In 1999, Rob recorded his first solo CD, Sway, on which he wrote, arranged and sang lead vocals. The CD was well received with a favourable review from UK magazine, Guitarist.
His influences widened over the next few years as he discovered the wonderful back catalogue of Frank Zappa and jazz. The guitar lines of Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Grant Green, Jimmy Bruno, Pat Martino and Joe Pass, the saxophone genius of John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, the melodic arrangements of Miles Davis and Duke Ellington and the eccentric creativity of Thelonius Monk, had yet another profound impact. Contemporary players such as Pat Metheny and Russell Malone reinforced his belief in the importance of melody. After several years spent delving into traditional jazz, Rob connected with the energy, virtuosity and passion of jazz fusion. Bands such as Weather Report had a profound impact with Jaco Pastorius' groove and expressive melodic solos by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. Guitar players that fused jazz with rock and blues such as Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Steve Lukather, Mike Landau, Allan Holdsworth and Scott Henderson created a sound Rob had been searching for since picking up the instrument. He would absorb elements from all his favourite musicians and take them with him on his continuing quest to define an original style.
In his mid 20's Rob moved to the USA. He played for a year with funk/soul band, Mind Over Soul and then formed his own blues/jazz trio, The Blue Monks. The Monks released two original CD's, 2001's self titled disc and When It's All Said & Done, released in 2003. The discs contain many genres of music ranging from commercial pop vocal to latin/jazz tinged instrumentals and received favourable reviews in periodicals such as Sauce, The High Note and on various online music websites.The band played shows extensively with improvisation at the core of each performance, bringing in elements of rock, pop, funk and jazz against a backdrop of the blues. Many other talented musicians joined the Monks onstage for extended jam sessions in the blues clubs of St. Louis. The Blue Monks also attained radio airplay in the US and abroad, headlined several blues festivals and opened for national acts, most memorable of which being a sold out show with Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis. Rob also played for a year as part of an acoustic blues band featuring blues music veterans, Gus Thornton and Rich McDonough.
In 2004 Rob was interviewed by Guitar One magazine and talked of his influences and aspirations. In 2005 he wrote, recorded and produced a solo CD entitled, Stars Turn Everywhere at his home studio. The CD contained more aggressive guitar work than previous discs with varied material from fusion based instrumentals to acoustic folk.
In 2006 Rob decided to disband The Blue Monks and concentrate on other projects with more of an emphasis on playing guitar than singing. He filled in with Cream/Led Zeppelin style power trio S.G.V. for a few months and began playing with jazz/funk groups The Oday Project and The Richard Fuller Quartet. Both groups mix original compositions with standards. (For all upcoming shows, visit the calendar page.)
After teaching guitar for 10 years, Rob's first instructional book, Jazz For The Blues Guitarist is available now, published by Cherry Lane Music. For more information about guitar lessons, visit the tuition page. He is also a featured teacher on Guitarinstruction.com - the guitarist community) website.
In 2007 Rob played guitar on the debut CD by The Dive Poets (Masterplan Records). He recorded a new song with The Richard Fuller Quartet for the compilation CD, Rockers for Life (Illumina Records) and recorded a live session with The Oday Project at Webster University Studios and was a featured instrumental artist on the Guitar Nine Records website. The Richard Fuller Quartet cut a new original CD from a live session at Shine Studios in St. Louis, 2007. The CD entitled 'Richer & Fuller' was released early 2008.
In 2008 Rob joined the SoulCoustic project, a group of eclectic musicians that meet once a month and record lengthy jams of various genres.
Rob is currently teaching private lessons, playing gigs with various groups and studying with jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno (via his online institute). He is also composing new music, his latest demos are posted on the AUDIO page.
