Ben Rose

Philadelphia native, Ben Rose, plays bass with the lyricism he learned during his trumpet-playing youth. Introduced to jazz through the music of the Yellowjackets and Dexter Gordon, he counts contain electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and upright phenom Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen among his deepest influences. Studies with legends Tony Grey, Kai Eckhardt, Gary Willis, Hal Crooke, and Terrell Stafford formed the pillars of his jazz education. He pays this forward with education events for aspiring musicians throughout the East Bay, especially in his hometown of Alameda.

Ben has had the opportunity to perform with a wide variety of acts from platinum-selling international artists, Ogie Alcasid and Carol Banawa, to New Jersey-based symphonic prog rock stars, Advent. His performance credits include major venues and festivals throughout the US including the Wichita Jazz Festival, the Keswick Theatre, Marprog, and Prog Day. His bass playing has also been featured on award-winning video games with a special callout made in reviews for the fretless playing on Yoku’s Island Express. Throughout this period, there has been a throughline of jazz performances, especially swing and big band music with the New Morty Show, the Les Elgart Orchestra, the Pecos River Brass, and most recently, Dave LeFebvre’s Big Band. 

Today, Ben leads several groups and can be seen in duo performances with pianist Andrea Hutchinson, as a leader and sideman in several jazz trios and quartets, and as the music director for the Island City Sound, a large format brass group highlighting the brass music of cultures throughout the world. He highlights these efforts to bring the world together through music via his YouTube channel, http://youtube.com/soundslikeben