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The Team

Who We Are

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JAMES KōB

Composer, Producer, Arranger, Orchestrator, Guitarist & Creator of The James Kōb Experience

James Kōb is a veteran composer, lyricist, arranger, orchestrator, and producer in addition to being an accomplished guitarist. A journeyman vocal and guitar performer over the years in multiple genres: rock,

folk-rock, jazz and standards, James honed his writing and arranging skills for orchestra as well as brass jazz bands and has directed numerous recording sessions over the years in studios from the Midwest

to the West Coast. A music major in classical guitar and composition at the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, James took his skills and participated in everything from writing

advertising jingles to playing at the Troubadour LA. His most recent focus is to bring melody back to music through compositions that can contribute to The Great American Songbook both in secular

jazz-standards and the seasonal Christmas Holiday genres... and to generate theater-cinema books based on the music content and lyrics.

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MARK HALEY

Drummer of The James Kōb Experience & Co-Producer of Partly Sunny Records

Mark Haley is an accomplished drummer who studied under Kay Carlson for 10 years and has played in nearly every genre of Music. From gospel to jazz to rock and even punk rock. Mark is the drummer and

coproducer on The James Kōb Experience “So Right” album (2016) and drummer and coproducer for the Gospel artist Shelley Kemp and record “Unchained” (2019). He has also toured in Africa with Gospel

artist “The Strangers“. Mark is also a professional audio engineer and has worked with and toured as a front house recording engineer for Jackson Browne and monitor engineer for Jackson Browne, The

Eagles, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley. Mark also spent a number of years in business at Accenture supporting Washington Mutual and Sun Microsystems. Currently Mark is using his talents to support SpaceX

and its journey to Mars as a Master Electrician and fire life safety engineer. Mark’s passion is drumming and when he’s not serving his wife or his church, he enjoys playing his drums.

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MARK JACOBS

Film Director & Producer

Mark Jacobs is an award-winning film and television director, cinematographer and videographer with more than 35 years of success in feature documentary, commercial, music video, news, docudramas, and

competition reality productions. Mark's most noted for producing, writing, and directing the feature documentary Jesse's Story. Jesse's Story captured numerous prestigious Jury and Audience Awards for

Best Documentary Motion Picture at the Beverly Hills, Malibu, Las Vegas, and San Diego Film Festival. Mark has directed more than 50 television docudramas, competition reality shows, and pilots. Some of the

most notable projects Mark has been the director and director of photography for are Rob and Big, Biggest Loser, Two Corey's, Kitchen Nightmares, Breaking Bonaduce, The Great Christmas Light Fight,

and others. Mark's work has been recognized by his peers as a broadcast journalist, commercial director & director of photography, feature documentary producer, and director with over 50 industry honors to

include; 2 Edward R. Murrow, 4 Telly, 23 NATAS Emmy's, 13 Society of Professional Journalists, 33 United Press International and Associated Press, numerous National Press Photographer Association awards.

Mark is also an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California teaching both Journalism, Film, and Studio Production.

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STEVE OLMON

Recording Engineer & Associate Producer

Steve Olmon has been a staff engineer at Paramount Recording Studios since 2009. Steve has worked with many well-known artists in all genres. First Grammy nom for BJ Chicago Kid: In My Mind for

engineering band and vocal. Second Grammy nom for Alice in Chains: Rainier Fog for engineering guitars.

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DANIELLE FIELD

Vocals

Though a recent graduate of The University of Oregon with her BA in Music & Vocal Performance, Danielle has been singing since she was little...and knocking-out audiences with her performances with her powerful, but soulful mezzo-soprano voice. A solo singer with vocal performance groups while at UO, she's featured on many James Kōb pieces as well as on his "So Right" album and performs in the Southern California music scene. 

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PEARL BOTTS

Vocals

A young woman on the rise in music, Pearl has a "lilt" in her voice that sets her apart from the crowd. She's featured in multiple YouTube venues and shines as a soloist or in duet features. Highly sought after in the local Southern California music scene, she's a coveted performer in the James Kōb Experience group.

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MARIA SHAFER

Vocals

A talented jazz vocalist, Maria is in demand all across Southern California at most jazz club venues. She performed in Latvia as a finalist in the Riga Jazz Stage competition and then cut her teeth on international stages as the female vocalist touring full-time with The Glenn Miller Orchestra across North America and Japan. With 2 of her own albums out and a 3rd on the way, she was also a featured singer on James Kōb's "So Right" album. Maria is a stand-out performer on any stage anywhere.

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SAM KISAKA

Vocals

Sam is an all-around musician...guitarist, writer... but most importantly: a great singer. Able to lend his strong tenor voice to a number of styles, he shines in the jazz-pop genre and has been compared to some of the best in the business...such as Michael Buble, John Legend, etc. as well as some smooth jazz-pop favorites such as Al Jarreau, Marvin Gaye and others.

