HELLBENDER bends jazz until it snaps. Built on the raw electricity of classic fusion records like Bitches Brew, the band channels that brand of chaos through a sharper, more intentional compositional lens. Ambient sounds are juxtaposed with tough drum beats and a ton of mixed meters. There isn’t endless soloing for its own sake—the band has a collective sound that resonates.
The players are conservatory-trained musicians who grew up on classic rock riffs as much as real books. The intention is to bring precision in the music without losing the danger. Amplified jazz, electric saxophone with guitar pedals, aggressive grooves, and tightly forged forms collide, blurring the line between headbanging and deep listening. Hellbender isn’t resurrecting fusion—they are weaponizing it.
Jared Sims, electric sax/pedalsAndrew Stern, guitarJames Rohr, keysMarc Friedman, bassRandy Wooten, drums
Agent Lockhart is led by guitar maestro Jeffery Lockhart.
As a son of of Hy Lockhart who has played with Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath and Sam Rivers, Jeff was around the best jazz company from his childhood.
He has hold ongoing Guitar positions with Meshell Ndegeocello, Mike Clark and Bill Summers (both of the Headhunters), the Sam Kininger Band, Al Evans of Soulive and Play On Brother Band, Lettuce, and Richie Goods of Nuclear Fusion. Jeff has shared the stage with Berklee professors Jetro DaSilva (Whitney Houston), Gabrielle Goodman (Chaka Khan), and Terri Lynn Carrington (Dizzy Gillespie). He has also performed with Cindy Blackman, Drummer (Carlos Santana, Lenny Kravitz) and more recently with Bassist Abe Laboriel, Sr.
Jeff´s musical career has spanned from being the Musical Director for Brian McKnight, Vocalist and Berklee Professor and Walter Beasley, Saxophone, to performing with LaVern Baker, Melba Moore, Gerald Levert, Kelly Price, and Patrice Rushen. As an AF&M member I ‘ve worked consistently in studios at Fluid Productions in New York and Handsome Brothers in Massachusetts.
