I started this band in 2000 to play and sing my favourite music - Soul-Jazz, R n B and Funk. The first line-up was with master drummer Mark Kennedy [who was spending a lot of time on the North Coast at the time] and Matt Hanley on guitar/vocal [who was living with me in Lismore], a great young sax player who was studying at the uni Kagiso Sobott, James Cox on percussion and Howlin’ Bob Howlett.

It then morphed into the current crew. Bob Howlett was doing a music degree at SCU, and was playing with the wonderful young guitarist Ben Thompson, and Shaston King on saxophone. I asked Scott Hills to play drums and we have been doing it ever since. A few different players have been in the horn section, and recently Martha Baartz returned from Melbourne - she nails it - a top musician. The Southern Cross Uni connection is strong – me teaching there, all the members graduated from there, and the band has been a vehicle to showcase and nurture many fine young players and singers. We play a lot at Jules Kelly’s Lismore Jazz and Blues Club to a wonderfully enthusiastic audience, comprised of many music students – a great gig. A lot of the live tracks on this page are from those shows.

The sound is based around the vintage organ and keyboard sounds, and old – school funk grooves but with a modern take. A great respect for the tradition and lineage of the music exists, and the fact we've played so much together now makes it easy to fall into ‘the pocket’ or groove, which is great fun. The saxophone section means a full sound for Soul and R n B, and also allows the band to stretch out on some longer instrumental pieces.

Apart from a few originals we mainly cover tunes by artists I am influenced by like Ray Charles, The Neville Bros, BB King and some by singer / musicians I have worked with like Georgie Fame and Jon Cleary. Sometimes we have special guests like Darren [Mr] Percival drop by, who does a Donny Hathaway set or a Stevie Wonder night. Always musical, danceable and  entertaining, the Hip-Operation is one of the best ‘groove’ bands around. A CD is planned for 2011.

Check the gig guide or contact me about bookings.