Musicians

Bob Culverhouse (string bass),
originally from England, moved to Berlin in 1972 and has been playing with the "White Eagle Jazzband" there ever since. He found his musical inspiration in New Orleans, where he was strongly influenced by the unique bass player Chester Zardis.
He has toured with Alton Purnell, Louis Nelson, Sam Lee, Kid Sheik, Freddie Kohlman, Benny Waters, Sammy Rimington, Mighty Flea Conners, Carrie Smith, and deputised for the great Ed Garland in the "Legends of Jazz" band.
He toured Europe for three years with "Lillian Bouttée's Music Friends", and also had the pleasure of working with Lillian in New Orleans.
Bob Culverhouse is a founder-member of Roger & The Evolution; his distinctive bass style makes an important contribution to the band's typical sound.

Bernd Kuchenbecker (bass).
Bernd's career is typical of many young jazz musicians in Berlin. He started playing bass in Berlin at the age of 14 in a school band called the "Storyville Syncopaters". This was followed by workshops with the Berlin Youth Big Band under Heinz von Herman. His first major success was winning first prize at the Bad Wörishofen Jazz Competition with the band "Without The Cat".
He began his career as a professional musician at the Deutsches Theater in the "Threepenny Opera" and followed this up with recordings with the "Vielharmonie Orchester" and "Sydney's Blues", a Berlin-based band devoted to the music of Sydney Bechet.
He is currently studying bass at the "Hanns Eisler Academy of Music". After playing with a whole range of modern jazz bands, Bernd Kuchenbecker came "back to the roots" and to "Roger & The Evolution" in 1996.

Soeren Pehrs (trombone),
has been one of the top trombonists on the Berlin jazz scene for decades. He took trombone lessons at the age of 14 and then piano lessons at 17 in preparation for his university degree in Detmold where he studied "sound/recording engineering" and "trombone".
He has played with a wide range of jazz bands in Berlin ever since 1972 (Tower Jazz Band, The Judge & his Chicago Gang, Sir Gusche Band, Tom Keller's "Woodlice", Compass Big Band, Anatolian Jazz Orchestra). His style of trombone playing was inspired by such diverse musicians as Jack Teagarden, Vic Dickenson, Urbie Green, J.J. Johnson and Jiggs Whigham.Sören Pehrs worked for many years as a sound engineer at the Rias Berlin radio station, where he recorded Slide Hampton and Art Farmer among many others.

Wolfgang Rügner (Posaune/ Mundharmonika)
Bei einem Konzert im Jahre 1967 der legendären George Lewis Jazzband, verfiel Wolfgang dem schwarzen New Orleans Jazz für immer.
Nach diversen Versuchen als Blues-Schlagzeuger landete er schließlich 1979 als Posaunist und Sänger in der Blue Bayou Band, mit der er bis heute auftritt und erfolgreich seiner Leidenschaft frönt. Als zweites Instrument spielt er seit längerem auch Bluesharp.Mit Roger verbindet ihn eine jahrzehntelange Freundschaft. Seit beide einst in der Rockband „Fichterock“ erste Kontakte schlossen, verlief ihre musikalische Laufbahn immer parallel.
Wolfgang fliegt seit vielen Jahren regelmäßig nach New Orleans und verfolgt begeistert die dortige musikalische Entwicklung.

Thomas L'Etienne (clarinet / sax)
Traditional New Orleans jazz has always been his main musical love. He was a co-founder of Hamburg's Papa Tom's Lamentation Jazz Band, which was ranked among the finest European representatives of New Orleans jazz in the 1970s.
In 1979 he went to New Orleans to get to know the roots of the music on the spot. There he played with several living legends of jazz, such Kid Thomas, Emanuel Sayles, Chester Zardis and James Booker (piano). In 1983 he joined New Orleans singer Lillian Boutté's band for a six month's tour. He later became the musical director of Lillian Boutté & Her Musicfriends – and married Lillian in New Orleans in 1984.
In addition to working with Lillian Boutté, Thomas performed at the biggest jazz festivals in Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, making over a dozen recordings with such greats as Edward Frank, the inspired pianist from New Orleans, Lloyd Lambert, Smokey Johnson, Doctor John, Jeanette Kimball and Humphrey Lyttleton. He also played with Snooks Eaglin, Clark Terry, 'Sweets' Edison, Milt Hinton and many others.
Today, Thomas l'Étienne is regarded as one of the top representatives of New Orleans music. His clarinet playing has clearly derived inspiration from great Creole masters like Barney Bigard, Albert Nicholas and Jimmie Noone, while his saxophone style was influenced by Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Gene Ammons and Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davies, as well as the great Rhythm & Blues tenor saxophonists Lee Allen and David Lastie. Web site >>>

