Vinnie Rodriguez has assembled an exciting quartet to accompany him on an exploration of the trombone in modern jazz: Scott Larson, Adam Shulman and Robert Overbury.

The quartet will be focusing on hard-swingin’ tunes by Blue Note artists including Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd and JJ Johnson from the late ’50s and early ’60s. Trombonist Scott Larson’s original composition “Blackjack,” with Lee Morgan’s classic “Sidewinder” beat, will get the full treatment by the quartet.

Trombonist Scott Larson was born in Minnesota, but grew up in Santa Cruz. He studied with the great arranger and jazz educator Ray Brown at Cabrillo College in Aptos. Since moving to SF in the early 2000’s, Scott’s music calendar has stayed very busy both as a sideman and a leader. His band, Lucky 7, pays homage to trad jazz and just recently packed the house at San Francisco’s Makeout Room. Scott can often be heard at Cafe Claude and Club Deluxe in San Francisco and at Jupiter in Berkeley.

Adam Shulman, piano, is a graduate of UCSC’s Music Department. Since 2002, Adam has been one of the most in-demand players in the San Francisco Bay Area and has backed such first class musicians as Vince Lateano, Andrew Speight and Erik Jekabson. He also leads his own sextet that features his compositions. Adam can be heard most nights of the week at Club Deluxe (with Patrick Wolff), Doc’s Lab and Rose Pistola.

Robert Overbury, bass, was born on the East Coast and graduated from the Hartford Conservatory of Music. He’s been one of the top-call players for decades in the San Francisco Bay Area and leads his own trio with Bob Kenmotsu on saxophone and Vince Lateano on drums. Robert can be heard at several venues in San Francisco including Club Deluxe, the Comstock Saloon and Rose Pistola.

Born in Daly City, but raised in Danville, Vinnie Rodriguez spent most of his childhood and teen years playing sports. At the age of 20, he bought a drum set and got deep into jazz, and was fortunate enough to study with John Maltester (LMC-Pittsburgh) and Ray Brown (Cabrillo-Aptos). He earned a BM & MA in jazz studies from SJSU, where he studied with Joe Hodge, Jason Lewis and Frank Sumares. Since finishing school, he’s stayed busy gigging in San Francisco venues including The Bayview Boat Club, Bird & Beckett Books and Club Deluxe. He plays with Don Prell, Grant Levin, Keith Saunders, John Shifflett, and others.