|
|
|
Musicians
Howard Alden,
Guitar
|
Born in Newport Beach, California, in 1958, Howard began playing at age ten, inspired by recordings of Armstrong, Basie
and Goodman, as well as those by guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and George Van Eps. As a
result of his associating with - and inspiration from - George Van Eps, Alden has been playing the seven-string guitar
exclusively since 1992. In Woody Allen's movie, "Sweet and Lowdown," Howard is the guitar player for actor Sean Penn.
To visit Howard's website, please click here.
|
Harry Allen,
Reeds
|
Harry was born in Washington, D.C., in 1966. He has played at jazz festivals and clubs around the world. He has
performed with Rosemary Clooney, Flip Phillips, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, and Harry "Sweets" Edison and has
recorded with Tony Bennett, Johnny Mandel and Dave McKenna, among others. He lives in New York. To visit Harry's website,
please click here.
|
John Allred,
Trombone
|
John Allred hails from a musical family. His grandfather played jazz piano and banjo on Mississippi River boats; his
father is well-known trombonist Bill Allred. John plays traditional jazz, swing and bebop. He has played in the Carnegie Hall
Jazz Band, the Woody Herman band, Toshiko Akioshi's Big Band, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks and Harry Connick Jr.'s band. He
plays in festivals here and abroad. He has new CD releases with Harry Allen and Warren Vaché and has recorded with
Wycliffe Gordon. He lives in the New York City area.
|
Joe Ascione,
Drums
|
Joe was born in 1961 and grew up in a musical family. He began playing drums at the age of two. He was a
"roadie" for Buddy Rich as teenager, and got hooked on the jazz drumming of Rich, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones and others.
He has toured worldwide and has appeared on nearly 50 albums as a sideman, recently debuing as leader on an Arbors album,
"Post No Bills." He lives in New York. To visit Joe's website, please click
here.
|
Dan Barrett,
Trombone
|
Born in Pasadena in 1955, Dan switched from piano to trombone in the fifth grade. He performs at festivals worldwide
and is on many recordings. He has led his own bands and has arranged and composed for others. He was featured in Benny
Goodman's last band, and has played in many movies, including "Cotton Club" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs."
He lives in Costa Mesa, CA. To visit Dan's website, please click here.
|
John Cocuzzi,
Vibes, Piano, and Vocals
|
Swingster John Cocuzzi has New Orleans flavor with East Coast class, playing with passion and intensity on piano, vibes
and drums. For more than 25 years, John has been entertaining crowds in the Washington, DC area and nationwide, performing
at festivals across the United States and in Europe. With dynamic style and diverse rhythms, John's innovation breathes new
life into familiar tunes, from swingin' and burnin' jazz and blues to lush and sultry ballads. An intuitive performer,
John possesses that musical "fire in the belly," igniting the crowd with skillful improvisation, "telling his story" through
spirited, high-energy solos. In addition to being a fine pianist, John has earned a nationwide reputation as a premier swing
vibraphonist. He now lives in Northern California, spreading the jazz/swing/blues gospel in the Sacramento area. To visit
John's website, please click here.
|
Eddie Erickson,
Guitar and Vocals
|
"Fast Eddie" Erickson was born in San Francisco in 1948. He began his banjo/guitar career in the San Jose area in the mid '60s
and moved to Monterey in 1969 to work at Capone's Warehouse on Canary Row. He has appeared with such noted jazz performers as Jackie
Coon, Rick Fay, Dan Barrett, Dave Frishberg and Johnny Varro. From 1978 to 1983, Eddie led the "Riverboat Rascals" show band on
board Disney's Empress Lilly Showboat. In recent years, Eddie has been featured with Big Mama Sue at festivals, fairs, and
even the "Sancy Snow" Jazz Festival in France. To visit Eddie's website, please click
here.
|
Jake Hanna,
Drums
|
Jake's steady beat and skillful accents have graced many big and small bands, including those of Woody Herman, Ted Weems,
Duke Ellington, Marian McPartland, Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson, Supersax and the Merv Griffin TV band. Born in
Massachusetts in 1932, Jake started playing drums in a marching band at the age of five. He moved to Los Angeles in 1975.
He is also a witty and gifted raconteur.
|
Rebecca Kilgore,
Vocals
|
Rebecca Kilgore is one of America's leading song stylists intent on preserving the vocal jazz of the 30s and 40s. Rebecca
has performed with a number of small and large bands over the years and brings warmth and vibrancy to the music wherever she
goes. In 2002, Rebecca joined musical forces with Eddie Erickson and Dan Barrett, to form her new band, BED (an acronym for
members Becky, Eddie and Dan). Their audience-friendly humor combined with jazzy, jivey swing makes BED a favorite with
listeners of all ages. To visit Rebecca's website, please click
here.
|
Ed Metz, Jr.,
Drums
|
Eddie, who was born in Allentown, PA, and grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, was three when the drummer in his father's Dixieland
band gave him his first drumsticks. He played his first professional gig at the age 12. Since then, he has played with the
Woody Herman Orchestra, Chick Corea, Clark Terry, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Ralph Sutton
and many others. He has recorded on many labels, including Arbors, Fantasy and Nagel-Heyer. He has lived in the Orlando
area for the past 20 years, 14 of which he was a fulltime staff musician at Disney World. He travels the world playing at
concerts, festivals and tours.
|
Nicki Parrott,
Bass and Vocals
|
Born in Australia in 1970, Nicki began her musical training on piano at the age of four and soon took up the flute as well.
She switched to double bass at 15 because her sister, alto sax player Lisa, wanted a bass in her group. She moved to New York
in 1994, and has since performed at the Newport, Lionel Hampton and Berlin jazz festivals, among many others. She plays
regularly at the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC with guitarist Les Paul. To visit Nicki's website, please click
here.
|
Houston Person, Jr.,
Tenor Sax
|
He has recorded over 75 albums under his own name, and has also appeared on recordings with Etta Jones, Lena Horne,
Lou Rawls, Dakota Staton and Horace Silver. He is a recipient of the Eubie Blake Jazz Award. Two recent recordings on
the HighNote label are "Dialogues" with bassist Ron Carter and "Sentimental Journey." He has played at
Lincoln Center and at many festivals here and in Europe. Born in 1934, Houston grew up in Florence, S.C., and lives in
Nyack, N.Y.
|
Ed Polcer,
Cornet
|
Ed toured with Benny Goodman's sextet in 1973. From 1975 to 1985, he was manager, co-owner and bandleader at Eddie
Condon's Club in New York. He has appeared in hundreds of concerts, festivals, and jazz parties here and abroad and has
led his band in performances with symphony orchestras. His most recent CD is "Lionel, Red and Bunny-A centennial
celebration of Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo and Bunny Berigan." Born in 1937, he lives in Brooklyn, NY. To visit
Ed's website, please click here.
|
Randy Reinhart,
Cornet
|
Randy Reinhart, born in 1953 in Plainfield, New Jersey, began playing his dad's cornet as a toddler. He began his
professional career in the New York area at the age of 18, and played frequently at Eddie Condon's. He doubled on trombone
to fill an opening in the Jim Cullum band. He played trumpet with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks in New York and with Bob Wilber
at Carnegie Hall. He has recorded on Arbors, has toured with Warren Vache, and plays at festivals here and abroad. He lives in
Upper Montclair, N.J.
|
Antti Sarpila,
Reeds
|
Born in 1964, Antti Sarpila is one of the few internationally-known jazz musicians from Finland. Based in Helsinki,
he is well known and liked at jazz festivals through Europe and the United States. He was a student of Bob Wilber's during
the 1980s, and played with Wilber in a "Tribute to Benny Goodman" in Carnegie Hall in 1988. He has played with numerous jazz
stars and bands, including the Count Basie Orchestra. He has his own group in Finland, the Antti Sarpila Swing Band.
To visit Antti's website, please click here.
|
Ed Shaughnessy,
Drums
|
Ed was born in New Jersey in 1929, and began his climb to prominence in the 1940s, working with George Shearing,
Jack Teagarden, and Charlie Ventura. In the 1950s and 1960s, he played in bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and
Count Basie, with whom he recorded five albums. Starting in 1963, he played for 29 years in the Tonight Show band led by
Doc Severinsen. He is in the Hall of Fame of the Percussive Arts Society, and lives in Los Angeles.
|
Richard Simon,
Bass
|
Richard is one of the busiest bass players in the Los Angeles area. Born in Kansas City, he moved to L.A. in 1977.
He performs at festivals, concerts, and nightclubs. He has recorded with Rosemary Clooney, Plas Johnson, Buddy Collette,
Al Viola, Gerald Wiggins, and others. In 1995, he founded the UFO-BASS recording label to document the music of
often-overlooked West Coast musicians. To visit Richard's website, please click
here.
|
Rossano Sportiello,
Piano
|
A widely acclaimed talent, Rossano graduated from the Italian Conservatory and began his musical career at the age of 18.
He is now 32 and lives in New York. In 2002 and 2003, he played at the Ascona Festival in Switzerland with Dan Barrett's
International Swing Party band. He has been a pupil of Barry Harris, and his piano hero is the late Ralph Sutton. Rossano
has performed at New York's Town Hall and Lincoln Center and at the United Nations. He has played with a host of jazz
notables, including Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, Becky Kilgore, Warren Vaché, Howard Alden and Joe Wilder. He has
recorded solo piano albums for the Blue Swing and Arbors labels. To visit Rossano's website, please click
here.
|
Johnny Varro,
Piano
|
Johnny was born in Brooklyn in 1930 and began studying piano at age ten. His first professional job was with cornetist
Bobby Hackett. Johnny played most of the New York jazz nightclubs, including The Embers, Nick’s, The Roundtable, Condon’s
Uptown and the Metropole where he broadened his musical education. He appeared on the Jackie Gleason Show. He now lives in
Palm Harbor, FL, and has been recording extensively.
|
|
|