The Bob Roden Quintet

Together since 2017, Berkeley’s Bob Roden Quintet has become a mainstay on the East Bay jazz scene, combining a spirit of playful exploration with a commitment to the living and vibrant tradition of straight-up, straight-ahead jazz.   

BRQ’s eclectic repertoire runs the gamut from classic jazz tunes to compelling original compositions and unique jazz arrangements of works drawn from sources as unexpected as Frank Zappa and Johnny Rivers.  It has performed extensively at jazz venues around the Bay Area, and did a feature set at the 2019 Piedmont Jazz Festival.  It is currently preparing to record its first CD.

The group’s adventurous approach reflects the unusual breadth of its musical background.  Leader Bob Roden toured extensively as a member of the award-winning band Sidro’s Armada, sharing the bill with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Roger Miller, Sam Butera, The Oak Ridge Boys and Kenny Rogers, to name just a few.  His 2000 children’s album “Mammals Eat Coconuts” remains a perpetual favorite in that genre.  He has written music for several films, and probably his most unusual musical credit is as the composer of the official theme song of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

BRQ has yet to be featured on the covers of DownBeat, JazzTimes, The New York City Jazz Record, Hot House or Codamagazines, among many others.  Similarly, BRQ cannot presently claim to have topped the “Jazz Group” category in DownBeat’s Critics Poll, or to have been voted Jazz Band of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.  One can only assume these things are all just a matter of time.