Trevor Ware & Positive People

Band Biography

Positive People is a band of dynamic musicians led by Grammy winning composer and bassist Trevor Ware. The band's mission is to simply make audiences feel good by sharing spirit on stage. This is jazz, but it's not just musicians playing notes. We believe music has many purposes, one of which is lifting the countenance of the collective audience.  We are 5 people onstage, but consider the audience & the music as our 6th & 7th performing members, and do our best to use their significant influence to improvise the show.

Trevor began writing music during the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive People took shape in 2024 as a vehicle for the realization of these compositions; all intended to simply make people feel good. The band started rehearsing in the summer of 2024 & began performing late that year. As the band chemistry began to develop other band members began bringing in music for the band to perform. At the moment the band has an interesting stable of compositions representing the rich history of each of the musicians. We primarily play original compositions, however, the band has in its repertoire our own unique arrangements of popular compositions from the American Jazz songbook.

While the band is unmistakably improvisational, Positive People enjoys taking references from and incorporating other musical genres into their works. Yes, you can improvise over pop changes and play jazz grooves other than swing.  Come enjoy it with us.

More information is available at:

• Website: TrevorWare.com

• IG: @TrevorWare_PositivePeople

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566384831910

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TrevorWarePositivePeople

Band members include:

• Trevor Ware - Bass/Bandleader

• Sidney Jacobs - Vocals

• Peter Smith - Piano

• Scott Gilman - Tenor Saxophone

• Lyndon Rochelle - Drums

Trevor Ware - Bassist / Composer / Bandleader

Trevor’s musical journey began at 9 years old when he noticed that his sister was “getting out of class” to do this thing called “music”. “I asked my sister what I should play and, without hesitation, she said bass. I didn’t even know what a bass was. Because of my last name I was last in line to pick instruments. When I got to the front of the line the teacher apologized, explaining that the only instruments left were 3 acoustic basses. I said “I’ll take them”. There have been many signs over the years.  That was the first indication I was supposed to join the instrument.”

As an adult, Trevor studied under mentors Billy Higgins & Horace Tapscott at The World Stage Performance Gallery in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park neighborhood. Subsequently Trevor has grown into a first call jazz bassist. Through his career Trevor has worked with dozens of the top jazz artists including George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Alphonse Mouzon, Jazzmeia Horn, Lizz Wright, and many others. For a decade Trevor has provided the walking basslines for the Grammy winning Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. Trevor has been nominated for 2 Grammy awards with the band and won the 2023 award for the recording Basie Swings The Blues.  Trevor has performed at many of the best jazz festivals in the world including Jazzaldia, Montreux, North Sea, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & many others. Trevor regularly plays the best jazz venues in the world including 

• The Hollywood Bowl & Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; 

• The Blue Note (New York, Tokyo, Milan); 

• Birdland & The Apollo Theater in New York; 

• Ronnie Scott’s in London;

• The Sydney Opera House in Australia; 

• Zaradye Concert Hall in Moscow;

• & more.

Additionally, Trevor is a respected educator, serving as Professor of Classical & Contemporary Bass at California State University - Dominguez Hills.  He has helped several young bassists transition into fruitful careers. 

Peter is an accomplished pianist, composer, arranger, songwriter, and music director, and his career has flourished on both coasts. Originally a New Yorker, Peter has lived in Los Angeles since 2005. He is especially in demand as an arranger and musical director for singers, in various musical genres. Peter began working with Natalie Cole as her primary accompanist just prior to her passing, and he has traveled the world as Molly Ringwald’s pianist/MD, serving as co-producer and arranger on her Concord Records release: Except Sometimes. He has played on major stages large and small: Iridium, Birdland (NYC), Jazz Alley (Seattle), Yoshi’s (SF), Blues Alley (DC), Montreal Jazz festival, Vector Arena (NZ), Melbourne Recital Centre (AUS), and many more. 

Peter’s composing career has merged with the Industry in Los Angeles, and his compositions can be heard on numerous TV shows (Mindy Project, CSI, Bones, Arrow, Bojack-Horseman, Young Sheldon, Benched, Supergirl, Growing Up Fisher, Black Lightning, Pitch, Charmed, How to Live With Your Parents) as well as in the films Hotel Noir, Myth of Fingerprints, and Bleached.  

Peter attended Columbia University, majoring in literature but studying classical piano with Michael Skelly and entering an extended mentorship with Jazz great, pianist Mike LeDonne.  Peter also was a DJ at the acclaimed radio station at Columbia, WKCR, where he interviewed many of the great pianists in New York and attended the “Jazz University” of historian Phil Schaap.

