Hod O'Brien is one of these quiet-and-true jazz giants. He burst upon the scene in the late 50's when he came to New York City from his hometown in the Berkshire Mountains of Northwest Connecticut near Lenox, Mass. and Tanglewood. He soon became part of the "loft scene" jamming with other bop-influenced players like Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz, to name a few. At the age of 21 he was hired to record with Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and Idrees Sulieman on a record which has become a classic, Three Trumpets (now retitled Trumpets All Out on the Prestige label). He became an active part of the NY scene playing at such historical clubs as Birdland, the Continental, the Cork and Bib, the Black Pearl and Small's Paradise.

While still 21, O'Brien was asked by Red Rodney to take Bill Evans' place in the Oscar Pettiford Quintet. Among other appearances, the group alternated sets with Thelonious Monk at the famous Five Spot. After this stint with Pettiford, O'Brien joined up with tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose in a band which also included Elvin Jones and Wilbur Ware.

O'Brien took a hiatus from the jazz scene from 1963-73 when he went back to Columbia University to get a mathematics degree. While at Columbia, he also studied composition with Charles Wourinen and was part of the contemporary music scene there. He later worked in statistical research in the field of psychology but made his way back to jazz in the mid-70's with the opening of his own club, The St. James Infirmary, where he led a house band with Cameron Brown and Beaver Harris and backed up such guest artists as Chet Baker, Roswell Rudd, Lee Konitz, Zoot Sims, Charlie Rouse and others. He followed this with an historical 5-year, 5-night/week engagement at Gregory's (one of the few upper East side jazz clubs in NY and famous worldwide) with guitarist Joe Puma and various renowned bassists. During this time, O'Brien also appeared at such NY clubs as Fat Tuesday's, Lush Life (with Chet Baker), and the Blue Note.

Many years have passed since the early bebop days and most players on the scene today have been influenced by contemporary jazz, rock, latin and other forms of music. O'Brien's style is still one of the purest representations of bop piano around (along with Barry Harris, and a few others). One can also hear in his playing a healthy infusion of Dave McKenna's influence.

In 1980, O'Brien teamed up with singer Stephanie Nakasian (who spent two years with Jon Hendricks and Company). Since then, they have toured together all over the world and have won various awards, as well as appearing at major jazz festivals and recording together for radio and on CD. In 1994, at the tender age of 58, Hod O'Brien became a father - he and his wife Stephanie Nakasian and their daughter Veronica make their home in Charlottesville, Virginia and O'Brien and Nakasian are artists on the Virginia Commission for the Arts touring roster.

He is slowly but surely being "discovered" in his prime performing around the U.S., in Europe and the Caribbean and records as a leader and sideman including many recordings with the hard-bop repertory ensemble led by drummer Danny D'Imperio. Recent festival apperances include the Toronto Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Pensicola Jazz Festival and Port Townsend Jazz Festival, and an exciting two-piano concert with Barry Harris.

His latest CD for Fresh Sound, Have Piano... Will Swing! (Reservoir) was recorded with a West Coast rhythm section and has been hailed by "Jazz Times", "Swing Journal" and others as a "masterful performance", "highly recommended", "...prime form", "inspired repertoire - tasteful and swinging."

As Nat Hentoff wrote in "Modern Recording" magazine, "O'Brien is a long distance swinger" (alluding to O'Brien's five NY and Boston marathons with times under three hours)..."some of the customers know that he was a vital part of the bop scene...but to most listeners he's just a guy who makes you feel good on up tempo numbers and who can get inside your memories on ballads." Hod O'Brien is listed in the New Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford Press) and featured in a recent cover article for England's "Jazz Journal".