JOHN DARST

Born in Vallejo, California In 1946, John Darst started playing guitar at the age of 13. The major music influences in my life were Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis and Wes Montgomery. I enlisted in the Air Force in 1964 and was stationed in Utah with a stint in Southeast Asia. My Gibson 335 traveled with me. After my discharge in 1968 in Utah, I entered the University of Utah in 1971 until 1973 to study Jazz under the tutelage of Dr. William Fowler and Ladd Macintosh. While in Utah I played the club scene. Then In 1974 I moved to Los Angeles, California where I played the gamut of bands and music styles, from Country, to Blues, and Bop Jazz. In 1997 I moved to Arizona. I started teaching guitar at Northland Pioneer College in 2000, and then became Department Chair for the Construction Tech Department at the college until 2010. In 2009 I started the John Darst Trio with Bob Veltre, and Chris Long, two extremely talented musicians. I currently reside with my family on our 36 acre ranch here in the White Mountains of Arizona.

BOB VELTRE

Born on Long Island, just outside New York City in 1955, Guitarist Bobby Veltre started playing guitar at age 11. Taught by his older brother Rich, Bobby picked up the guitar quickly and began playing with bands in his early teens. Rich would take him to The Fillmore East in Manhattan early on to see such greats as B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Miles Davis, Laura Nyro and more. Then to The Village Vangard to see Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Flora and Airto and many others. After the blues years Bob started listening to Wes Montgomery and Thelonius Monk and got exposed to John Mcglaughlin, Larry Coryell and Bill Conners. After moving to San Francisco in 1976, Bob began listening to Weather Report, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and began to be seriously influenced by the music of Pat Metheny. Bob retired from playing Clubs in 1985 to write and record. After moving to Mesa, Arizona, he began playing jazz with Bud Dimock and Dave Russell and producing his own music and the music of other artists in his house studio. He played with the Phoenix Symphony in 1998 for 2 pops concerts. In 2000 he moved to the White Mountains of Arizona where he continues to write and record. He became the music director at the Unity Church in Lakeside, Arizona in 2008 and still plays there each Sunday morning.

CHRIS LONG

Chris Long our bassist, another accomplished player, teaches music in Vernon Arizona