Sidney Jacobs - Vocalist / Composer

Sidney Jacobs is a wonderfully inventive and daring vocalist, songwriter & arranger with a lyrical heart.  He writes and arranges cohesive and soaring songs which incorporate elements of bop, r&b, swing, soul, sonic experimentation, and the great American songbook to create lasting and resonant music.  He also sings as a member of the 5th Dimension.

Born in Harbor City, California, and raised in Los Angeles, Jacobs first began singing in the church choir as a child. As the baby of the family, Jacobs’ musical taste was greatly influenced by those of his teenage brother and sister. His brother - a flutist, favored jazz, and rock and roll, while his sister - a pianist, was a lover of soul and pop music. Additionally, gospel music filled the house as Jacobs’ father, a radio and television news reporter, had once been a gospel radio disc jockey.

Jacobs' own unique musical taste was awakened when he heard singer Al Jarreau sing Look To The Rainbow. Jacobs had never heard an artist sing with such creativity, control or adventurism - he was hooked! Jacobs then began studying Jazz with a passion and incorporating these new found techniques into his own music.

Jacobs musical taste runs the gamut from the American songbook to Hip Hop. Recently, when asked what type of music he sings and writes, Jacobs responded, “ I am a jazz singer and composer, but I am also a product of my varied musical experiences. Jazz is, and always has been, a living breathing thing. That’s the beauty of it; just when you think that you’ve nailed what it is, it goes in a completely different direction. It’s like a beautiful, lyrical virus.

Scott Gilman - Saxophonist / Composer

Scott Gilman first picked up the saxophone at age 10, inspired by his Dad’s late night jam sessions with other local jazz musicians. The rock scene in Massachusetts also influenced him and it wasn’t long before he picked up a guitar as well. His formative years were equally split between studying and playing the jazz of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, et al and forming his own rock bands to perform locally. He started playing professionally at age 15, then won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music. There he studied privately with tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. He continued to gig to support himself through college including a brief stint on the road with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

After college Scott formed his own band in Boston. He put the sax aside and became the lead singer/songwriter of a band that quickly rose to the top of the northeastern music scene, signing with Epic Records. Scott toured the world with Foreigner on saxophone and guitar as well as recording with Terence Trent D’Arby, Chaka Khan, and Howard Jones to name a few. After moving to Los Angeles in the mid 90’s he began to explore opportunities for scoring to picture. Scott was recruited to score a television pilot called Seven Days for Paramount Studios. The series was picked up and lasted for three full seasons with Scott scoring all 66 episodes with a wide range of styles, from orchestral to rock to ambient to techno. Scott has also scored several full-length features and an NBC movie of the week.

Lyndon Rochelle - Drummer

Gifted with a soulful groove that would make anyone get up and dance, Lyndon Rochelle has performed with many of today’s most unique artists, including Esperanza Spalding, James Torme, The RZA, Andy Allo (guitarist/vocalist for Prince), Eric Darrius (#1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Charts), Hank Jones, Yellow Jackets, Kurt Elling, Sam Kinger, Little Richard, Bill Pierce, Joe Lovano, George Duke, Darren Barret, Peter Erskine, Bobby Shew, and many others.

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Lyndon started  on the pots and pans as an infant. By age five, he was holding down the drum chair at his grandmother’s church on Sunday morning. An alumnus of the Berklee college of Music in Boston, MA, Lyndon ultimately developed his sound studying the greats with the guidance of master drummer Ralph Peterson. While in Boston, Lyndon also met and befriended the 2011 GRAMMY® Award winner for Best New Artist, Esperanza Spalding. The two went on to perform all over the world, including at  notable events such as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for President Barack Obama, the opening slot for Prince’s Welcome to America Tour at Madison Square Garden, and several European tours. Lyndon has recently begun collaborating with filmmaker and virtuosic pianist James Carson on a new project Carson Rochelle, and appears in James' first feature documentary Cabin Music (slated for a 2014 premiere. Lyndon believes in giving back to the music community through education. Since returning to Los Angeles, he teaches privately and through his local church. In addition, he was handpicked to teach and mentor at the Swarnabhoomi Academy Of Music in Chennai, India, during the spring of 2011. Lyndon loves the drums! But more importantly, he loves people. His passion for both music and life are on full display every time he sits down to play.