Dave Brubeck, Art Blakey and George Benson are legends in the jazz world, but they’re not exactly household names to the typical high school student.
It’s safe to say Wilson Vest, Gabe Glasser and Espen Raustol are not typical high school students. The trio of 17-year-old juniors recently formed the Altamont Jazz Project, which has secured a weekly gig at Finch Gourmet Market & Wine Bar in Biltmore Village.
Along with Brubeck, Blakey and Benson, the musicians cite Buddy Rich, Ryo Fukui, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass and Bill Evans as influences.
“By the time we decided to start the jazz trio, we had all seen, heard and experienced jazz in varied degrees and in different spaces and styles,” says guitarist Raustol, who attends the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville. “We try to branch out to play many varieties and many colors of jazz — fast, slow, happy, sad.”
The three started playing together in the sixth grade as part of a rock/funk band called the Seven Lemonz, before shifting their focus to jazz. Vest and Glasser attend Carolina Day School.
Vest plays drums and Glasser plays keyboard for the Altamont Jazz Project, which takes its moniker from Thomas Wolfe’s fictional name for Asheville in his classic novel Look Homeward, Angel. “We wanted something that referenced where we are from,” Raustol explains.