Bassist/Composer Robert Hurst to Release 2 New CDs Jan. 25

“Bob Ya Head” and “Unrehurst Vol. 2,”
due January 25 from Robert Hurst’s Bebob Records label, are the
esteemed bassist/composer’s first recordings as a leader in 10 years.

Richmond, CA (PRWE January 7, 2011

For the last ten years, bassist/composer Robert Hurst’s
commitments and accomplishments as in-demand sideman, film composer,
and university educator have left the music world anticipating new
recordings from him as a leader. He delivers this month with the
simultaneous release, on January 25, of two new and very different CDs
on his Bebob imprint—”Bob Ya Head,” an intriguing foray into world music
and electronica (with Darryl “Munyungo” Jackson, Marcus Belgrave, and
Karriem Riggins), and “Unrehurst Vol. 2,” a 2007 all-acoustic trio date
recorded at Smoke in New York City (with Robert Glasper and Chris
“Daddy” Dave).

“It is so rewarding to finally be releasing this new music,” says the
bassist. “It’s been quite a magical journey becoming the man and
musician my audience has come to know. The majority of my fans identify
me as a ‘straight-ahead’ jazz bass sideman, and while I love playing
jazz and will always do so, I found it necessary as an artist to express
my many other musical influences. I believe the one constant in jazz is
‘change.’ Each generation has broken the mold of the previous. With so
much more of my music already written and even recorded, I look forward
to all of my upcoming projects further addressing the notion of change
and the evolution of our music.”

Hurst, who in 2008 became an Associate Professor of Music with tenure
at the University of Michigan, worked on “Bob Ya Head” over a two-year
period while commuting between Los Angeles and relocating to his native
Michigan. He describes the music on his latest release as “the
culmination of my experiences while working and living in L.A,” where he
was based throughout the 1990s, as a founding member of the Tonight
Show with Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Band. Also, while becoming an active
studio musician on the Los Angeles music scene, he “got into world music
and heard African musicians and musicians of all ethnicities.” Hurst’s
electric and acoustic bass playing is featured on the “Ocean’s Eleven,”
“Twelve,” and “Thirteen” soundtracks, “and a lot of that music had an
electronica-type vibe. Some of it sounds really acoustic, but it’s quite
sampled and very high-tech.”

Due to record-breaking winter storms, “Unrehurst Vol. 2” was recorded
in New York without any rehearsal, but Hurst, pianist Robert Glasper,
and drummer Chris Dave clicked from the moment they hit the bandstand
and their empathy is evident from the adventurous performances on the
new disc. Hurst describes Dave as “an underground, super funky cat.”
Glasper, the bassist says, “is open to all kinds of music, and he’s
extremely fearless. It’s the gamut of total restraint to total abandon.”
Glasper was also featured on “Unrehurst Vol. 1” (Bebob, 2001), with
drummer Damion Reid.

Robert Hurst was born in Detroit and took up bass as a young boy
after seeing the Modern Jazz Quartet perform and meeting Percy Heath.
Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, a Detroit icon, was an early mentor for
Hurst, who began working professionally with Belgrave at 15. After
meeting drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts on a gig, Hurst was recommended by
Tain to his boss, Wynton Marsalis, whose group the bassist joined after
college and with whom he recorded seven albums for Columbia.

In 1989, Hurst began working with Branford Marsalis and remained for
five years, again recording for Columbia. Hurst continued on with
Branford to California to begin work on The Tonight Show. When Marsalis
left leadership of the show’s band in 1994, Hurst stayed on for another
six years.

The bassist debuted on record as a leader in 1993 with “Robert Hurst
Presents: Robert Hurst” (DIW/Columbia), featuring Kenny Kirkland,
Branford Marsalis, Marcus Belgrave, Ralph Jones, and Jeff “Tain” Watts.
Most of the music on the disc was specifically written with this exact
personnel in mind. The following year, Hurst released a trio session,
“One for Namesake” (DIW/Columbia), with Kirkland and Elvin Jones.

In recent years, the bassist has recorded and toured extensively with
Diana Krall and Chris Botti, and continues to do so. He’s maintained
his long association with Jeff “Tain” Watts and will perform with the
drummer’s band at the Jazz Standard in New York 1/18-23 and at the
Detroit Institute of the Arts 2/11 (also featuring Geri Allen).

Hurst is planning his CD release show—at Detroit’s Virgil Carr Center
3/11—and is scheduling a series of spring and summer appearances across
the nation. He’s also preparing a fall 2011 release of “Bob: A
Palindrome” (on Bebob), a sextet session with Glasper, Belgrave,
Branford Marsalis, Tain Watts, and Bennie Maupin. “Branford recently
told me, ‘You’ve got to be brave to do what WE do,’” says Hurst. “I
boldly agree and look forward to compiling a wealth of work which
exemplifies such bravery!”