Album Notes

Bassist – TERRY HILLIARD – A San Francisco Bay Area native, and Internationally recognized for his performances with the Cal Tjader Latin Jazz Group, and their recordings of “Soul Sauce” & “Soul Bird”. He is listed with the Verve Record label as a “Very Best of Jazz”, and is a charter member of “San Francisco Legends of Jazz”. Terry spent many years touring the USA with The Cal Tjader Group, has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Seattle Jazz Festivals. He has been the bassist for the Mills Bros., the Virgil Gonzales Sextet, Johnny Mathis and more recently, became a member of “The Tarabini’s” in January 2004.

Vibraphonist – YANCIE “the Jazz Doctor” TAYLOR – also from the San Francisco Bay Area, was influenced at an early age by the “straight ahead” jazz style of pianist Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis, the Latin “craze” of the 60’s, and the vibe masters, Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson and Cal Tjader. Yancie become International, having performed in Germany, Japan, France and Spain. Mal Sand an entertainment columnist for the LA Jazz Scene, wrote in 1995, “He is a hard swinger from the Hutcherson School who approaches the instrument with the same level of energy and intensity, but without the fanfare.” He was a 17-year fixture at a popular Bay Area Jazz Club, “The Fifth Amendment”. Yancie also joined “The Tarabini’s” in January of 2004.

Vocalist – GLORIA (Lester) TARABINI – also a San Francisco product, and a former TV personality and star of the KPIX show, “Search for Songs’ with the Del Courtney Orchestra, and another two years on the NBC TV show, “Your Show”, plus two more years on a local PBS show. Gloria, has been a Big Band singer, performing at many of the major Hotels in the San francisco Bay Area, plus a six year engagement at a popular Bay Area Supper Club. She also spent one year touring with the USO through-out, Arizona, California and Washington State.

The group is led by Accordionist / Arranger – AL TARABINI – another San Francisco Bay Area product, having performed at many of the area’s top Supper Clubs / major Hotels, KFRC radio, and ABC TV, plus a local PBS station. In an earlier edition of “The Tarabini’s”, they spent two years performing at a major Bay Area Hotel (they followed the famous pianist Jack Fina & His Orchestra), then another six years at popular San Francisco Bay Area Supper Club. In the early years, Al toured nationally with Charles Stuart, of Broadway stage fame (for his performance in “Oklahoma”), and Bruce Carradine, the Hollywood Shakespearean actor and son of the famous actor John Carradine. He also spent four years touring with the USO throughout California, Nevada and the Far East. This new version of “The Tarabini’s” began in October 2003, and together they have recorded four internationally successful CD’s.