THE BAND

Ombak is an instrumental music quintet based in Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 2006 by trombonist and composer Bryan Hooten, Ombak’s original music lives at the intersection of jazz, math-rock, noise, and salsa. Guitarist Trey Pollard, bassist Cameron Ralston, drummer Brian Jones and saxophonist J.C. Kuhl complete an ensemble that by turns locks together in relentless precision or explores the outer reaches of an improvised soundscape.

Bryan Hooten: trombone/tunes
J.C. Kuhl: reeds
Trey Pollard: guitar
Cameron Ralston: bass
Brian Jones: drums

Bryan Hooten: trombone/tunes

“Hooten’s playing is more angular, building architectures of counterbalanced, cantilevered forms.” -Style Weekly

Bryan Hooten is a trombonist, composer and educator who performs with
a variety of ensembles from across the musical spectrum. Most notably,
Hooten plays trombone and composes for Ombak, described by
www.bagatellen.com as “an extraordinarily unique group, a swaggering
quartet that chomps and bellows like Albert Mangelsdorff fronting
prog-rock.”  Ombak’s debut album, Framing the Void, is available now
and has earned rave reviews from local and national media. Hooten is
also one of two trombonists in the eight-piece group Fight the Big
Bull, whose debut album on Clean Feed Records has been called
“refreshingly original and, at many points, breathtaking” by All About
Jazz New York. With this group he has shared the stage with Ken
Vandermark and Steven Bernstein and David Karsten Daniels. Hooten also records and performs with
the New Orleans and kung-fu-inspired No BS Brass, folk-rockers The
Great White Jenkins and the experimental trombone/drums duo, Verbatim. Hooten is a former member of the
acclaimed salsa band Bio Ritmo, with whom he has toured the United
States and Puerto Rico, performing at myriad clubs and concert venues
along the eastern U.S. as well as such landmarks as Lincoln Center and
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Hooten has composed and arranged for small and large jazz and chamber
groups, wind ensemble, chorus, and solo trombone. He has written for
such jazz luminaries as Seamus Blake and Scott Colley as well as VCU’s
own Rex Richardson and his work has been published by the University
of Northern Colorado Jazz Press.

As an educator, Hooten currently teaches Jazz Orchestra II, Small Jazz Ensembles, Jazz Composition lessons and Music Theory at VCU. He
directs the James River High School Jazz Band, teaches trombone
lessons at Hanover High School and is the assistant director of the
Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band at VCU. Since the summer of
2007, he has served on the music faculty of the Governor’s School for
the Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts where he teaches brass
ensembles and courses on music theory, salsa music and Zen Buddhism.

Hooten studied jazz and classical trombone at the University of
Southern Mississippi, receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies
in 2004. In 2006 he earned a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance at
Virginia Commonwealth University.

Trey Pollard: guitar

Trey Pollard’s introduction to music began with piano lessons at the age of six. At age 12, he switched to the guitar. In high school, he attended the Governor’s School for the Performing Arts where he was first exposed to jazz from his guitar teacher Woody Beckner. After high school, Trey attended Virginia Commonwealth University as a Jazz Studies Major. There he studied jazz guitar with Mike Ess and arranging/composition with Doug Richards. In addition to Ombak, Trey has been a member of Modern Groove Syndicate, The Devil’s Workshop Big Band, the Dean Fields Brian Jones Double Guitar Quartet, Bungalo 6, Taylor Barnett’s 10-tet, and Rex Richardson’s X-Ray Rextet among others. Trey is a composer and has had his work played by the Devil’s Workshop, the Patchworkestra, the River City String Quartet, and Taylor Barnett’s 10-tet. He also composes music for media and most recently has written for a Barack Obama TV ad as well as the feature film, Border Town, produced locally in Virginia.

Cameron Ralston: bass

Since graduating from the University of Virginia in 2002, Cameron Ralston has become one of the most sought after bassists in Virginia. He maintains a busy schedule as a freelancer with many of the area’s top jazz musicians including John D’earth, John Toomey, Jeff Decker, and Steve Kessler as well as VCU’s own outstanding faculty members, Bob Hallahan, Skip Gailes and Rex Richardson. He performs locally, regionally and nationally with various Richmond-based bands including ILAD, Fight the Glows in the Dark, Ombak, and Os Magrelos. Ralston has also performed with internationally recognized jazz icons, Ken Vandermark, Matt Wilson, Moses and Paul Bollenback. Ralston’s list of outstanding bass teachers includes UVA’s Pete Spaar, VCU’s Victor Dvoskin, and Mark Dresser.

