Roaming the world with his guitar over the last 40 years, John Stowell has developed significant musical relationships with numerous artists along the way, including Swedish guitarist Ulf Bandgren who has been a consistent and inspired partner for ten years. Last heard together on their 2012 duo recording, "Throop," they gathered in Boston in the spring of 2016 to record this quartet set with the accomplished rhythm section of bassist Bruno Raberg and drummer Austin McMahon. The band's easy chemistry, engaging original compositions and rhythmic vitality make for a compelling and entertaining listen. "John Stowell plays jazz, but he doesn't use any of the cliches; he has an incredible originality. John is a master creator." - Larry Coryell.

“One can hear many influences in Bishop’s playing, including more than a touch of Elvin, but he is clearly an original voice…” – Percussive Notes As a drummer, educator, record label owner, graphic designer, and festival presenter, John Bishop has been one of the primary voices in Northwest Jazz for 40 years. He has performed in concerts and clubs with Lee Konitz, Slide Hampton, Benny Golson, George Cables, Kenny Werner, Bobby Hutcherson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Sonny Fortune, Herb Ellis, Buddy DeFranco, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Locke, Jerry Bergonzi, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Larry Coryell, and countless others. He’s appeared on more than 100 albums, was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2008, and was named a “Jazz Hero” by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2019.
“Great music without exception…a terrific organization and in my opinion, Bishop is one of the best cover designers in the world.” - Rudolf Radnai, Muszerordal, Budapest, Hungary In 1997, Bishop started the jazz label Origin Records (named Jazzweek’s 2009 “Label Of The Year”) and OriginArts, a graphic design & CD production company, to help further the exposure of creative artists and their music. With the help of his ex-drum student, Matt Jorgensen, they have released over 725 recordings by 370 artists from around the world. In 2002 they added another jazz label, OA2 Records, a classical imprint, Origin Classical in 2008, and in 2003 began Seattle’s annual 4-day Ballard Jazz Festival. Bishop has designed over 800 CD packages and numerous book covers, banners, posters, and other graphics for clients around the globe. He was on the NW chapter Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and annually takes part in multiple music conferences & events, including JazzCongress (NYC), JazzWeek (San Jose), JazzAhead (Bremen), Jazz Education Network, and occasionally, NAMM, PASIC, MIDEM (Cannes), and the Grammys.
“…the high level of integration and communication Hal Galper’s trio displays is rare and quite thrilling to experience…” – DOWNBEAT Along with bassist Jeff Johnson, Bishop is a member of New York pianist Hal Galper’s Trio where over the last 15 years, they’ve released 7 acclaimed albums and toured internationally. They also perform with Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez, including an appearance at the 60th Monterey Jazz Festival, and are members of the 20-year-old collective Scenes with guitarist John Stowell & saxophonist Rick Mandyck. Bishop has also toured Belgium and recorded 3 albums over the last decade with the Chad McCullough / Bram Weijters Group, a Belgian/American project.
“Bishop’s drumming is unfailingly imaginative and fervid.” – CODA Magazine Born in Seattle and raised in Germany, Washington, DC, San Antonio and Eugene, Bishop started playing drums at 7 in Washington, DC with the Patriots drum corp. He performed regularly throughout high school and college in Oregon, studying with Mel Brown and Charles Dowd and attending the University of Oregon, later transferring to the jazz program at North Texas State University. He moved to Seattle in 1981 for an extended engagement with the band Glider and never left. An unusually creative and fertile scene at the time, Seattle offered performances with top touring artists and the opportunity to create long and substantial musical relationships with inspired Northwest musicians.
In the early ’80s, he was a member of the fusion group Blue Sky, which released two Top 10 albums and performed extensively throughout the decade. For 20 years, he was with the piano trio New Stories along with pianist Marc Seales and bassist Doug Miller. They had 4 CDs of their own, 6 with be-bop saxophonist Don Lanphere, and a Grammy-nominated RCA release with Mark Murphy. They were regulars at Bud Shank’s Pt. Townsend Jazz Festival, headlined the 1993 JVC Jazz Festival in Vladivostok, Russia, and also appeared in concerts with Tom Harrell, Julian Priester, Charles McPherson, Vincent Herring, Nick Brignola, Conte Condoli, Bobby Shew & Larry Coryell. They also performed around the country as a trio or touring with Mark Murphy, Ernie Watts or Don Lanphere. Their tune “Highway Blues,” from Speakin’ Out, was embedded as one of two music samples in Windows XP, which went on to sell 700 million units. Their 2014 recording, Hope is in the Air: the Music of Elmo Hope, was produced by Don Sickler & engineered by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in NJ.
“The New Stories trio is likewise nothing less than extraordinary. Drummer John Bishop, particularly, is one of the finest on the scene.” – Jazz Review He’s taught drums privately for 46 years and was on faculty at the University of Washington from 2005-2009. He regularly does drum and jazz workshops throughout the country with the Hal Galper Trio, including recent events at the University of North Texas, University of Indiana, Dartmouth, Cal Arts, The New School, Purchase Conservatory-NYC, William Paterson University, University of Louisville, San Jose State University, The California Jazz Conservatory, and Kent State University. In 2018, Bishop co-founded The Real(ity) Book, a web-based, HD Video Play-Along education system for jazz musicians.
Bishop has also toured internationally with Buddy Greco, the McGuire Sisters, and the Harry James Orchestra, and has performed with Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Bob Newhart, Rich Little, The Hi-Los, Frankie Avalon, the Drifters, the Coasters, the Platters, Pete Barbutti, the Seattle Symphony, and many others.
He has an understanding wife, 2 dogs & a cat, and drives Volvos exclusively… For a more complete list of recording credits, visit the All Music Guide: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-bishop-mn0000810079/credits

