Triple Play

Triple Play is the name given to three outstanding musicians, Peter Madcat Ruth – on harmonica, guitar, jaw harp, percussion and vocals, Joel Brown – folk and classical acoustic guitar and vocals, and Chris Brubeck – electric bass, bass trombone, piano and vocals. Collectively they bring a rare level of joy, virtuosity, and American spirit to the folk, blues, jazz and classical music they perform. Triple Play’s musical roots go back as many as 30 years in each member’s history. Chris and Madcat have toured and recorded together in different settings since 1969, first as rock musicians in the group ‘New Heavenly Blue’, and then as jazz musicians with Dave Brubeck. Chris went on to be co-leader of the group Crofut & Brubeck with the talented banjo player and folk singer Bill Crofut, and also featured Joel on guitar. After Bill Crofut’s passing in 1999, Madcat joined Chris and Joel to form Triple Play. With an ever-expanding repertory, Triple Play continues to play concert halls, clubs, and festivals throughout the country. In September 2006 they played a set at the Monterey Jazz Festival and later that evening were featured in the premiere of Dave Brubeck’s Cannery Row Suite. Paul deBarros, writer for the Seattle Times and DownBeat wrote: “Triple Play is what jazz always was and always should be about: good-time rhythm, unbridled joy and the sweet release but bittersweet aftertaste of the blues.”

Peter Madcat Ruth

Peter Madcat Ruth has established an international reputation through his exhilarating, riveting virtuosity on the harmonica. He is equally at home playing blues, folk music, jazz, country, or rock and roll. Performance Magazine refers to him as “A harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend stature.” Madcat’s music has been evolving for over 40 years, starting in Chicago in the 1960s with folk/blues on guitar and harmonica, then in the 1970s moving on to progressive rock in the bands ‘New Heavenly Blue’ and ‘Sky King’. By the mid ‘70s he was touring with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, and in the ‘80s he went solo infusing the folk/blues tradition with elements of rock and jazz. He has played throughout the world, is recorded on over 50 albums, and has appeared on television, radio, and with organizations of all sizes and styles.

Joel Brown

Joel Brown is a guitarist whose eclectic career has taken him to England to record with the London Symphony Orchestra, to Carnegie Hall with soprano Dawn Upshaw, and recital performances with Frederica von Stade. He has appeared at New York’s Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Tanglewood Festival, the Chamber Music Festival at Saratoga, Music in the Mountains in British Columbia, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to touring and recording with Triple Play, Joel has appeared as concerto soloist with the Martinu Chamber Orchestra in the Czech Republic and with orchestras across the U.S. He is the founding member of the flute, guitar, and cello trio, TRITONIS. He appears on numerous recordings, all with outstanding reviews. Currently, Joel is Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College in New York.

Chris Brubeck

Chris Brubeck first distinguished himself as a jazz musician, performing and recording with his father, the legendary Dave Brubeck. He plays bass, trombone, piano, guitar, and sings. In recent times he has earned international acclaim as composer, performer and leader of his own groups. In the last decade, Chris has created an impressive body of symphonic work while maintaining a demanding touring and recording schedule with his two bands, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet and Triple Play. Chris was named Music Alive Composer-in-Residence with the Stockton Symphony and in April 2005 he premiered a new genre-breaking piece for orchestra and actors based on the life of Mark Twain. The composition was a tremendous success and generated a second Music Alive Composer-in-Residence award, again with the Stockton Symphony, and will culminate in the premiere of a new work for the orchestra, three choruses, and a jazz combo. The piece, entitled Music Is the Power, is based on Stockton school students’ poems and prose about what music means to them.

[Festival Home]