For almost three years, he played with the legendary Richmond salsa band, Bio Ritmo, touring the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. With Ritmo, Ralston performed at The Lincoln Center, Central Park, The Hothouse in Chicago, Austin’s South by Southwest music festival and many other celebrated venues around the country. Having gained invaluable musical and life experience with Bio Ritmo, Ralston left the band to focus his creative energies with his band ILAD. With ILAD, he assumes a primary role as songwriter and composer and has toured up and down the East Coast sharing the stage with many established groups including The Sea and Cake, Thao Nguyen, Lymbyc System, Shenanigans.tv, and others. In December of 2006, Ralston traveled to Chicago with ILAD to work with musical guru, John McEntire (Tortoise, Sea and Cake, Stereolab, etc.) at his famed SOMA studio. The resulting work, National Flags, was ILAD’s second album to date, and they have just recently finished recording their third album which is a much anticipated double-disc entitled Here There. Ralston’s name can be found on many other recordings, including Fight the Big Bull’s celebrated debut release, Dying Will be Easy for Clean Feed Records, two albums by Glows in the Dark, Tall by Josh Small and various other independent jazz, folk, rock and pop recordings. While committed to various bands and projects as well as maintaining an active freelancing and teaching career, he still finds time to compose his own music. Ralston is currently working on a solo project called Humans, which he hopes to unveil in the coming months.

Brian Jones: drums

Brian Jones was born February 5, 1973 in Pittsburgh, PA. While in high school, he studied jazz drumming with professors at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh. Jones attended the University of Richmond from 1991-1995 where he studied drum set and percussion with Howard Curtis and performed with the school’s various jazz ensembles. He also began performing with some of Virginia’s finest musicians, including John D’earth, Glenn Wilson, Mike Davison, Steve Kessler, and Clarence Seay. Jones graduated from UR in Spring 1995 with a B.A. in History.

From 1995-2000 Jones played drums, wrote songs, and shared singing duties with RCA recording artists Agents of Good Roots. During the band’s five-year career, they released 6 CDs and played 200+ shows a year, sharing the stage with the Dave Matthews Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Blues Traveler, and Widespread Panic. As a session drummer, Jones has recorded with various independent artists including Erin McKeown (Grand, Nettwerk) and Chris Keup (The Subject of Some Regret, Grantham Dispatch), as well as major label artists Jason Mraz (Waiting For My Rocket To Come, Elektra), Rachel Yamagata (Happenstance, RCA) and Mandy Moore (Wild Hope, Firm Music). He has worked with Boyd Tinsley (of the Dave Matthews Band) on the 2006 Wimbledon theme song and had a compostion featured in a NASCAR commercial that ran during the 2007 season.

Jones performs locally in many settings, often with his own ensembles playing various styles of jazz and new music. Jones started Slang Sanctuary Records in 1999 as a limited edition record label focusing on creative music. Since 1999 Slang Sanctuary has released fourteen CDs, including: Jones + Kuhl Bluebook, Mao Amore Mao Amore, Boots of Leather Foil, Jones Quintet Spellcanon, Jones (Guitar) Quartet Lux and the Jones Double Quartet Fivefinger. Since 2001, Jones has taught drum set and percussion extensively in the Richmond community. Currently, he is on faculty at the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, the College of William and Mary, and the Collegiate School. He lives in Richmond, VA with his wife Caroline and daughters Ella and Iris. For more information on purchasing CDs on the Slang Sanctuary record label, visit www.slangsanctuary.com.

J.C Kuhl: reeds

J.C. Kuhl is a native of Baltimore, Md., he plays saxophone, flute and clarinet and studied at Towson State University, where he majored in jazz/commercial music. After working in clubs in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area, he moved to Richmond in 1995 and joined the eclectic rock band Agents of Good Roots, which fused many different styles including jazz, hip-hop and classical. They toured incessantly for six years, playing more than 200 shows a year.