VIKTOR DVOSKIN
One of the Soviet Union's top bass players of the 1970s and '80s, Viktor Dvoskin has continued to make his presence felt on the global stage since relocating to the United States in 1993. In addition to leading his own band, the Viktor Dvoskin Quartet, Dvoskin has collaborated with American jazz musicians Gary Burton and Don Alias, as a member of the international ensemble, Partners of Crime, and the Louis Scherr-led Russian-American band, Jazznost. Featuring six of his original compositions, Jazznost's album, Joint Venture, received four stars in Downbeat magazine.
Initially attracting attention as a member of Allegro, a jazz band led by pianist Nikolai Levinovski, in the 1970s, Dvoskin released his first album, Live at the Grenoble Jazz Festival, as a bandleader, in 1990. The album, which was recorded during a crowd-rousing performance in the French city of Grenoble, received three stars from the Penguin Guide to Jazz, which described his playing as "a rich, dark sound -- some may argue a European sound -- with a very controlled vibrato and a clean, precise, technique."
First coming to the United States, as a member of the Igor Brill Trio, to record an album at New York nightspot, the Village Vanguard in 1988, Dvoskin remained in the country when the recording was delayed. Hooking up with a new band, Partners in Crime, he elected to make Washington DC his permanent home.
Dvoskin has continued to travel back and forth between North America and the former Soviet Union, performing with such instrumentalists as bassist Steve Rudolph and drummer Joe Hunt.
Since the mid-'90s, Dvoskin has performed every Sunday at the Tabard Inn in Washington, DC.
-Biography written by Craig Harris
DONATO SOVIERO
A resident of the Washington D.C. area since 1982, Donato has appeared with top local and national artists, and led his own groups in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Mr. Soviero has appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wolf Trap, and the Carter Barron Amphitheater, where he opened for Poncho Sanchez and the late Tito Puente. He has also led bands in Washinton D.C. venues such as Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, the Bohemian Caverns and the Smithsonian Jazz Café. He is a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Trio that plays many functions in the D.C. area, as well as co-leader (w/ Jeff Antoniuk) of the Jazz-fusion group, the MARS 4tet. He’s played for Presidents and at the State Department for the Thelonious Monk Institute. Mr. Soviero has been the recipient of several awards, including a 1994 TAP Award from the D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities and a 1995 GIA Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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STEVE HERBERMAN
Steve is a graduate of Berklee College Of Music later adopting the seven-string guitar in 1993. He has performed at venues such as Birdland in NYC, Spazio in Los Angeles, the NAMM shows in Anaheim and Nashville, and recently at the North Wales jazz guitar weekend in the U.K. as a featured guest artist. Closer to home he has performed at Blues Alley, Strathmore Music Center, the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts and the the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe. Steve has performed with bassist Victor Dvoskin at The Tabard Inn since 1999. Steve has performed with other renowned musicians such as Keter Betts, Buster Williams, Gary Bartz, Drew Gress, Chuck Berghofer, Mark Ferber, Jim Snidero, Chuck Redd, Ali Ryerson, Steve Williams, Steve LaSpina, Jeff Hirshfield, John Pisano, Randy Johnston, Michael Feinstein and many more.
Steve Herberman has recorded three CDs as a leader; Thoughtlines (2001) Action:Reaction (2006) and Ideals (2008.) He released a CD with fellow DC guitarist Steve Abshire in 2015 titled "Between Friends." Steve Herberman's recordings have received wide critical acclaim in JazzTimes, Downbeat, Jazz Improv, All About Jazz and many others. Steve’s CD "Ideals" reached the Top 10 on the JazzWeek chart for national airplay remaining on the chart for 16 weeks. Action:Reaction, a CD of Steve's original music, was chosen as one of the top 50 CD's of 2007 by Jazz Improv magazine.
Steve Herberman taught jazz guitar on the faculty of Towson University for 14 years and is presently teaching guitar at Sidwell Friends School in DC. He is also on the faculty of Maryland Summer Jazz and Jazz Band Masterclass and teaches at his home studio in addition to giving lessons via Skype. He has presented masterclasses in the U.K. and at many universities across the U.S. Steve has written instructional material for Downbeat magazine, Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions, Just Jazz Guitar, the National Guitar Workshop newsletter and columns for Modern Guitars webzine. He is an online instructor for www.mikesmasterclasses.com where he has taught dozens of popular jazz video lessons. Steve Herberman has been featured on the cover of Just Jazz Guitar Magazine (Feb. 2009) and Fingerstyle Journal (2015) with his Comins guitar that he has endorsed for many years.
GEOFF REECER
Geoff Reecer earned his B.A. in Music from The University of Maryland in College Park in 1994. In 1993 he won first place in the Emerging Jazz Artist competition held at the East Coast Jazz Festival. Part of that prize money was applied to private study with his musical hero, Jim Hall, which continued after college.
Then, after a very busy ten years of freelancing in the DC area where he performed at such venues as the Kennedy Center, The One Step Down, and countless public and private engagements, he won an audition to join The Airmen of Note (The United States Air Force’s premiere jazz band, and oldest existing military Big Band). Since joining the “Note” in 2004 he has not only continued to perform extensively throughout the DC area, but has also had opportunities to tour the country, as well as to perform and/or record with such jazz luminaries as Phil Woods, Ron Carter, Joey DeFrancesco, Bob Mintzer, Slide Hampton, Pat Martino, and Kurt Rosenwinkel.
Geoff has been one of Victor Dvoskin’s regular guests on Sunday nights at the Tabard, appearing several times per year since 2001. Geoff also regularly hosts duets at the Tabard with some of the finest jazz musicians in the area (either Monday or Tuesday nights a month at a time. Check the Tabard Inn schedule for more details).