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TRIPP SPRAGUE

Saxophone Soloist & Band Ensemble Member

Tripp Sprague is a jazz saxophonist based out of the San Diego area. Tripp also plays flute, chromatic harmonica, and EWI. He has performed extensively with the area’s top jazz musicians including his

brother guitar player Peter Sprague, bassist Bob Magnusson, and pianist Geoffrey Keezer. Tripp‘s musical versatility has led to invitations to perform with international acts such as jazz singer Mose Allison,

Kenny Loggins, Motown legends Smokey Robinson. Tripp has recorded on numerous recordings with such artists as Todd Rundgren and Kim Carnes and. Tripp also co-produced and performed on the

self-titled CD from the group “Blurring the Edges” which won the “best pop-jazz ” album at the San Diego Music Awards. In 2006 Tripp released a straight-ahead jazz CD featuring his original compositions

entitled “Wall to Wall”. Tripp also runs a recording studio from his home where he has produced and recorded CDs for numerous local artists

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DAN HALL

Bassist & Music Director

Dan Hall's career as a professional bass player spans more than 60 years having performed upright string-bowed bass in symphony orchestras throughout Maine, Nevada, Texas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington DC.  In addition to his virtuosity at string bass, he's also talented and highly skilled on electric bass, both fretted and fretless.   Mr. Hall has worked in Casino House Bands at Harrah's Hotels in Reno and Lake Tahoe, Del Webb's Sahara Reno & Tahoe properties as well as the MGM Grand Hotel in Reno. He's played live stage shows in Branson, MO....seven years in fact with The Lawrence Welk Orchestra and two years

with Les Brown's Band Of Renown on National Tour. Mr. Hall has played Broadway shows at Signature Theater, Ford's Theater, The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, DC and The Hippodrome in Baltimore, Maryland since moving to Northern Virginia in 2006.  He's been on the music faculty as a bass teacher at The University Of Maine at Augusta and at The University Of Nevada, Reno and besides being the principal bassist of The James Kōb Experience, Mr. Hall is James Kōb's music transcriber and Musical Director.

Bass Guitar Strings
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IAN FRANCISCO

Musician's Musician

A "musician's musician", Ian is not only a great jazz-pop pianist, but excels at string bass in big-band jazz ensembles in and around Southern California. He also commands the keyboard in orchestra-synthesizer arrangements and has been a key performer on most of James Kōb's pieces.

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ROBERT LEVINSTEIN

The Man

Robert is a well-respected TV, Broadway & Theater Producer. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on the Amazon series "TAINTED DREAMS".

Most recently, Robert was the Managing Director at the Sharon Playhouse Connecticut from 2018 to 2021 where under his tenure the Playhouse recovered from prior years' financial issues and grew significantly.

As a Production Stage Manager, he has worked on Broadway ("Waiting In The Wings" with Lauren Bacall), National Tours ("Camelot" with Michael York), The Actor's Fund shows and Television...including programs for NBC, TBS and network award feature shows. 

Robert was also Associate Producer for the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine where he managed theatrical production supervising a multi-million dollar budget and cast such luminaries as Stefanie Powers, Sally Struthers, Jefferson Mays and Carson Kressley to name just a few.

Theater Lights
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ROBIN RICHESSON

StoryBoard Artist

Robin Richesson is a freelance illustrator living in Long Beach. She works primarily as a storyboard artist, production illustrator and costume illustrator in the film industry. Her credits for costume Illustration

include such films as Forrest Gump, Beloved, Contact, The Spiderwick Chronicles, War of the Worlds, Buddy, The Polar Express, Little Women, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Unbreakable, Stuart

Little, Mars Attacks!, Cable Guy and IRONMAN. As a storyboard artist, her credits include American Beauty, Aeon Flux, Jennifer’s Body, Evan Almighty, Starship Troopers, Mars Attacks! and Jack Reacher.

As a production illustrator, she worked on The Last Airbender, Small Soldiers, What Lies Beneath, The Grinch, Castaway, Contact, Viva Rock Vegas, Park & Recreation, MadMen, and True Blood. She was

included in Entertainment Weekly magazine’s “100 Most Creative People in Hollywood” list for 1998. Her most recent projects include Destroyer, Dear Evan Hansen, The Prom, Black Monday, and Archive 81

(NETFLIX Series). In addition, she has illustrated for magazines, newspapers, educational companies, and children’s books. Robin received a BFA in Illustration and an MFA from California State University,

Long Beach, where she now heads the Illustration Program.

© 2025 by James Kō

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