FACULTY___________________________________
Junko Arita (vocalist), BFA, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music; BA, Meijigakuin University, Tokyo. Has worked extensively in composition/arranging and computer music notation. Jay Bianchi (pianist), is NYC based pianist, producer, composer & educator. He holds a performance certificate from Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, a Master of Music from the University of Miami in jazz studies and a Bachelor of Music from SUNY at Fredonia in music education. Jay toured and performed internationally with Grammy award winning artist Nigel Kennedy and Dave Heath. Most recently in NYC he has performed and recorded with John Patitucci. Jay has 2 critically acclaimed trio CD’s released on ilovestress records; Jay is Cool featuring John Patitucci on bass, and 11211. He is currently working with Bette Midler and Angelo DiPippo. Jane Ira Bloom (saxophonists/ composer/ producer), graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Music. Winner, Mary Lou Williams Jazz Award for lifetime service to jazz, Downbeat International Critics Poll & Jazz Journalists Award for soprano saxophone, the IWJ Jazz Masters Award, and the Charlie Parker Fellowship for jazz innovation. Bloom has an asteroid named in her honor by the International Astronomical Union (asteroid 6083janeirabloom). Recipient of the Doris Duke Jazz New Works Award, and fellowships from the NEA, Rockerfeller, Pew & Ford Foundations. Performed, recorded, and/or collaborated with Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, George Coleman, Fred Hersch, Kenny Wheeler, Julian Priester, Rufus Reid, Bob Brookmeyer, Mark Dresser, Bobby Previte, Matt Wilson, Jerry Granelli, Jay Clayton, and Cleo Laine. Compositions & commissions for the American Composers Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Pilobolus & Philadanco Dance Companies, and the NASA Art Program. She has produced and recorded for CBS, ENJA, JMT, Arabesque Jazz Recordings and Artistshare. Performances at the San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin, Detroit, & JVC Jazz Festivals; at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; as well as clubs throughout New York. Richard Boukas (guitarist/vocalist), BA, New York University. Founder of New School Brazilian Jazz Ensemble and resource team chair in Brazilian music for IAJE. Recognized as “best Brazilian jazz guitarist in U.S” by Guitar One magazine and columnist for Just Jazz Guitar. Leader and co-leader on several recordings including Balaio, Amazona, Embarcadero. Acclaimed Brazilian jazz duo with pianist Jovino Santos Neto. Artist residencies include Campos do Jordão (Brazil), Harvard, Cornell and Denver universities, Cincinnati Conservatory and National Guitar Workshop. Founder of Queens non-profit organization JazzEthnics and award-winning producer for Queens Public Television. Artist endorsee for Thomastik-Infeld strings. Joanne Brackeen (pianist/composer), two-time winner of Downbeat International Critics’ Poll for best pianist, and two-time NEA grant-winner, Ms. Brackeen has been described as a “virtuoso pianist, one of jazz’s most prized possessions.” She has performed and/or recorded with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, Pharaoh Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Dave Liebman, Toots Thielmans, Jon Faddis, Eddie Gomez, and Jack DeJohnette. Leading her own groups, she has performed in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Venues have included the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institute, Carnegie Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as the JVC, Monterey, Montreal, North Sea, and Montreux Jazz Festivals. With more than 25 recordings as a leader, Ms. Brackeen is currently a recording artist for Arkadia Records. Her most recent CD, Pink Elephant Magic, received a Grammy nomination in January 2000. Cecil Bridgewater (trumpeter/composer), studied music education, performance, and composition at the University of Illinois. He has performed with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, and Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras. He has performed, composed, and arranged for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Max Roach, Lena Horne, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Mr. Bridgewater’s arrangement for “Undecided Now” on the award-winning CD Dear Ella was nominated for a Grammy. With commissions from Meet the Composer, he produced The Cannonball Adderley Suite. With a NY State Council on the Arts commission, he produced the orchestral piece, New Dawn. He has appeared on many recordings under his own name, including the most recent, Mean What You Say on Brownstone Records. Brian Camelio (guitarist/composer), BM, University of Vermont. Recipient of several grants, including ASCAP Young Composers Grant in 1986 and a VCA grant, he has was worked with Jim Hall, Phish, Kenny Werner, Gil Goldstein, Jonathan Tunic, Betty Buckley, the Hal Leonard Corp., Rittor Music, and Warner Brothers Music. He is the founder and CEO of ArtistShare, a Web distribution cooperative that has launched work by Maria Schneider (including her Grammy-winning CD Concert in the Garden), Jane Ira Bloom, Jim Hall, Bob Brookmeyer, Brian Lynch, and Danilo Perez. Steve Cardenas (guitarist), While starting his musical career in Kansas City, Steve is now an integral part of the jazz community in New York. Performing and recording with such groups as the Paul Motian Electric Bebop Band, Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra and Joey Baron's quartet "Killer Joey" to mention a few, he also leads his own trio performing at a number of venues around New York City. Mr. Cardenas has also toured Europe extensively, performing at various festivals including the North Sea and Montreux jazz festivals on numerous occasions. He has two recordings as a leader as well as extensive sideman appearances. In collaboration with editor Don Sickler, Mr. Cardenas completed work on a book of Thelonious Monk's compositions through Hal Leonard Publishing. The Thelonious Monk Fakebook marks the premier publishing of all of Monk's compositions together, with many of them appearing for the first time. Jeff Carney (bassist), BM, San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has accompanied Stan Getz, Art Farmer, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Dewey Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, and Clifford Jordan, as well as popular music stars including Sting, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Elton John, and Barbra Streisand. Principal bassist with the New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Carney has played with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the Broadway orchestras for Secret Garden and Beauty and the Beast. Joe Chambers (drummer/vibist), MA, Lehman College; BA, Philadelphia Conservatory of Music; composition studies with John Corigliano. He has performed with Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, and Joe Henderson. His compositions have been performed by and/or on: Music in Our Time Series; Carnegie Hall Jazz Repertory Orchestra; NDR Radio (Germany); Copenhagen Radio; Jazz Composers’ Showcase. With more than 300 albums recorded, Mr. Chambers is currently a recording artist with Blue Note Records. Joseph Ciolino (pianist/historian), BA, MA, Hunter College; MEd, New York University. A lecturer of historical musicology specializing in the music of Bach and the early Romantics, for more than 20 years he has conducted choirs in the New York area which focus on music of the Baroque and Renaissance periods. In addition, he is a frequent concert pianist. Haim Cotton (pianist), studied at Tel Aviv Academy of Music and Juilliard. Performed with Randy Brecker, Anton Fig, and others. Debut solo album 100% Cotton. Staff composer at OMNI-MUSIC. Andrew Cyrille (drummer/composer), attended the Juilliard and Hartnett Schools of Music and worked with renowned jazz artists including Mary Lou Williams, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Kenny Dorham, Freddie Hubbard, Walt Dickerson, and Babatunde Olatunji. From the mid-sixties to the seventies, Mr. Cyrille collaborated with pianist Cecil Taylor; was a member of the choral theater group Voices Inc.; and taught as artistin- residence at Antioch College. Mr. Cyrille organized several percussion groups featuring, at various times, notable drummers such as Kenny Clarke, Milford Graves, Famoudou Don Moye, Rashied Ali, Daniel Ponce, and Michael Carvin. Mr. Cyrille has toured and performed throughout North America, Europe, Africa, and the former USSR. He currently is a member of TRIO3, featuring Oliver Lake and Reggie Workman. He has received three NEA grants for performance and composition, two Meet the Composer/ AT&T- Rockefeller Foundation grants, and an Arts International award to perform with his quintet in Accra, Ghana, and West Africa. In 1999, Mr. Cyrille received a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition. Gerard D’Angelo (pianist/arranger), BM (Composition and Performance), Five Towns College. Performed with Zoot Sims, Ira Sullivan, Mel Lewis, Nat Adderley, Red Rodney, Bucky Pizzarelli, George Anders, and Georgie Auld. Armen Donelian (pianist/composer/author), BA (1972), Columbia University; Artists’ Certificate (1968), Westchester Conservatory of Music. Private studies with Carl Bamberger (conducting), Ludmila Ulehla (harmonic analysis), Harold Seletsky (Schoenberg theory and counterpoint) and Richie Beirach (jazz piano). Performed in 22 countries in major venues as leader and sideman since 1975 with Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Mongo Santamaria, Billy Harper, Jackie Paris, Paquito D’Rivera, Night Ark and others. Composer of 100 works. Producer of ten critically acclaimed recordings on Sunnyside, Playscape, Odin and Atlas labels. Fulbright Senior Scholar for work in Armenia, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. Taught at conservatories in Paris, Zürich, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Lisbon, Malmö, Jyväskylä, Arvika, Iasi, Tblisi and Yerevan. Steinway-affiliated artist. Recipient of six NEA Jazz Fellowships, five Meet the Composer grants, one NJSCA grant, two CEC Artslink Grants, and one New School Faculty Development grant. Author of Training the Ear Vol. 1 & 2 (Advance) and articles in Rutgers Annual Review of Jazz Studies, Downbeat and Keyboard magazines. Mario Escalera (woodwinds/composer), MA, Conducting and Music Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; BA, Liberal Arts, Excelsior College, SUNY; BA, Flute and Composition, Empire State College. Private studies with Kenny Dorham, Bobby Capers and Manny Albam. Performed with “Screamin’ ” Jay Hawkins, Al Hibbler, Jaki Byard, Ray Draper, Richard Williams, and Patato Valdez. Five recordings as composer/leader. Recipient of a CAPS composition fellowship, a Meet the Composers grant, and a Brooklyn Arts Council grant. Ray Gallon (pianist), performed and/or recorded with Ron Carter, Art Farmer, Lionel Hampton, the Harper Brothers, George Adams, and Lew Tabakin. Hal Galper (pianist/composer/publisher/author), graduate, Berklee College of Music. Hal Galper has worked with Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, John Scofield, the Phil Woods Quintet, and Mike & Randy Brecker, producing more than 82 recordings, 20 as a leader. Mr. Galper has also worked with the Slide Hampton Quartet, the Lee Konitz Duo, and the Stan Getz Quartet. His articles have appeared in Downbeat and the Jazz Educators’ Journal. Mr. Galper has won a Grammy award for his work with the Phil Woods Quartet/Quintet, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Berklee College of Music, and multiple awards from the IAJE. He has also received grants from the NEA, the Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Foundation, and The New School. George Garzone (saxophonist/composer), BS, Berklee College of Music. Performed and recorded with Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Gunther Schuller, Danilo Perez, and Joe Lovano. CD releases as a leader include Moodiology, The Fringe of New York, and Fours and Twos. Dave Glasser (saxophonist), 1995 to present, Clark Terry quintet. 1991-95 Illinois Jacquet big band. 1988-91 Count Basie Orchestra under direction of Frank Foster. Also worked with Barry Harris, "Sweets" Edison, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Slide Hampton, Roland Hanna, Sam Rivers, Eddie Locke, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Earl May, Stanley Turrentine Jon Faddis, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Green, George Benson, Monty Alexander, John Bunch, Byron Stripling. 4 CD's as a leader, 5 with Clark Terry, 3 with the Count Basie Orchestra, 2 with Earl May, 16 others. Part time Faculty at the New School Jazz program 1996 to present, Faculty member of the Clark Terry International Institute of Jazz Studies in Le Mars, Iowa from 1995 - 97, university and high school clinician. Born and raised in New York City, graduate of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts, BM in Classical Saxophone and a MM in Jazz Performance from ESM. Student of Lee Konitz at 15. Extensive instruction from Barry Harris. Dan Greenblatt (saxophonist/composer/author), BA, Amherst College; MA, PhD, University of Michigan. Studied music privately with Joe Viola, Patience Higgins, Barry Harris, and Chuck Metcalf. In Seattle, WA, from 1978 to 2002, he performed and recorded with George Cables, Jay Thomas, Don Lanphere, Jimmy Heath, Ernestine Anderson, Frank Wess, and many others. Released CD, Stretch, as a leader in 1999. Joined faculty of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2003, and became its director of Academic Affairs in 2004. Published The Blues Scales: Essential Tools for Jazz Improvisation (Sher Music) in 2004. Chico Hamilton (drummer/composer/bandleader/producer/arranger), first performed as a youngster with schoolmates Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, and Illinois Jacquet in the 1930s. After working with jazz legends such as Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, and Count Basie, Mr. Hamilton released his first album as a leader in 1955, earning him the first of numerous Downbeat Readers’ Poll awards. That same year, he formed a groundbreaking jazz quintet combining his drums with cello, flute, guitar, and bass. Having explored a great many lineups and sound textures throughout the years, Mr. Hamilton has introduced Jim Hall, Eric Dolphy, Larry Coryell, and Ron Carter and collaborated with the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet. He has also appeared in several films, such as Jazz on a Summer’s Day, and composed the score for Roman Polanski’s Repulsion. A founding faculty member of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, he was honored with a Beacons in Jazz award from The New School in 1999. Billy Harper (saxophonist), BM, North Texas State. Has performed with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Max Roach, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis Orchestra, Gil Evans Orchestra, Donald Byrd, and Lee Morgan. Mr. Harper has taught at Livingston College and Rutgers University. He received a special grant from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts to teach improvisation at 15 high schools. Awards and honors include three music composition grants—two from the NEA and one from the Creative Arts Program. He also received the International Critics Award for Tenor Saxophone for two years consecutively. Mr. Harper and his quintet, which recently released the CD Soul of an Angel (Metropolitan Records), have performed extensively in Europe and the Far East. Richard Harper (keyboards/vocals/brass/winds), Ph.D. Ethnomusicology and Composition, Union Institute and University; MM, Manhattan School of Music; BA Wesleyan University. Recorded with Makanda McIntyre, James Jabbo Ware, Jack Walrath, Miles Griffith, Fred Ho. Musical director for Udu, 51st Dream State, You Don’t Miss Your Water, Best of Both Worlds. Arranged-Composed for off-Broadway and Apollo Theater productions. Performed with Craig Harris, Lena Horne, Diedre Murray, Sam Rivers, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Sam Rivers, Smokey Robinson. Gerry Hemingway (composer/percussionist), has been making a living as a composer and performer solo and ensemble music since 1974. He has led numerous groups, including (since 1997) his quartet with Ellery Eskelin, Herb Robertson and Mark Helias as well collaborative groups with Mark Helias & Ray Anderson (BassDrumBone) celebrating its 30th year anniversary in 2007, Reggie Workman & Miya Masaoka (Brew), Georg Graewe & Ernst Reijseger (GRH trio), WHO trio with Swiss pianist Michel Wintsch and bassist Baenz Oester, his duo w/Thomas Lehn, and also w/John Butcher. Mr. Hemingway is a Guggenheim fellow and has received numerous commissions for chamber and orchestral work including "Terrains", a concerto for percussionist and orchestra commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony. He also completed a production of Songs, two year recording project for the the German label, between the lines. He is well known for his eleven years in the Anthony Braxton Quartet, and his many collaborations with some of the world’s most outstanding improvisers and composers including Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, George Lewis, Derek Bailey, Leo Smith, Oliver Lake, Kenny Wheeler, Frank Gratkowski, John Cale, Marilyn Crispell, Michael Moore and many others. Adam Holzman (keyboardist), worked with Miles Davis’ band from 1985 to 1989 as musical director for the entire band, performing in more than 200 countries. Mr. Holzman has toured and recorded with artists, including Chaka Khan, Michel Petrucciani, Wayne Shorter, and Kenny Garrett. In the spring of 1997, he joined Grover Washington Jr.’s band. By the late nineties, he was also playing with FM Tribe and Francis M’Bappe in New York City. In addition to his role as a sideman, Mr. Holzman has led the Los Angelesbased jazz-rock group The Fents and formed the progressive-influenced Mona Lisa Overdrive. Satoshi Inoue (guitarist/author), BFA, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Has performed with Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Junior Mance, Barry Harris, Slide Hampton, Arnie Lawrence, James Moody, Clayton Brothers and Toshiko Akiyoshi. Author of book with CD, Jazz Guitar Do It By Yourself/Rittor Music. Mr. Inoue also has been writing a monthly column for a Japanese jazz magazine since 1998 and has produced five albums as a leader. Vic Juris (guitarist), studied with Charlie Banacos and Pat Martino. Current member of Dave Liebman group and Gary Peacock Quartet, and leader and musical director of the Charles Mingus Guitar Quintet. He has performed with Barry Miles, Richie Cole, Eddie Jefferson, Jimmy Smith, Mel Torme, Nancy Wilson, and Sarah Vaughan. Leader of his own group, Steeple Chase recording artist, latest release Songbook. Michael Karn (saxophonist/bassist), BM, New York University; private studies with Joe Lovano. Performed and/or recorded with Ray Charles, Jimmy Cobb, Charles Earland, Junior Mance, Charli Persip, Irene Reid, Valery Ponamarev, and Andy Bey. Recent tours with Harry Connick. Two recordings as a leader on Criss Cross Jazz: Head to Head and In Focus. Bill Kirchner (woodwinds/composer/author), BA, Manhattan College; recipient of Grammy, NAIRD Indie, and Jazz Journalists Association awards; leader of the Bill Kirchner Nonet and Trio. Placed in eight DownBeat International Critics Polls as Talent Deserving Wider Recognition—Arranger. Producer/annotator of new and reissued recordings for many labels; producer/writer of four NPR Jazz Profiles. Frequent host of Jazz From The Archives, WBGO-FM. Editor, A Miles Davis Reader (Smithsonian Press, 1997) and The Oxford Companion To Jazz (Oxford University Press, 2000). Current CDs: Everything I Love (Evening Star Records), Trance Dance (A-Records), and Some Enchanted Evening (A-Records). Janet Lawson (vocalist), private studies with Hall Overton and Warne Marsh. Grammy Nominee for her first album, The Janet Lawson Quintet with Bill O’Connell, Ratzo Harris, Jimmy Madison and Roger Rosenberg. Performed with Duke Ellington, Tommy Flanagan, Dave Liebman, David and Lida Baker, Rufus Reid, Clark Terry, Billy Hart, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Bob Dorough, Ron Carter, among others. Performances in Europe include Jazz Festivals and Clubs in England, Paris, Denmark, Italy, Eastern Europe - and creating Vocal Jazz Programs in Music Camps and Schools throughout Latvia, conducting Vocal Jazz Workshops in Guild Hall, London; the American School of Modern Music, Paris; Vestjysk Musikkonservatorium with Butch Lacy’s Very Big Band, Denmark; University of Calgary, Canada as well as in other European countries and throughout the United States. Celeste, a Japanese company, has released a double CD of previous Janet Lawson recordings. Lawson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts - for composing and co-writing with lyricist Diane Snow Austin, Jass Is A Lady, supported by ASCAP and produced by Playwrights Horizons in New York; the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York and Pennsylvania Councils on the Arts and ArtsLink. She is listed in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, the All Music Guide to Jazz, included in Leslie Gourse’s Louis’ Children and Scott Yanow’s forthcoming book, The Jazz Singers. Lawson’s forthcoming book is entitled, The Integrated Artist: Improvisation as a Way of Life. Also soon to be published, a children’s book about the history of jazz, story and original music written with renowned composer and author, Carman Moore, entitled – Grandma Sage and her Magic Music Room. Nominated for 2007 IAJE Jazz Education Hall of Fame Award. Lee Ann Ledgerwood (pianist/composer), studied at Cleveland Institute of Music, North Texas State University, and Berklee College of Music. Performed and/or toured with Red Mitchell, Eddie Gomes, Joe Chambers, George Mraz, Joe Lavano, Billy Hart and others. Recipient of the 1997 Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from The New School. Recordings as a leader: “You Wish,” “Now and Zen,” “Transition” (piano trio), “Compassion” (solo piano), and “Walkin Up” (piano trio). Elisabeth Lohninger (vocalist), MA in Music Pedagogy/English Language and Literature from Hochschule Mozarteum/Paris Lodron Univeristy, Salzburg, Austria; jazz studies at Bruckner Conservatory, Linz, Austria; Mannes College, The New School for Music; and The New School for General Studies. Several recordings as a leader or as a duo, most notably Austrian LiedGood with pianist Walter Fischbacher, Beneath Your Surface (Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet) and The Only Way Out Is Up (Elisabeth Lohninger). Wasserman Award-winning film music composer for I’m Thursdays by British filmmaker Helena Smith. Amy London (vocalist/lyricist), BA in Voice, Syracuse University. Original Broadway cast, City of Angels and City Center’s Promises, Promises. Ms. London has been featured on recordings and/or appeared with Barry Harris, Sir Roland Hanna, Charles Aznavour, Frank Wess, and Chris Anderson. Her upcoming CD, When I Look in Your Eyes is due for release May 29 on Motema Music. It features the late pianist John Hicks, as well as fellow faculty, Dan Greenblatt, on tenor saxophone. Ms. London recently resented Sing Along with Ella: The Key to Vocal Jazz Improvisation at the 2007 IAJE. She can be heard as the solo vocalist on fellow faculty Jim Sniedero’s Jazz Conception: Seat Vocal, book/singalong CD. David Lopato (pianist/composer), BA, Yale University; graduate study at California Institute of the Arts. Performed with Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Wadada Leo Smith, and David Mott. Has recorded with Lumina and Enemy Records. Arun Luthra (saxophonist), BFA, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Recordings and performances with Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, Bernard Purdie, Greg Tardy, Bobby Short, Loren Schoenberg, Jon Gordon, Brit Woodman, Ken Peplowski, and Lew Soloff. Numerous recordings as a sideman. Ed MacEachen (guitarist), is a jazz guitarist who got his professional start in 1977 in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio where he studied with Bill D’Arrango (sideman with Ben Webster and Dizzy Gillespie). Ed moved to New York in 1984 where he has worked in the bands of Jack McDuff, Chico Hamilton and Erestine Anderson among many others. He currently lives and performs in the New York city area and can be heard on Eilot Zigmund’s Starlight on Jazz Today Records and Bill Mobley’s Singularity on Space Time Records among others. Ed teaches both in the Mannes College of Music extension division (since 1989) and in the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music program (since 1995). Junior Mance (pianist) Jazz Pianist, composer, and author of How To Play Blues Piano, Junior Mance has recorded forty plus albums as a band leader as well as numerous recordings as a sideman. In 1947, Junior left Roosevelt College in Chicago where he was majoring in music to begin his recording career with Gene Ammons. He joined Lester Young in 1949 and played with him for almost two years, and then he rejoined Ammons for several months in 1951 before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in the 36th Army Band at Fort Knox, Kentucky along with Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. In 1953, Junior became a part of the house rhythm section at the Bee Hive Jazz Club in Chicago, accompanied by jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, and Sonny Stitt. Subsequently, Junior played and recorded with the likes of Dinah Washington, and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, and in 1958 he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band, one of the highlights of his career. In 1961 Junior release his first recording as a band leader Junior on Verve Records. A seasoned performer, Junior has traveled to Japan and Switzerland, among other places in Europe, to play. He has toured numerous times with Lionel Hampton and His Gold Men of Jazz group and still tours with 100 Gold Fingers, a group consisting of ten outstanding jazz pianists which tours Japan every other year. In 1997, he was inducted to The International Jazz Hall of Fame in Tampa, Florida. Fans and friends can keep up with Junior’s performances by visiting his website at www.juniormance.com Abdou Mboup (percussionist), born in Senegal to a family of African poets and musical griots, was based in Paris for many years. A member of XALAM and SIXUNBAND, Mr. Mboup taught percussion at Loisers and Culture in Soisy-Sous-Momerency. Worldwide performances including work with Manu Dibango, Michel Petrucciani, Nina Simone, Africa Bambata, John Lurie, Chico Freeman, Craig Harris, David Murray Big Band, Joe Zawinul Syndicate, Joe Chambers, Buster Williams, and Harry Belafonte. He has composed for Jean Luc Ponty and Pharaoh Sanders, and currently leads his own band, Waakaw. Andy McKee (bassist), BA, New School University. Two-time Grammy nominee for work with the Mingus Big Band. Also held the bass chair with Philly Joe Jones ‘Le Grand Prix’, Chet Baker, Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, and Michael Petrucciani Group and musical director of the Mingus Big Band and the Mingus Orchestra. Mr. McKee has toured/recorded with Johnny Hartman, Jaki Byard, Don Cherry, Steve Grossman, Clifford Jordan, Andrew Hill, Charlie Rouse, Archie Shepp, and others. Leader efforts include Andy McKee & NEXT, Sound Roots (Mapleshade 04432) and andy mckee // one world (CAP 965) featuring Idris Muhammad and Joe Locke. Director of New School University’s Mingus Ensemble and clinician at conservatories and workshops worldwide. Andy Milne (pianist/composer), BFA, York University, has toured and recorded with Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi, Carlos Ward and Carla Cook and has collaborated with a range of artists including Sekou Sundiata, Avery Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Geri Allen, and Dianne Reeves. Milne moved to New York in 1991 when Steve Coleman, his teacher at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts, invited him to join his core unit Five Elements. Enthusiasm for the young pianist was shared by M-BASE associates Cassandra Wilson and Greg Osby, who also invited him to perform with their groups. Milne recorded 12 CDs with Coleman and remained an integral member of all of his projects until 1997. Before making the move to New York, Milne spent a year in Montreal, picking up valuable sideman experience with Sonny Greenwich, Joe Lovano, Archie Shepp, and Ranee Lee. Often compared to innovators like Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner, Milne’s original style places him among the young pianists poised to continue that legacy of inventiveness. Milne’s group Dapp Theory is a quintet that blends “contemporary funk, groove and hip-hop into jazz with such seamless, casual precision it’s almost freaky.” (LA Weekly) Awarded the Chamber Music America New Works commission in 2006 and voted Rising Star Keyboardist by Down Beat Magazine in 2004, Milne is one of the most important and respected young voices in jazz today. Rolando Morales-Matos (percussionist) received his BFA in music from Carnegie Mellon University, his MA from Duquesne University, and Certificate of Professional Studies at Temple University. He is a Percussionist and Assistant Conductor with Disney’s production of The Lion King, NYC. He performs and records regularly in New York with various Latin jazz Groups. He is the recipient of the 2006 Drum Magazine World Beat Percussionist of the Year award. Mr. Morales-Matos is a member of Ron Carter Jazz Quartet, Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a professor at both Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, NYC. Kirk Nurock (composer/pianist/arranger/conductor), BM, MM, Juilliard (Composition). Performed with Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, and Chet Baker. Mr. Nurock’s jazz and new music compositions and arrangements have been performed and/or recorded by such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Brecker, Jane Ira Bloom, Marty Ehrlich, Jay Clayton, and Theo Bleckmann. Having returned from five years as jazz professor at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, Mr. Nurock has released a CD, Remembering Tree Friends, with Bobby Previte and Harvie S (Koch Jazz). Composition studies with Manny Albam, Johnny Richards, Vincent Persichetti, and Luciano Berio. Jimmy Owens (trumpeter/composer), over forty-five years of experience as a Jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and music education consultant. He received his Master of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts, has performed with Count Basie, Hank Crawford, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Max Roach, Herbie Mann, Charles Mingus, Billy Taylor and many others. As a composer he has performed his compositions with the Metropole Orchestra (Holland), Hannover Radio Philharmonic (Germany), Rochester Philharmonic, Symphony of the New World and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra (New York). His performances with Jimmy Owens Plus…have taken him to Asia, South and Central America, the Middle East and all parts of Europe. As an educator he has conducted workshops, master classes, lectures and concerts at major colleges and universities throughout the world. He has over 150 recordings with other artists and has been a recording artist for Atlantic, Polydor, and the A&M; Horizon labels. Owens has been very involved as an advocate regarding the rights of Jazz artists and was one of the founders of the Jazz Musician’s Emergency Fund- a program of the Jazz Foundation of America, Inc. Charli Persip (drummer/author), with a long drumming career for several big band and post-bop ensembles, has showcased his unrelenting swing and dramatic accenting strokes that signify his style. Mr. Persip’s first major professional gig was in 1953 with Tad Dameron’s band. He was put to work later that year in Dizzy’s United Nation Orchestra and continued with Dizzy until 1958. In the late fifties and early sixties he worked with many great large bands and influential smaller groups such as Dinah Washington, Lee Morgan, Gil Evans, Eric Dolphy, and Roland Kirk. He also led his own band called The Jazz Statesmen with Freddie Hubbard and Ron Carter, releasing an album in 1960 called The Jazz Statesmen. In the 1970s, Mr. Persip is the drum instructor for the Jazzmobile in New York and led his own band Supperband with trumpeter Gary LaFurn. Mr. Persip still leads his big band, now known as Supersound. He also continued supportive efforts in bands led by Archie Shepp, Roland Kirk, and Frank Foster. Mr. Persip is the author of How Not to Play the Drums. Ron Petrides (composer/guitarist), ABD, Composition, New York University; MM, Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University; BFA, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Private composition studies with Richard Danielpour. Member, Baltimore Composers Forum. Appearances on Canadian Broadcast Corporation and WNYC; performances with Pete Menger, Sonny Stitt, and Walter Bishop Jr. Benny Powell (trombonist/composer), having performed with King Kolax, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Clifford Jordan, he is still best known for his 12-year tenure with the legendary Count Basie, and for his eightbar contribution to the Count’s hit, “April in Paris.” After leaving Basie, Mr. Powell embarked on a diverse musical career. A versatile player, he has worked extensively on Broadway, television, and recordings. During the sixties and seventies, he was trombonist in Duke Pearson’s New York big band and in the renowned Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Having made his name as a leader in his own right, Mr. Powell is also a respected teacher and an activist dedicated to the cause of jazz. After a decade in Hollywood, where he worked on The Merv Griffin Show, Mr. Powell returned to New York in the early 1980s and connected with two visionary instrumentalist-composers, the late clarinetist John Carter and pianist Randy Weston, with whom he still performs. Mr. Powell’s recordings as a leader are with John Carter, Philly Joe Jones, and Jimmy Heath, among others. Robert Sadin (conductor/arranger/composer/producer) studied at Juilliard and Cleveland Institute of Music. Conducted the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Formerly member of the Princeton University Music Department and music director and conductor of the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he has guest-conducted the Leningrad Philharmonic and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Sadin’s musical arrangements are featured on recordings with Grover Washington, Kathleen Battle, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, and Andre Previn. Producer of Grammy-award winning Hancock CD Gershwin’s World. Bobby Sanabria (percussionist/drummer), Drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, educator, and bandleader, Bobby has performed and recorded with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Paquito d’Rivera, Ray Barretto, Henry Threadgill, Larry Harlow, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz, Mario Bauzá. Sanabria’s big band recording, Live & in Clave!!! was nominated for a mainstream Grammy in 2001. DRUM! Magazine named him Percussionist of the Year in 2005. He holds a BM from the Berklee College of Music, and currently serves on the faculty of the New School and the Manhattan School of Music. He is a 2006 inductee into the Bronx Walk of Fame where he has a street named after him. His is the associate producer of the TV documentaries The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King shown on BRAVO and winner of the IMAGINE award for best documentary of 2003 and From Mambo to Hip Hop, another award winning documentary shown on PBS in 2006. He is the author of the acclaimed video series, Getting started on Congas and he is a featured performer on the DVD, Modern Drummer Festival 2006. His latest recordings are Big Band Urban Folk Tales and El Espiritu Jibaro - The Jibaro Spirit with trombonist Roswell Rudd and cuatro virtuoso Yomo Toro. David Schnitter (saxophonist), BA, Jersey City State College. Has performed and recorded extensively with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Red Rodney, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Charles Earland, Freddie Hubbard, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, and Bobby Hutcherson. Mr. Schnitter has recorded as a leader for Muse Records. Kamal Scott (vocalist) is a seasoned performer who has participated in many arenas of America’s artistic world, including dance. He has been a guest artist with the Boston Pops under the direction of John Williams, the Virginia Beach Pops, and the New Jersey Philharmonic. His Broadway credits include Hello Dolly, Guys and Dolls, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and, most notably, the title role in the original Broadway cast of The Wiz for five years. Mr. Scott is an accomplished vocal teacher devoted to the art of bel canto singing and vocal technique. He was a guest professor at Sarah Lawrence College for two years and served on the faculty at MIT and the Brookline Music School. Harel Shachal (saxophonist), BFA, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Has also studied composition in Israel at the Rimon School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Mr. Shachal has written scores for several theater shows and television programs and has been featured saxophonist on recordings and scores including the movies First We’ ll Take Manhattan and Pretty Persuasion, featuring James Wood and Selma Blaire. Mr. Shachal played and recorded with The Seam Line, Hypnotica, Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra, Cardamon Quartet, the Mej Trio, and others. Mr. Shachal is the founder and leader of the group Anistar. Rich Shemaria (pianist/composer) studied at California State University at Long Beach. In 1990–1, he worked with the Composers Workshop with Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Alban and in 1994–5, he was the director of the UMO Jazz Orchestra at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. He is the leader of the Rich Shemaria Jazz Orchestra and the co-leader of the David Schroeder/Rich Shemaria Quintet. His compositions and arrangements have been commissioned and recorded by Airmen of Note, UMO Jazz Orchestra, Diva, Pratt Brothers Big Band, Randy Johnson, Steve Johns/Peter Brainin Band, Jim Pugh/Dave Taylor Project, and the Mannes College Brass Ensemble. His CD is entitled, Rich Shemaria Jazz Orchestra: 3AM (Amosaya Records). Jim Snidero (saxophonist) studied at University of North Texas. He has made more than a dozen recordings as a leader for EMI, Criss Cross, Red, and Double Time, among others. Has performed and recorded with Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mingus Big Band, Jack McDuff, Eddie Palmieri, Frank Sinatra, Sting, Brian Lynch, Conrad Herwig, Walt Weisskopf, and Frank Wess. Mr. Snidero is the author of The Jazz Conception Series and is a Selmer clinician. Joan Stiles (pianist), MM, Manhattan School of Music; coursework completed toward Ph.D., CUNY; BA, Brooklyn College. Debut recording, Love Call (Zoho) was on many top ten lists for 2004, JazzWeek Radio #9 and features arrangements for octet with special guests Clark Terry and Frank Weiss. Since 2000, Stiles has been rearranging and performing the music of Mary Lou Williams in the ongoing concert series, Mostly Mary Lou. Published work includes instructional articles and transcriptions in Black Music Research Journal, Jazz/Keyboard Workshop, 1001 Keyboard Ideas, The Piano Stylist, Sheet Music Magazine. On her 2nd CD, Hurley-Burley she is joined by Jeremy Pelt, Steve Wilson, Joel Frahm, Peter Washington and Lewis Mash in performances of originals and compositions by pianist-composers including Ellington, Monk, and Mary Lou Williams. Former faculty member of Brooklyn College and current full-time faculty member of Manhattan School of Music. Rory Stuart (guitarist/composer), has performed with a wide range of jazz artists, from Charlie Rouse to Steve Coleman, Jack McDuff to Errol Parker to Makanda Ken McIntyre. In recent years, he has enjoyed performing with fellow faculty members George Garzone, Billy Harper, Francesca Tanksley, Reggie Workman, and Charli Persip. Since 1982, Rory has led his own critically acclaimed groups, twice been voted Talent Deserving Wider Recognition on the Downbeat International Critic’s Poll, released recordings that have received 4-star reviews, and been awarded funding by the National Endowment for the Arts and by Meet the Composer. Francesca Tanksley (pianist/composer), M.A. Music, Queens College, New York, New York, B.A. Music, University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, A.A. Liberal Arts, University of