Band Bio
At its best, jazz and improvised music is an in-the-moment conversation that brings different discoveries with every performance. This is a guiding principle behind Sound Suggestions, a group born from several seacoast-area musical connections. The initial idea for Sound Suggestions came from conversations between saxophonist Thom Keith and bassist Tim Webb about working on some of their favorite lesser-known music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, from composers like Billy Harper, Stanley Cowell, George Adams, Dick Griffin, and Bobby Hutcherson. Soon enough, rehearsals revealed an immediate compatibility with trumpeter Terry Beaulieu, pianist Mark Lyons, bassist Zac Arnault, vibist Joe Axiak ,and drummer Zac Hansen, who bring an energetic and synergistic approach to this music. Sound Suggestions offers creative music that excites, touches the soul, and often grooves like hell.
Member Bios
Terry Beaulieu – trumpet
Terry Beaulieu is a trumpet player that has played with the Southeastern Philharmonic, Hingham Symphony and the Bedford Big Band. Current ensembles are Seacoast Wind Ensemble, Seacoast Revival Brass Quartet and Sound Suggestions. Terry’s professional career was in the area of software development of financial based systems.
Joe Axiak – vibes
Joe plays in the 102nd Army National Guard band. He also dabbles in drums, piano and mathematics!
Mark Lyons – piano
Mark Lyons grew up in Pelham, New York, and started playing piano at age 5. His dad was a jazz fan, and often took him to NYC to hear some of the masters at his favorite club, Michael’s Pub (long gone). He went on to play and study jazz in college, but then dropped
it for a a few decades while pursuing a career in television production and raising a family.
What you see here is this man’s attempt to get it back.
Zac Francis – bass
Zac’s connection to the band began when he was a student at Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy where he had the band’s saxophonist as a teacher. The two have stayed in contact over the years, frequently playing music (no small feat given Zac’s music calendar!). Zac will soon depart the region for the west coast and the band wishes him well. We’ll leave the light on for ya!
Zac Hansen – drums
It is said that the old master rug-makers of Persia would deliberately weave a single imperfection into their finished work as a reminder that none among us is without flaw and God alone is perfect. Zac Hansen has taken this concept to its logical conclusion in his drumming by flipping the rug-to-imperfection ratio. Truly, God is great.
Tim Webb – bass
Bassist Tim Webb has been making all kinds of music throughout New England for almost four decades. After studying bass with John Hunter at the University of New Hampshire, Tim went on to perform and record with free jazz band Marsupial Hat, Zappa-inspired rock band The Zaklees, singer/songwriter Kaye Kelly, and his own Tim Webb Trio, among others. He has had extensive work as a session musician and has been a fixture on local jazz gigs in the New Hampshire seacoast and Boston areas.
Tim recorded his first solo bass album in 2006. This led to connecting with saxophonist Thom Keith, which in turn led to the formation of free improv group Equal Time and the creation of improvising artists collective and concert series Avant Coast. In the late 2010s he could also be found holding down the low end for avant-groovers Future Memory.
Tim has performed and recorded with many locally- and internationally-known musicians including Chris Humphrey, Charlie Jennison, Stu Dias, Mark Shilansky, Eddie Gale, Dick Griffin, Michael Gregory Jackson, Curtis Clark, and Francis Dunnery.
Thom Keith – tenor & baritone saxophone
As the bio above states, this is sort of a passion project for Tim and myself. In short, this band is playing songs I’ve wanted to play since I was a teenager. We like to live slightly off of Main St., while still paying due respect to the artists who reside there.