Bernie Dresel (Drums) The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel
Andrew Synowiec-guitar
Johnny "Spazz" Hatton-upright slap bass
Jamie Hovorka-trumpet
James Blackwell-trumpet
Bob Summers-trumpet
Jeff Bunnell-trumpet
Brian Scanlon-alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute
Kirsten Edkins-alto sax, flute
Rob Lockart-tenor sax, piccolo & alto flutes
Scheila Gonzalez-tenor sax, flute
Tom Luer-bari sax, piccolo & alto flutes
Charlie Morillas-trombone
Nick Daley-trombone
Jim McMillen-trombone
Juliane Gralle-bass trombone


On September 12 come join The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel in celebration of the September 9 release of their new CD entitled Live n' Bernin'.

The BBB is 16 musicians (yes...it's a big band) swingin' & rockin' the all-new, high-octane, new & original arrangements featured on our brand new live album Live n' Bernin' , by Walter Murphy, Steve Bramson, Nan Schwartz, Jim McMillen, Tim Simonec, Bill Cunliffe, Scott Healy, Andrew Neu, Brian Williams, and Jeff Bunnell with 13 horns, upright bass, guitar, and plenty of drums!! You can purchase the physical CD at this September 12 Jazz Vespers service or you can buy it or download Live n' Bernin' at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon (available September 9).

Bernie Dresel's jazz orchestra, The BBB, is without question one of Los Angeles' most exciting large jazz ensembles, if not on the planet. It is one of the most innovative and original hard-swinging large jazz ensembles ever. The BBB provides potent testimony to the sheer exhilaration of big band jazz...a combination of intense swing and fiery soloing, as well as tight ensemble playing, powered by Bernie Dresel's extraordinary drumming talents.

The BBB is comprised of 16 seasoned pros on the Los Angeles studio scene. Populated by LA's finest players, The BBB delivers a contemporary, highly original sound featuring the witty, intricate, and hard-swinging compositions of established and up-and-coming composers and arrangers. And like those other famous jazz orchestras such as Buddy Rich's, Count Basie's, Woody Herman's, Stan Kenton's, Maynard Ferguson's, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis' and Gerald Wilson's, the music and delivery of The BBB's music is nothing less than astonishing when experienced live. The sound has a contemporary, dynamic, and hard-swinging energy, with a focused edge to it that is like no other jazz orchestra, though, reminiscent of Buddy Rich's ensembles. The band make-up is unique in that there is no piano, but jazz/rockin' electric guitar instead, in addition to four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, and upright acoustic slap bass and drums. When people hear Bernie's BBB, the first thing that hits them is its energy and intensity.

At the helm of The BBB is jazz drummer extraordinaire Bernie Dresel. Bernie is the first-call drummer and percussionist on the Hollywood stage for motion picture and television soundtracks. Prior to forming his own jazz orchestra, Bernie has been one of the busiest studio and live musicians in the world as both a drummer and percussionist since moving to Los Angeles in 1983 after graduating from the prestigious Eastman School of Music. He has traveled the world, occupying the coveted drum chair for Grammy Award-winning Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band since its inception in 1999. And also, for an overlapping 15 years (1992 to 2006), he was the drummer for the multi-Grammy Award-winning Brian Setzer Orchestra, selling close to 4 million records. Modern Drummer magazine's readers' poll named Bernie "Best Big Band Drummer" and Drum! Magazine has put him on their list of "53 Drummers Who Made a Difference in the '90s" as well as honoring him with a Drummie for Best Big Band Drummer.

The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel plays monthly at clubs in the Los Angeles metropolitan area such as Typhoon at the Santa Monica Airport and Joe's Great American Bar & Grill (where the live album was just recorded in April).