The Jeff Hamilton Organ Trio

This new exciting trio project features jazz celebrity drummer, Jeff Hamilton, superb rising guitarist, Steve Kovalcheck, and the very talented organ player, Akiko. The thrilling trio has been touring around the US and Europe.

An adaptable and swinging jazz drummer, Jeff Hamilton has distinguished himself as an in-demand sideman and bandleader, working with both his own trio and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Initially emerging in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Hamilton built his reputation playing with big bands before coming to wider recognition as a member of the illustrious Ray Brown Trio in the ’80s and ’90s. Building upon Brown‘s trio format, Hamilton launched his own group, issuing a steady flow of highly regarded acoustic jazz dates like 1994’s It’s Hamilton Time, 2009’s Symbiosis, and 2017’s Dreamsville. At the same time, he co-leads his big band with bassist John Clayton and saxophonist Jeff Clayton, issuing sophisticated large group dates like 1999’s Explosive! with Milt Jackson and 2014’s Grammy-nominated The L.A. Treasure’s Project.

Akiko has ten albums as a leader to her credit both the U.S. and Japan. Her debut album in the U.S., “Sweet and Funky”, was selected as a “Best Album of 2007” in DOWNBEAT Magazine. Her albums have constantly placed in the top ten on the National Radio Jazz Chart. Akiko also received “Swing Journal Rising Star Award” (Japan) in 2010, Hot House Magazine (NYC) Best Organist’ in 2017 and the DOWNBEAT Magazine Critics Poll 2020 Rising Star Organ.

Guitarist/composer/educator Steve Kovalcheck has a diverse musical background. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Kovalcheck grew up in a rich musical environment. While his roots are in hard rock, he became interested in jazz in his late teens, and has gone on to work with well known artists including Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Terrell Stafford, Grammy Award winner Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Pat Bianchi, Lewis Nash, Danny Gottlieb, Adam Nussbaum, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, and Ingrid Jensen, to name a few. Outside of the jazz world, Kovalcheck has worked with artists and producers including Robinella and the C.C. String Band, Carrie Rodriguez, Tommy Sims, Charles “Wigg” Walker, Russ Titelman, Don Williams, and many others. While Kovalcheck’s main focus has been on jazz guitar and jazz education, he maintains an active involvement in rock, blues, funk, country, and bluegrass styles on the guitar.