Reuben Rogers and I got connected through our mutual friend Allan Santos.
I wasn’t even sure where to begin with a player like Reuben.
I mean, he has played with Charles Lloyd, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, Nicholas Payton, and a long list of jazz luminaries. He’s played on some of the best jazz albums of the past 20 years.
Where to even start?
So I reached out to Allan, and he told me:
“You’ve got to ask Reuben about the time he fell asleep on the bandstand during a set.”
That’s how we kicked it off. It was the first of many stories like that. In fact, I was sore from laughing so hard after we finished talking!
We dig into:
- how to get work done at 3 am on the road
- Reuben’s first blizzard experience living in Boston and how it nearly drove him back to the Virgin Islands
- how Reuben’s high school music teacher Georgia Francis helped him repeatedly during his younger years
- mistakes that derail the careers of many young musicians
…and much more!
This was a super fun conversation. Reuben is an awesome guy, and you’ll have a great time and learn a lot from this conversation!
Links to check out:
- Reuben’s website (click the bass trunk for a surprise!)
- The Things I Am (Reuben’s solo album)
I love this video of Reuben and his quartet jamming out on Fungi Mama from Reuben’s solo album:
Reuben even has a set of bass loops available from the Loop Loft! Here’s a clip featuring these groovy tracks.
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