Paul Kreibich was born May 24, 1955 in Los Angeles. As a kid, he made his own drum set out of a cardboard barrel and coffee cans. By the time he was a junior at Costa Mesa High School, he was working five nights a week at a local club on Balboa Island. Following a stint at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he returned home to attend Orange Coast College and study with renowned percussionist Forrest Clark. In 1979 at the age of 23 he got his first major jazz gig with the great singer Carmen McRae. Later, he toured with the Ray Charles Band for 4 years. Returning to Los Angeles, his home base, he became first call drummer for many touring artists such as Mose Allison, Red Rodney, The Woody Herman Band, Anita O'Day, Scott Hamilton, Joe Pass, Charles Brown, Rosemary Clooney, Lee Konitz, and others. In 1995, Paul joined the Gene Harris Quartet where he toured and recorded with the group until Harris' untimely passing in January 2000. Paul is now on the music faculty of Cal State Fullerton and teaches privately. Visit Paul's website: www.paulkreibich.com/paul/home.html
Many musicians and fans have recently read and commented on the Wall Street Journal article by music critic Terry Teachout, "Can Jazz Be Saved?" Apparently, jazz is now considered a high art form, and, like classical music, the average person has trouble understanding it. You can't see it on TV, it doesn't sell, young people can't relate to it, and jazz musicians are snobs. Why do we even need jazz now? How does it fit into today's zippy electronic, information age?
Finally, Beiderbecke took out a silver cornet. He put it to his lips and blew a phrase. The sound came out like a girl saying 'yes'.
– Eddie Condon
Pipe smoker: an extremely virtuosic organist.
