GENO HAFFNER - PIANO, VOCALS

Originally from Troy, Missouri, Geno grew up like many musicians do; singing in the choir at church, playing trumpet in his high school band, and playing piano for school and church functions. After graduating with honors from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, he moved to Nashville in 1991 and began performing and recording with a virtual who’s who of local artists, including Kristi Rose, The Road Runners, Annie Sellick, Delicious Blues Stew, and many others. From 2000 through 2002, he was on the road performing extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Scott Holt Band. Geno’s heroes include boogie woogie pioneer Pete Johnson (Big Joe Turner), bop master Oscar Peterson, early rocker Johnnie Johnson (Chuck Berry), and New Orleans legend Henry “Professor Longhair” Byrd. He incorporates all of these styles into rollicking piano playing that keeps the dance floor jumping.

PETER ROZE - GUITAR, VOCALS

Pete was born in Caracas, Venezuela to immigrant parents from eastern Europe and grew up in New York City. After graduating from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, he worked as an educator and performed with many veterans of the big band era, including Max Kaminsky (Benny Goodman), Doc Cheatham (Cab Calloway), Eddie Barefield (Count Basie), Jess Stacey (Benny Goodman), and Laurel Watson (Louis Jordan), among others. Pete moved to Nashville in 1997 and has been very active on the local scene as well as touring in road companies of Big River and Ring of Fire. His rhythmic comping ala Freddie Green and his bop inflected solos ala Wes Montgomery really keep us swinging.

JOHN OWEN - BASS, VOCALS

Bassist John Owen began his musical career in Evansville, Indiana in the late '60s playing upright bass in small jazz groups and big bands, moving to Fender Bass in the '70's playing in original blues and rock & roll groups in Louisville, Ky, then in Nashville, where he hit the road with songwriter Tim Krekel, then later with Americana hero Dave Olney in his seminal band the X-Rays.
He rediscovered his jazz roots after hearing, then sitting in with, Gene Haffner doing piano bar in the early 90's, and has been playing with Geno since then. John still plays the 1966 Precision bass that he bought new in Louisville, through a 1961 Fender Bassman amp.

CHRIS BUCK - DRUMS, VOCALS

Our resident Brit, Chris grew up in Portsmouth, England. Back in the UK, he worked with everybody. Since moving to Nashville in 1997, he has worked with and/or recorded with Jack Greene, Jeannie Seeley, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, The Drifters, Ben E. King, The Platters, The Three Degrees, Greg Holland, Steve Hall, Rick Altizer, Sam Moore, Mark Collie etc,etc. Chris brings the technical prowess of his idol, Gene Krupa, to the stage, but he can also work the brushes like Philly Joe Jones. He endorses Soultone cymbals and Silverfox sticks.

BEN GRAVES - SAX, HARMONICA, ETC.

Ben represents an eclectic history of musical experience; in high school in rural Tennessee he was a neo-folk/classical guitarist, a jazz saxophonist, and the lead singer in a band that would become the platinum-selling hard rock outfit Fuel. He attended Wesleyan University and Berklee College of Music, where he was awarded scholarships for both saxophone and voice. After Berklee, he won an assistantship at Washington State University where he earned a master's degree in music and was recognized as “outstanding alto saxophonist” at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. Ben is a true multi-instrumentalist; he's jammed on guitar and harmonica with Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith, played electric bass with Kid Rock and at the Grand Ole Opry, and has blown saxophone with Modern Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath, Late Show drummer Anton Fig, and tons of people you've never heard of. His voice-over and instrumental skills have contributed to dozens of jingles and original recordings. Ben is truly the olive in The Dean Martinis.