It seems kinda hard to believe, but when Hudson plays at The Jazz Estate Friday night at 9:30, it will be the first time any of the band's long-standing members – Matt Liban, Bryan Mir, Paul Jonas and Matt Meixner – have played the East Side club.
The four are veteran Milwaukee musicians who have, combined, played with many bands. That their paths never before led them to the stalwart Estate borders on astonishing.
Hudson has been at it since the mid-1990s, but has been mostly on hiatus since 2005. Recently, the group started playing again sporadically with its original line-up for The Tuesday Jazz Series at Bay View's Tonic Tavern, which Jonas owns.
Joining Hudson will be trumpeter, local jazz cheerleader and Choir Fighter Jamie Breiwick. I'd be willing to bet he's played The Estate loads of times and can direct the others to the coat hooks backstage.
Also hopping up on stage will be Liban's dad, Jim, a local blues harmonica legend.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