Bassist Jeff Johnson has had a dynamic influence on jazz music in Seattle since his arrival three decades ago, despite not having released a recording as a leader since his quartet date almost a decade ago, Suitcase (Origin, 2011). Whether playing live around his chosen hometown, or hitting the road with such artists as Hal Galper and Karrin Allison, Johnson's original style has had a noticeable and immediate impact on his musical surroundings throughout his storied career. While Seattle fans have come to know him as a veritable undercurrent of the vibrant local jazz scene, Johnson's roots run deep from time spent on the road with the likes of Philly Joe Jones, Barney Kessell, Chet Baker, Lew Tabackin, Mark Murphy and Ernestine Anderson to name a few. In the early 90's he began a pair of relationships with pianists Galper and Jessica Williams, and found a vital identity as a trio bassist of the highest caliber. His deeply original sound has a mystical edge that seems to challenge soloists to read and react, producing soaring and spontaneous results. Johnson has recorded and toured with drummer John Bishop and guitarist John Stowell in the trio Scenes that has produced five albums on the Origin label. He has, as well, collaborated with Bishop, along with pianist Bill Anschell and saxophonist Brent Jensen in the Seattle based band, Wellstone Conspiracy. Johnson's well documented work with the ever eclectic Galper has risen to revolutionary proportions in exploring Galper's rubato notions reinventing a concept of time that expresses a read and react elasticity. His elegant vibrato, inventive bow work, and bone crushing use of chords and harmonics allows Galper to live at a musical crossroads that presents many routes of travel. Bishop's almost symphonic drum and cymbal work, dynamically original in itself, joins with Johnson as two souls revolving around a common center. Johnson's partnership with Galper has come full circle in the past two years, with two releases that mostly feature the bassist's original compositions. His compositional work is imaginative and spiritual in nature, providing just enough structure for form, with ample space for free playing. The trio added tenor saxophone giant Jerry Bergonzi for Cubist (Origin, 2018), adding another layer to the fabric of Galper's rubato vision. Just recently, a live trio date recorded at Yardbird Suite in Edmonton was released, bearing witness to the amazing late career surge for Galper that has perhaps been the most startling contribution to the legacy of the piano trio for more than a generation. Aptly titled The Zone (Origin, 2020), Johnson's compositions "Scene West" and "Cubist" highlight a trailblazing approach to composition and melodic improvisation that like his signature playing on bass, stands out as original and fearless. While many writers and broadcasters may view Johnson's career as flying somewhat under the radar, those that have followed his path from his native Minneapolis, to Texas and Oklahoma, and finally to his landing in Seattle in 1990, know him as one of the genre's most inventive bassists. They can hear the midwest. They most certainly can hear the Texas in his approach. Now thirty years into his tenure in Seattle, you can hear the vibe of his chosen home as vividly as the morning rain pounding rooftops around the city on a gray winter's day.

After nearly two decades of performing together, the rapport between the legendary Portland guitarist John Stowell, and Seattlites, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, has reached such a level of intimacy and connectedness, they transcend the traditional concept of a "guitar trio." Whether performing their intriguing originals or the thoughtful reimaginings of less-done classics, each piece is a ticket to somewhere unique, like a travelogue of where the trio's members have been and where they would like to go. Documented on six albums for Origin Records, their music continually inspires comments from reviewers bordering on the poetic: "Whispers of intelligent messages." Jazz Weekly - "...images of chilly mists rolling into town off the cold Puget Sound, filmy tendrils drifting up dark, shadowy streets." All About Jazz - "Fertile is the band's mind and talent for a sound ethereal." All About Jazz.