The Blue Nomads are a popular band specializing in advanced jazz, funk, fusion, and popular music. They hail from Amherst College in Western Massachusetts, although past and present members reside variously across North America. Known
for their impressive musicianship, high-energy performances and an encyclopedic and ever-expanding repertoire of original
compositions and arragements, the Blue Nomads are well sought-after as everything from headlining concert act to raucous
party entertainment.

Their current lineup consists of:

Ben Rogers, trumpet

Austin Leach, saxophones

Daniel McGeeney, piano

Michael Kohl, guitar

Chris Parkinson, upright and electric bass

Alex Tun, drums

Members

Ben Rogers



Austin Leach



Daniel McGeeney

























Michael Kohl



Chris Parkinson



Alex Tun

Early History

The group was founded in Fall 2004 by Ben Rogers and Michael Kohl, two Amherst College juniors who vowed to quit Amherst's jazz department unless they could find a group of committed, skillful musicians to play a more challenging jazz repertoire including original compositions. The trumpeter and guitarist had met as freshmen living in the same dorm, and had endured tenures in numerous unsatisfactory ensembles during their first two years, including the ill-fated Fusion Project and the plucky-but-bad Jazz Refugees.

The timing was finally right. Miraculously, the juniors were able to recruit four musicians to complete their lineup: Chris Parkinson, a sophomore who had built up a consider technique after beginning on the upright bass just a year before; Austin Leach, a soulful, expressive freshan tenor saxophonist who could double on soprano (and, later, alto); Daniel McGeeney, a precocious freshmen piano player who had impressed the juniors in a visit to the college the year before; and Eric Dew, the mysterious local percussionist from the Jazz Refugees. At an early meeting with Bruce Diehl, the group's mentor and Amherst's foremost jazz educator, the group decided on the name "the Blue Nomads," which had been suggested randomly by Austin Leach.

The name stuck, and so did the ensemble, who suckled on standard tunes like "Caravan" and "Take the A-Train" while simultaneously developing several original compositions...

The group was not without its growing pains...

2005-2006

In the Summer of 2005, Eric Dew announced his plans to attend Concordia College in Montreal, Canada, leaving the group without a drummer. Identifying a limited pool of alternatives, the Blue Nomads opted to enlist Alex Tun, heir to the fallen Mayan race. Tun had distinguished himself at the infamous Big Y Gig of the previous spring. A rising sophomore with a heavy touch on the skins, Tun quickly made himself at home among the Blue Nomads, for whom the switch to an angrier drummer, the return of their guitarist from abroad and an overall increase in skill among the entire group meant a sea change in repertoire.

The six converged at Amherst in late August of that year and initiated a demonaic "Nom-Hell Week" in which, unencumbered by classes (which had not yet begun), the group practiced for several hours every day, developing a fearsome new chemistry. Emerging with a repertoire that combined old Nomstandards with an array of party tunes, the Blue Nomads were now equipped to play rousing instrumental arrangements of danceable hits like "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai and "Señorita" by Justin Timberlake. With their rousing debut at a large college party in Crossett, one of Amherst's infamous "Social Dorms," the new Blue Nomads established themselves as one of Amherst's most formidible party bands.

It was only a matter of time before a flood of performance opportunities allowed the group to establish its virtual supremacy in the 'jazz' sphere as well. A series of engagements...

Unfortunately, on March 31, 2006, the Blue Nomads' great run came to a tragic end as they lost the Amherst College Battle of the Bands to the talented and much better-looking Ultraviolet Catastrophe. Following the resounding defeat, Austin Leach swore off women forever and retreated to a secluded monastery in the Berkshire Mountains. From time to time, if the wind is blowing just right, a careful listener can hear pained cries of "That shit was riiiiigggggeeeddd!"

Nomlegends

What Instrument Do You Play?

Austin Leach's Romantic Good Intentions Continually Abused

Jungle Man

Ben Rogers' Beard

Tracing the Dialectics of Style in the Late Baroque Music of Henry Purcell

Eric Dew's Real Name

Local Mentally-Handicapped Woman Makes Thinly-Veiled, Racialized Attempt at Picking up Austin Leach

Ben Rogers Misses a Cue

Eric Dew Relaxes

Cocktails