Musicians

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

"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'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 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.

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.

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.

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 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, 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.

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 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 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.

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 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.