ROLAND GUERIN
About the Artist

Roland Guerin is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and lives there still. He has always had a fascination with stringed instruments. He began his music studies with the viola in elementary school and started playing guitar in eighth grade. He switched to playing bass after listening to his mother play bass lines on the instrument. While Guerin's primary instrument remains the upright acoustic bass, he enjoys playing his six-string electric bass whenever he has the opportunity. Guerin began his study of jazz music at Baton Rouge High Magnet School and, in 1986, he went on to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge to study with world-renowned jazz clarinetist, Alvin Batiste. After graduating in May of 1991, he toured and recorded with the Mark Whitfield Band.

Roland Guerin first worked with Marcus Roberts in 1995 after Roberts heard him play with Ellis Marsalis. Roberts needed a bassist to record Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and the "I Got Rhythm" Variations for a recording session that was less than a week away. Guerin came through with flying colors, and the final piece for the Marcus Roberts Trio fell into place. Roland Guerin brings a deep and resonant bass sound to the trio and during the past several years, he has played an important role in the development of the trio concept that was first presented on Roberts' Time and Circumstance recording.

Guerin is always hearing grooves in his head, whether he is taking a bass solo, walking a bass line, or playing the bass in some other style. He has a unique ability bring any style of music into the jazz arena. He has one of the strongest personalities on the upright bass at this time and he is not afraid to explore all genres of music for improvisational inspiration. He loves to swing and fits into just about any musical situation.

Guerin was featured both on Roberts' Portraits in Blue record of 1996, performing with symphony orchestra and jazz band, as well as the 1997 big band recording, Blues for the New Millennium. He is also featured on Roberts' trio recordings, In Honor of Duke (Columbia, 1999), Cole After Midnight (Columbia, 2001), New Orleans Meets Harlem (2007), and From Rags to Rhythm (2007). Most recently, Guerin traveled to Matsumoto, Japan to perform on Roberts' newest recording with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra, Gershwin's "Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra".

Guerin has already mastered and redefined the slap bass style, and always enriches any musical environment with his musical wit, melodic bass lines, strong country groove, and relaxed swing. He has several recordings out under his own name, including The Winds of the New Land, Roland Guerin Sextet Live at the Blue Note, You Don't Have to See It to Believe It, and Groove, Swing, and Harmony I and II as well as a number of recordings with other artists.

RELATED LINKS

The Marcus Roberts Trio
Marcus Roberts, piano
Jason Marsalis, drums

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM