Biography

The Three Jazz Men is the brainchild of Paul Tavenner and Jeff Miley, who decided to have some fun doing something new and different with their favorite Christmas songs. They thought about all of the great bands they really love, put something from each into the mix, and combined that with their favorite rhythms and grooves from all around the world. Listen and you will discover layer upon layer of surprises hidden within the music.

"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" starts out with dense layers of electric guitars and exotic synth sounds, finally morphing seamlessly into a 70's funk party ala Leo Sayer and Boz Scaggs.

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" goes south of the border with a latin samba feel and jazzy interplay between the piano and guitar.

"Joy to the World" opens up huge on the stadium stage in the best tradition of 70's Rock and Roll. The middle section of the song takes you to the Scottish Highlands, complete with drum corps and "bagpipes", and then things finish off with a nod to the legendary Brian May courtesy of the layers of electric guitars that float over the melody.

"O Christmas Tree" is a nod to the southern blues, with funky Hammond B3 organ fills, and loads of old time bottleneck slide-guitar to boot.

Every song is a journey, showcasing their musical influences as well as several sides of their musical personalities, from quiet and contemplative, to loud and joyful.

(The digital download version of the album on iTunes and CD Baby also contains FOUR BONUS TRACKS remixed with vocals)

Come along for the ride with The Three Jazz Men. You've never heard Christmas like this before!

The men behind the project:

Paul Tavenner - Drummer, Composer, Producer, Engineer

Paul has engineered and performed on hundreds of projects and mixed/mastered over a thousand albums to date. Engineering credits include sax great Ernie Watts, Peter Erskine Trio, Stanley Clarke, Josh Nelson, Bird York (Grammy-nominated song for the movie "Crash"), "Fusion For Miles: A Guitar Tribute" featuring Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino and others; platinum-selling ska band, Sublime; Quiet Riot, Judy Tenuta (Grammy-nominated for best comedy album), Justo Almario, Jerry Vale, Glen Campbell, Andre Previn, and many others. Paul's music career began in Texas at age 16 playing drums with local and regional acts. After studying music production and performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he decided Los Angeles would best feed his appetite for musical stimulation. Recent performance and recording credits include The 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Rose Bowl, The Fifth Dimension, Lew Del Gatto (Saturday Night Live), Skip Spiro Little Big Band, and a new recording with B3 great, Ron Feuer and saxman Doug Webb.

Jeff Miley - Guitarist, Composer, Producer

Jeff has been featured in Guitar Player Magazine (winning that magazine's "Spotlight Award"), Jazzwise Magazine (U.K), Gendai Guitar Magazine (Japan), and JazzTimes, to name a few. He has appeared on numerous recordings as a leader or sideman. In addition to working on projects with Paul Tavenner, Jeff can regularly be heard with his jazz quintet, "Bug" (their most recent album made the top 50 on the nationwide Jazzweek radio charts), jazz-vocalist Inga Swearingen, multi-media performance ensemble "Vox Lumiere", and the jazz power-trio "Altered". He received his Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge in 1988, with an emphasis in classical guitar. He was a member of the first guitar ensemble ever invited to perform at the prestigious Tokyo International Chamber Music Competition in Japan. Jeff has performed all over the U.S., Europe, and Asia and maintains a vibrant performing career. He has a knack for combining his classical training with the "street smarts" he learned on the bandstand - skills that serve him especially well on this project..

Supporting players:

Paul and Jeff knew they needed the best to fulfill their vision for this project. They enlisted the services of bassists Ric Fierabracci and Joel Woods, and keyboardist Mitch Forman. Joel is a good friend who's been on many a bandstand with Paul and Jeff over the years. He's a graduate of Berklee College of Music and he's one of the funkiest bass players working in L.A. Mitch is a legendary keyboardist who's played with Gerry Mulligan, Wayne Shorter, John Scofield, John McLaughlin, and many many others. He's one of the most in-demand guys working in L.A. Ric has played bass on so many recordings and done so many great tours that it's almost ridiculous. You've heard him with Chick Corea, Dave Weckl, Andy Summers, Adrian Belew, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder, and many many others. Ric always knows just what to play in each situation and he does it with an abundance of tone, taste, and groove. Also, he's an all-around nice guy!

Special thanks to Pamela Jansson who provided the beautiful classical voice on "We Three Kings" and to Kat Parsons who helped bring alive alternate vocal versions of "O Christmas Tree", "Silent Night", and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas".