Andy Timmons

Born in Porto Alegre, South of Brazil, I was exposed to a strong mixed culture of music from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. I started to play guitar in my childhood, at the age 13 and under influence by Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I took private lessons and few years later I started to teach in some music schools in Porto Alegre and by doing that I got involved in projects like guitar clinics, master classes and I also become a session player. Besides that, I was also studying music and I graduated in Music Performance and later on in Guitar & Technology, Music Pedagogy. I am also an orchestrator certified by Berklee USA.

A professional musician from the age of 12, Simon Phillips' drumming sound and style is instantly recognizable. He's toured and recorded with just about every major rock and pop act imaginable; from Mick Jagger, The Who and Toto to Judas Priest, Mike Oldfield, and Joe Satriani. Protocol 3 is real-deal jazz rock. No avant-garde trappings, smooth jazz noodling or proggy pretensions (well, maybe a little bit of the latter) here.

Just like any musical movement, when such glam metal pretty boys as Poison and Ratt hit the big time in the late '80s, numerous copycat acts followed in their path; one being Danger Danger. Like the aforementioned bands, the quintet – Ted Poley (vocals), Andy Timmons (guitar), Bruno Ravel (bass), Steve West (drums), and Kasey Smith (keyboards) – mixed pop hooks and good looks with hard-edged guitar riffs, landing a deal with Epic in 1989. The same year saw the release of the group's self-titled debut, spawning the single/video "Naughty Naughty," which enjoyed a few airings on MTV's Headbanger's Ball program. The album failed to break the group through to the big time, but the group stuck to their guns and issued further albums: 1992's Screw It, 1995's Dawn, 1998's Four the Hard Way, and 2000's Return of the Great.

Protocol II arrives fourteen years after drummer Simon Phillips' last leader date—the hard bop and post-bop based Vantage Point (Jazzline Records, 2000). And it comes approximately a quarter century after the original Protocol (Music for Nations, 1988)—a true solo date that had Phillips covering all the instruments, filling in the space around his calling-card drumming.