he had the chance to study with the legendary Dave Liebman. 

Kris Bowerman

 Trombone

As a child Kris took years of private lessons on trombone, ending up with a Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from San Francisco State University. At age seventeen he began passing on his knowledge to younger students, giving one-on-one instruction to aspiring trombonists as well as students of the trumpet, French horn, euphonium (baritone), and tuba.

The first two major performances for Kris were at the Monterey Jazz Festival — performing with some of the most well-known jazz artists of the time (Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Clark Terry, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Watrous, and others). He went on to perform in symphony orchestras, Dixieland bands, swing bands, Renaissance groups, brass ensembles, an original music group with his wife Lark, and in small group jazz bands.

Presently, Kris runs a small jazz group called the Kris Jay Trio, which performs around the Vancouver area for various events, including concerts. Under the name Kris Jay, he is also publishing original music featuring trombone on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Brent Gubbels

 Bass

Brent Gubbels has been a Vancouver based professional musician and teacher for nearly twenty years. In that time he’s worked with a number of local musicians and ensembles including the Hard Rubber Orchestra, Gypsalero, Rumba Calzada, John Reischman, the Vince Mai Project, Jesse Zubot, Dal Richards, Lee Aaron and Dee Daniels.

Since 1992, he has toured North America and Europe extensively and played a variety of international jazz and folk festivals. Brent can be heard on recordings by Oscar Lopez, Gypsalero, Juno nominees Susan Crowe and Compadres, Juno winner James Keelaghan, and others.

Thomas Holden

Trumpet

Thomas Houlden is a Vancouver-based brass player with deep influences from Kenny Wheeler, Booker Little, and Bob Brookmeyer. He directs a large ensemble (The Thomas Houlden 11tet) built off the legacy of the Rob McConnell Tentet to perform his original compositions and arrangements, invoking sounds from The Boss Brass, The Jazz Messengers, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. He regularly performs around Vancouver as a small and large jazz ensemble player, and trumpeter/arranger covering video game music with the jazz-fusion band missingNo. since 2012.

Thomas holds an B.Mus in Jazz Studies from Capilano University where he studied trumpet with Brad Turner and Kevin Elaschuk, and a M.Mus in Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto where he worked with Chase Sanborn and Jim Lewis. He has performed with world-class musicians including Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, Claudio Roditi, Bill Frisell, and John Abercrombie. He studied arrangement and composition with Terry Promane and John MacLeod of The Boss Brass, as well as Vancouver’s Jill Townsend and Rejean Marois. His pieces have been played by the Hard Rubber Orchestra and by various university and high-school ensembles across Canada.

When not writing or performing, Thomas currently works as a band teacher, private instructor, and jazz/brass clinician in the Greater Vancouver area. He has begun remote-recording several of his 11tet compositions, hiring a rotating cast of musicians from across Canada, which are available on his YouTube channel. A four-track EP by the Thomas Houlden Sextet recorded in 2018, “The Price of Wisdom,” is also available for purchase and download on Bandcamp.

Chris Fraser

Guitar

Chris Fraser is a highly sought-after guitarist in Vancouver’s bustling music scene. He frequently performs as both a bandleader and a sideman, gracing the stages of the city’s premier jazz venues, including Frankie’s Jazz Club and Tyrant Studios. Known for his versatility and adaptability, Fraser has an impressive repertoire that spans straight-ahead jazz, experimental improvised music, and professional musical theatre productions.
Born in Federal Way, Washington and raised in Surrey, BC, Chris has been playing guitar professionally for over 20 years and has earned a reputation as one of the most active and connected musicians in Vancouver. Chris composes and arranges his own original music for his quintet and trio, but is also involved in many of the local jazz scene’s most exciting new creative music projects including Dean Thiessen’s Stranger Friends Orchestra, Ruthie Ha Big Band, and the John Nicholson Quintet. Additionally, Fraser is often referred as a “first-call” guitarist to accompany touring and visiting national and international artists alike.

Elliot Polksy

Drums 

Based in Vancouver, BC – Elliot Polsky is known for being a versatile, intuitive and musical performer. He is skilled in multiple musical styles on drum set, world and hand percussion – Elliot has performed live on stage locally, nationally and internationally. He has many studioand live recordings to his credit, and has provided leadership and guidance to many students, some of whom have gone on to their own professional careers. His performing arsenal includes the drum set, along with a variety of percussion instruments from all over the world. He is noted for his creativity and ability to blend hand percussion with the drum set into a hybrid percussive and musical style completely his own.

From the early 1990’s to today, Elliot has performed on dozens of recordings, and hundreds of stages. He has performed and/or recorded projects with a varied group of musical artists. Urban Bandscape, Leela Gilday, Pacifika, The Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir, Zubot and Dawson, George Leach, Jim Byrnes, Norine Braun, Dave Quinn Quartet, Jamie Croil, Mariam Matossian, The Higgins Family Band, Gary Fjellgard, The Paperboys, Steve Dawson, Danielle Hebert, Babe Gurr, are a sampling of the many fine artists Elliot has had the privilege of sharing the stage or performing on their recordings.

Elliot also has performed with several artists who have won a variety of major awardsincluding: Four Juno-award winning projects, Maple Blues Awards, Aboriginal Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, Western Canadian Music Awards and West Coast Music Awards.

Elliot has many years as an educator, having guided students of all ages, whether one on one or in group settings, on the drumset in many styles, and with hand percussion.

  Stephen Robb

director – WInds, Piano

Stephen is an accomplished clarinetist jazz pianist, saxophonist, and arranger performing both classical chamber music and jazz idioms, performing the gamut from classical clarinet, chamber, and orchestral repertoire to jazz standards, original compositions, and free improvisation. Stephen is a graduate of Queen’s University at Kingston, McGill University in Montreal and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Currently, Stephen is Music Director of the Delta Community Music School, and the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra. He teaches clarinet, saxophone and jazz piano at the Delta Community Music School. He is a member of the Kris Jay Trio and leads his own jazz piano trio.