Chis Coogan – Piano

Jazz Rabbi Greg Wall – Saxophones

John Mobilio – Bass

Jim Royle – Drums

Jazz Rabbi Greg Wall and Chris Coogan have been teaming up regularly after meeting back in 2015  and realizing they were cut from the same cloth. They share a deep spiritual attachment to African-American music that digs deep into its roots and extends out from there, as well as enjoying a love of community.  With Chris’s long time rhythm section of John Mobilio and Jim Royle rounding out the group, the swing is over the top.

Pianist Chris Coogan has been one of the most popular performers in our area for many years, and for good reason: He plays great! Chris grew up here, and has chosen to make Fairfield County his home, as well as his home base for his multifaceted music career. He is a world class jazz pianist, a sensitive and in demand accompanist for singers, a powerhouse Gospel pianist, choir director and bandleader, a highly effective and inspiring educator, and general all around amazing and good  guy.

Wes Lewis –  saxophone

Josh Walker – saxophone

Elijah Atkins – drums

A musical career takes many surprise turns. After a career as a jazz bassist and composer that began in the mid 1970s,  Brian Torff now creates music as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He has played with Frank Sinatra, George Shearing, Mary Lou Williams, Erroll Garner, Stephane Grappelli, Oliver Nelson, and Marian McPartland among others. Torff now focuses on acoustic guitar, harmonica, loop pedal, and his upright stick bass to create a different sound. As a Professor of Music at Fairfield University since 1993, his research trips to the deep South have impacted the lyrical stories of his songs and deepened

​Brian Torff has written a jazz memoir, In Love With Voices, and his most recent book, Seize the Beat: The Evolution of American Music is used in his classes on American popular music. Torff explains, “I love working with words, so songwriting was a logical next step.” Drawing on his experience in jazz, blues, and rock, combined with a county-folk influence, Brian Torff feels that “we need to create new musical categories.”

​His band  plans to shoot YouTube music videos this September and release a new album this fall., “I hope that our music,” says Torff, “is a soundtrack to an American road trip, past and present. It is a journey into the essential contribution of Black American music.”