Maryland, Munich, Germany campus. Piano studies with Sir Roland Hanna, Harry Jensen (Franz Liszt tradition), composition with Jimmy Heath. Leads the Francesca Tanksley Trio, pianist with the Billy Harper Quintet, the Erica Lindsay Quartet, Howard Johnson's HoJo5, and the Jeff Siegel Quartet. Performed with Melba Liston, David Newman, Cecil Payne, Laurel Masse, Nick Brignola, Reggie Workman, Clifford Jordan, Charles Davis, Slide Hampton, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, and others. Awards include: The ASCAP Louis Armstrong Composers' Scholarship, Eubie Blake Scholarship, Graduating Masters' Award. Further information on compositions and recordings at www.francescatanksley.com Charles Tolliver (trumpeter/composer/arranger/producer) has performed with Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, the Oliver Nelson Orchestra, Roy Ayers, Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, and Max Roach. He has produced numerous recordings as a leader and is director of the Charles Tolliver Big Band. Johannes Wallmann (pianist/composer), BM, Berklee College of Music (composition); MA, PhD (jazz studies), New York University. Wallmann is a two-time artist grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Arts and was awarded the Founder’s PhD fellowship from New York University. In addition to two CDs with his own group, Wallmann has performed or recorded with the Dennis Mitcheltree Quartet; tubaist Howard Johnson; drummers Jeff Hirshfield and Danny Gottlieb; bassists Jeff Andrews and Martin Wind; the American Music Group; saxophonists Gary Bartz, Seamus Blake, and Pete Yellin; trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; guitarist Brad Shepik; the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble; operatic tenor Dr. Francois Clemmons; the Billings Symphony Orchestra; and canto-pop star Faye Wong. Doug Weiss (bassist), BM William Paterson University. Mr. Weiss has performed with Joe Williams, Lee Konitz, Steve Kuhn, Buddy Montgomery, and the Lew Tabakin/Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. He has toured Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States with a wide variety of discerning musical luminaries. He joined the Al Foster Quartet in 1996, and recorded Al's debut acoustic jazz album as a leader, Brandyn.(Laika) He has been performing with pianist Kevin Hays' trio since 1995; They have recorded 4 cds together with drummer Bill Stewart. For Heaven's Sake (JazzEyes) received a "best of 2006" from the New Yorker magazine. Mr Weiss also performed on 11 tracks for the critically acclaimed Verve records debut of singer Lizz Wright in 2003. "Salt" was produced by Brian Blade, Jon Cowherd, and Tommy LiPuma. Weiss also plays with NewSchool alums Peter Bernstien and Brad Mehldau in Bernstiens' quartet. Reggie Workman (bassist/composer) has performed with almost every notable figure in the jazz world. Mr. Workman made his first recording in 1958. In 1960 he became a member of Coltrane’s famous quartet, along with Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner. His 50-year career includes landmark recordings with John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Archie Shepp, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and Cecil Taylor. His own groups have included Top Shelf, The Reggie Workman Ensemble, and his current group, Trio 3. In 1998, Mr. Workman launched Tribute to an African American Legacy, an ongoing initiative featuring arrangements and new works inspired by 20th-century African-American composers. Among his many accolades, Mr. Workman has received the Eubie Blake Award for Musical Excellence (1978), the International Association of Jazz Educators’ Award for Merits in Education (1991), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America (1997), and the Living Legacy Jazz Award from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (1999). Rachel Z (pianist), BM, New England Conservatory. Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z), equally adept at acoustic straight-ahead and electronic fusion, has performed and recorded extensively with Steps Ahead, as well as with Bob Moses, Miroslav Vitous, George Garzone, Najee, Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, Special EFX, and Angela Bofill. Vibraphonist Mike Mainieri produced her Columbia Records debut, Trust the Universe, in 1993. In 1996, NYC Records released her debut album, A Room of One’s Own. Additional records as leader include an album on GRP, Love is the Power, and On the Milky Way Express. A close collaboration with Wayne Shorter included her work orchestrating and performing on his album High Life, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Peter Zak (pianist), BA, University of California, Berkeley. Has performed and/or recorded with George Coleman, John Handy, Etta Jones, Jon Hendricks, Scott Hamilton, Eric Alexander, Ryan Kisor, Billy Hart, Benny Bailey, and Al Foster, as well as with his own groups. Mr. Zak’s solo recordings include Peter Zak Trio (2005), and For Tomorrow (2006), both on the SteepleChase record label. In 2005, Mr. Zak was recognized as a composer, receiving a $ 10,000 grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation to compose and perform an original work for his trio. Amir Ziv (drummer/composer/bandleader), BFA, The New School for Jazz and
Contemporary Music; graduation with honors from Percussion Institute
of Technology. Private studies with Kenwood Dennard, Efrain Toro, Jim
Priess, Joe Porcaro, and Ralph Humphry. Mr. Ziv has performed and/or
recorded with John Zorn, Matthew Garrison, Evan Lurie, Marc Ribot,
Pizzicato Five, and Kenwood Dennard. He is a member of Sambanditos, cofounder
of BloomziV, a drummer with Cyro Baptista’s Beat the Donkey, and
the leader of Droid. |
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, 55 West 13 Street 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.229.5896