The PCC Trio ~ Rob Paulus, Jason Carder & Will Clipman

About the Music

The Paulus, Carder & Clipman Trio brings together three of contemporary instrumental music’s leading innovators in a fresh formulation of upright bass and violin, trumpet and flugelhorn, and pan-global drums and percussion to forge new sonic pathways through the fine art of world jazz improvisation. Each of these accomplished artists is comfortable taking the lead as their in-the-moment compositions emerge out of the ether, and all three are adept at supporting one another in an intimate musical conversation that demands close listening, lightning-quick reflexes and an openness to collaborative creativity. You’ll swear you’re hearing through-composed pieces, such is the trio’s uncanny grasp of arrangement, attention to detail, and appreciation of silence and space as key ingredients of music. The result is an exhilarating display of technical brilliance in service to the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic integrity of the song; the net effect is unalloyed joy!

About the Musicians

Rob Paulus grew up in a big family, his musical life starting early with family sing-alongs and playing and singing in church. His first real gig was in seventh grade, playing guitar in the First Friday mass at his school, where he realized the full potential of music to positively affect the human mind. This was followed up with numerous bands from punk to jazz: from opening up for Black Flag in high school to opening up for Chick Corea’s Electric Band in college. Rob has played numerous gigs from Los Angeles to Alaska to Europe, and always seeks connection with the audience on multiple levels. He creates multifaceted music that defines emotion through sound: a multi-instrumentalist with a keen jazz ear, he has an uncanny ability to add and subtract musical threads to weave together a thought-provoking and original sonic tapestry. A successful award-winning architect, Rob is constantly finding ways to meld composition and design: his approach to music expresses genuine feeling and limitless creativity, improvising with fearless inventiveness as well as precisely executing composed music. Throughout his decades of playing, the whole becomes greater than any of the individual parts to create transformative music. Rob’s happy space is playing with other like-minded musicians (such as Jason and Will) to transmute notes--and the silent spaces between the notes--into music that transports the listener to another world.

Jason Carder has performed all over the globe with a diverse lineup of artists including Yanni, Ray Charles, Maria Schneider, Arturo Sandoval, Maynard Ferguson, the Woody Herman Orchestra and Frank Sinatra Jr. Jason has contributed his talent to several award-winning albums including Arturo Sandoval’s 1998 GRAMMY® Award-winning Hot House, Latin GRAMMY® winners Made in Miami (2023) and Mamblue (2015) and Maria Schneider’s Sky Blue, which won Jazz Album of the Year in the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat Magazine’s Critics Poll (2007). Jason’s other recordings represent a wide range of music styles from four live DVDs with Yanni and three Jaco Pastorius Word of Mouth Big Band recordings to True Concord and Voices Far in the Heavens, which was nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards. Staying true to the eclectic nature of his creative output, Jason’s current projects include performances with Monsoon Brass and an upcoming release of music for two trumpets with Jacob Dalager. Jason currently performs as principal trumpet with the Tucson Pops Orchestra and lead trumpet with the Century Room Jazz Orchestra, and holds a faculty position at the University of Arizona as Assistant Professor of Trumpet.

Will Clipman began playing his father’s drums and his mother’s piano at the age of three. He played his first professional gig at the age of fourteen, and has since then mastered a pan-global palette of ethnic drums and percussion in addition to the traditional drumset. Will has received seven GRAMMY® Nominations, including one for his solo world music album Pathfinder. He is a three-time Native American Music Award Winner, a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award Winner, a New Age Reporter Music Award Winner, a Zone Music Reporter Award Winner, and a two-time TAMMIE Award Winner, and has been inducted into the Tucson Musicians Museum for his contributions to the musical community in his hometown. Will has recorded over seventy albums, including thirty-seven for the world’s foremost Native American music label Canyon Records. Will has performed and recorded with the world’s premier Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai for over thirty years, as well as with many other internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles, and has toured throughout the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) as well as in Canada, Germany, Morocco and Russia. His solo Planet of Percussion™ performance and workshop takes audiences of all ages on a world tour of rhythm and polyrhythm.

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