Rob Reich
Also Rock●Funk●Pop — Live & Session Guitar
Based in the NYC Metro area, Rob Reich splits his week between two very different rooms — and the smaller one is where the jazz lives. A trio with drummer Eliot Zigmund, who spent the 1970s behind Bill Evans, and bassist Rene Hart, working through Horace Silver and Cole Porter. He's also held down guitar for Allan Namery's Jazz Focus — piano, upright bass, sax and flute, vocals — on standards like “My Funny Valentine.”
On other nights, it's a much bigger room. With The Rhythm Shop, booked through Silver Pro Entertainment, he's the guitarist holding down Springsteen, Aerosmith, Tina Turner, and Journey for event crowds across New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut — full horn section, dance floor, the works.
His interest in how musicians hear and understand harmony also led to Master the Modes, the ear-first course he created with Doug Glener — more below.
Over the years, Rob has performed with musicians and artists across jazz, rock, funk, and pop, including:
Eliot Zigmund · Bucky Pizzarelli · Vic Juris · Peter Bernstein · Warren Vaché · Peter Cincotti · Fred Wesley · The Fat Boys · James Genus · Ben Perowsky · Billy Mintz · Tony Malaby · Tim Berne · Eric Alexander · Jay Azzolina · Chris Cheek · Bill Crow · Eliot Lurie · Peter Beckett · Rene Hart · Allan Namery
- New Day 3:46
- New Swing 4:14
- Fast Lane 7:05
- Homeward 7:09
- Falling 7:42
Original compositions, written and performed by Rob Reich.
Master the modes. Hear the difference. Understand what creates it. Use it musically.
Rob Reich and co-creator Doug Glener's Master the Modes takes an ear-first approach to the seven modes, moving beyond fretboard patterns to the sound and musical character of each one. By hearing each mode on its own, you begin to recognize the intervals that give it its particular color — and how to use that color in real playing.
The wheel to the right moves through the modes from brighter to darker musical colors. Click through them, listen for what changes, and explore how each mode creates its own feel.
- Lydian
- 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 — Major, but the raised 4th makes it float — bright, open, a little unresolved.
- Ionian
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — The major scale itself. The baseline everything else is measured against.
- Mixolydian
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 — Major with a flatted 7th — the sound under a lot of classic rock and blues-rock.
- Dorian
- 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 — Minor with a natural 6th — a minor-key groove that never quite turns sad.
- Aeolian
- 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 — The natural minor scale. Straightforwardly melancholy, no surprises.
- Phrygian
- 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 — Minor with a flatted 2nd — dark, tense, a half-step away from home.
- Locrian
- 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 — Even the 5th is flat. Unstable by design — rarely a home key, mostly a passing color.
Rob Reich
For events, session work, jazz dates, and lessons — reach out directly.