Hop Sauce

Hop Sauce is an East Bay concoction of instrumental groove, funk and jazz, balancing improvisation with composition and a knack for fun, tasty jams. The core trio (Jeff Cleland on bass, Chris Gamper on drums and Jono Kornfeld on guitar) has a rich history of playing together over many decades.

In 2024 the 'Sauce released "Live at Jupiter", recorded under the grand redwood tree at one of their favorite venues in Berkeley, CA.

Hop Sauce's first CD, "Le Tasty" (with Simon Rochester on keys), features their diverse compositional prowess blended with an obvious love for in-the-moment playing and nimble improvisation. Rotating guest saxophone players are a part of the current recipe - incorporating a voice-like dimension and flavorful zing to their sound. Their 3-song "Freshies" EP (released in 2021) features Simon on keys and Jamison Smeltz on sax.