Fattburger

Fattburger ranks among the leading pop/jazz ensembles and has at times been labeled new adult contemporary, contemporary jazz, or smooth jazz. Based in San Diego, the group has endured shifting fashions while continuing to deliver the approachable, groove-oriented sound that defined its founding vision. Saxophonist Hollis Gentry fronted the high-school band Power, which opened for Cannonball Adderley at a 1972 college concert. Following graduation, Gentry spent time on the road with various R&B acts, then enrolled at San Diego State University, where he performed straight-ahead jazz alongside Bruce Cameron throughout the latter half of the 1970s. After that ensemble disbanded, Gentry joined keyboardist Carl Evans, bassist Mark Hunter, drummer Kevin Koch, and guitarist Steve Laury to form Fattburger as an independent unit. Percussionist Tommy Aros soon became a member, and in the early 1990s, when Steve Laury launched a solo career, Evan Marks assumed the guitar chair. During the mid-1990s the band secured a recording contract with Shanachie, issuing a succession of favorably received albums that extended well into the twenty-first century.