John Defferary (Klarinette, Saxophon),
ging bereits im Alter von 21 Jahren auf Amerikatournee. In Los Angeles wurde er Schüler des Klarinettisten Barney Bigard. Auch in den folgenden Jahren zog es ihn häufig in die USA. Er spielte zusammen mit Musikern wie Louis Cotrell, Ed Hall, Raymond Burke und Albert Nicholas.
Anfang der 70er Jahre wurde John Mitglied des Trevor Richard New Orleans Trio, mit dem er 12 Jahre lang um die ganze Welt tourte. Ab 1985 spielte John Defferary eine herausragende Rolle in „Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband" und von August 1998 bis November 2006 war er Mitglied der profiliertesten europäischen Jazzband, der „Chris Barben Jazz and Blues Band".
Die Presse bezeichnet ihn als Hot-Jazz-Interpreten von Weltklasse. John Defferary begeistert sein Publikum durch seine Virtuosität, seine kreolische, unvergleichlich swingende Klarinette und sein dynamisches Saxophonspiel.

Ben Perkoff (saxophone),
comes from Santa Monica, California. The biggest influences on his saxophone playing were John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and King Curtis.
He started his career in San Francisco and played there with Paul Butterfield, Robert Cray, Big Mama Thorton, Big Joe Turner, Huey Lewis and many others.
Ben Perkoff has been living in Berlin since 1992, and in a very short time has developed into one the most popular "honkers and shouters" of the Berlin scene. He leads his own band and travels regularly to appear in his home town of San Francisco. Web site >>>

Thomas Keller (tenor saxophone),
studied saxophone and composition at the Berlin College of Art. He has been working as a professional musician since 1983, e.g. with Ulla Meinicke, Alphaville and George Kranz, and has been involved in hundreds of studio productions.
In 1986 he joined the team at the Berlin "Grips" children's theatre, co-composing the musical "Linie 1" and touring (almost) all over the world with the show.
Traditional jazz and swing have remained his great loves, however. He is currently a regular member of the "Blue Bayou Jazzband", so that contact with Roger & The Evolution® was only a matter of time.

Simon Holliday (piano),
was born in England in 1964. After a classical training he became a professional musician at the age of 17; since then he has been a solid component of the international music scene. His performances with many jazz, pop and blues stars have shown that he is at home in many different styles.
He offers a programme inspired by many 20th century musical giants. Rock & Roll, Jump & Jive, Blues, Soul, Swing, R & B, pop oldies and beautiful ballads. On concert stages and in jazz clubs he offers something for everyone, quickly developing a rapport with the audience and ensuring that a good time is had by all. You can try sitting still while he plays – but you'll find it very difficult!
In 2004 he celebrated his 15th stage anniversary in the sold-out Liederhalle in Stuttgart with guests including Tony Sheridan, Georgie Fame and Albie Donnelly. Web site >>>

Harold John (piano),
started playing piano at the age of five. Due to his outstanding talent, he started taking his first real lessons shortly afterwards from Johanna Exner, a pupil of Max Reger.
At 17, he moved to Berlin to further his classical training. Here he made contact with the jazz scene and played for several years with drummer Torsten Zwingenberger's band. This led to contacts with some of the jazz greats (e.g. Albert Collins, Joe Newman, Buddy Tate, Teddy Wilson, Little Willie Littlefield and many more). Sessions with well-known masters of boogie woogie and jazz helped to give him the skills he needed to feel at home in traditional jazz music as well as classical music.
Studying his great idol Art Tatum helped Harold John to perfect his piano technique, and he gradually became the virtuoso soloist he is today, surprising and inspiring audiences again and again with his breathtaking melanges of classical music and jazz. Harold John came to Roger & The Evolution® in 1990, and has worked occasionally as repetiteur at the Viennese State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. At present he is working as a freelance writer and composer.