The Casualties of Jazz met up on the west coast while working with other touring and recording acts. The trio got their name from their two-year stint playing Monday night "casuals" at a beloved local bar in Burbank, California. The rhythm section, Chris Golden and Jimmy Paxson jr. , were performing on Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook Vol. II when they met J.J. Blair, who was engineering the session. It was during these sessions that the concept for this record was realized. The third member of their trio, Matt Rohde, was recruited to play Hammond organ for the project.
Matt Rohde (Hammond organ): Matt began playing piano at age seven, and his love for music and desire to perform was fueled by rockstars of the 1970s, such as Ted Nugent, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles and others. He is a graduate of Berklee College for Music. After spending time in Boston, Minneapolis and Atlanta, he eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1997. He has either recorded or performed live with a host of world famous artists, including Jane's Addiction, Maxwell, Alanis Morisette, J Lo, Kelly Clarkson, Isaac Hayes, Roger Daltrey, Gary Wright, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, as well as dozens more well known artists.
Chris Golden (upright bass): Chris grew up in Eugene, Oregon where he began playing bass at age eleven. He later attended Berklee College of Music to study electric and acoustic bass performance as well as Jazz composition. Chris now lives in Los Angeles, California where he has had the pleasure of recording or performing with notable acts such as Rod Stewart, Brian Auger, Exzibit and Mick Fleetwood.
Jimmy Paxson jr. (drums): Jimmy has jazz in his blood; the son of two accomplished Philadelphia jazz musicians Jim R. and Sunnie Paxson. Even though he was accepted at Julliard by age eleven, it is his years studying in Los Angeles under the tutelage of the late, great Murray Spivack that best honed his skill and style. Jimmy's recording and touring credits include Alanis Morissette, Rod Stewart, Steve Vai, Ronnie Montrose, Robben Ford, Zohar(uk) and Glen Hughes.
J.J. Blair (producer): A native of Chicago, J.J. is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and engineer, who has been based in Los Angeles since 1990. His expertise in numerous genres of music combined with his extensive knowledge of recording techniques have allowed him to work as a producer and/or engineer with a diverse array of artists, including Weezer, Rod Stewart, Unwritten Law, Ryan Adams, Black Eyed Peas, Vonda Sheppard and others, as well as recording a #1 single for P. Diddy and producing a GRAMMY⢠award winning CD for June Carter Cash. J.J. conceived the idea for Kind of Black, produced, engineered, mixed and co-arranged all the material at his studio, Fox Force Five Recorders in Hollywood.
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