Kenny Ascher
Piano

Education: Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral degrees in composition from Columbia University

Kenny has recorded for/with (as keyboard player and/or arranger-orchestrator-conductor): John Lennon, Barbra Steisand, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Judy Collins, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Regis Philbin, Billy Joel, Paul Williams, Harry Nilsson, Jim Croce, Phoebe Snow, Perry Como, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Morgana King, Bette Midler, Woody Herman, Patti LaBelle, Pat Williams, John Tropea, Frankie Valli, Tom Scott, Yvonne Elliman, John Prine, Don Payne, Don McLean, Neil Sedaka, Johnny Hartman, Jane Olivor, Bill Quateman, Merry Clayton, The Nuff Brothers, Buzzy Linhart, Lenny Kravitz, Wally Dunbar, Warren Bernhardt, Stephanie Mills, Dave Matthews, Steve Tyrell, Susan Robkin, Meat Loaf, Casey Cysik, Marvin Stamm, Scott Whitfield, Jane Monheit

String Arranger/Orchestrator for Billy Joel’s “New York State Of Mind”

With Paul Williams, nominated for Best Song of the Year (“You and Me Against The World” (Grammy)
With Paul Williams, wrote 5 songs for Streisand’s A Star Is Born (Nominated for A British Academy Award)- including “Women In The Moon” and “With One More Look At You”)
With Paul Williams, wrote all the songs for The Muppet Movie (Nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Song Score and Best Song -”The Rainbow
Connection”)
Won a Golden Globe (with Paul Williams) for A Star Is Born (Best Song Score)
With Carole Bayer Sager, wrote a Top Ten Rhythm and Blues hit for The Moments (“With You”)

Pianist and Arranger for Diet Pepsi/Ray Charles Campaign -”Uh-Huh, You Got the Right One, Baby”

Performances with Christine Andreas, James Naughton, Art Garfunkel, Michael Feinstein, Jay Leonhart, Luci Arnaz, Steve Tyrell, Debby Boone, Marvin Stamm, Woody Herman, The Thad Jones- Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Paul Williams, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Zoot Sims, Ruby Braff, Maxine Sullivan, Jimmy Rushing, Anita O’Day, Keely Smith, Mary Travers, Carol Channing, Mary Cleere Haran, Scott Whitfield, and the Birdland Big Band

Songs recorded by: Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Frankie Valli, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jerry Butler, Jack Jones, Carmen McRae, Judy Collins, Paul Williams, Ben Vereen, The Muppets, Helen Reddy, Lena Horne, Joe Derise, Roberto Carlos, Cleo Laine, Helen Schneider, Teddy Pendergrass, Willie Nelson, Karen Carpenter, Kenny Loggins, The Moments, Matt Monro, Bob McGrath and Erich Kunzel/The Cincinnati Pops; Sarah McLachlan; and Peter Cincotti.

Glenn Drewes
Trumpet

Glenn Drewes is one of the most in-demand trumpet players on the New York City freelance scene today. His diverse career has spanned the likes of jazz greats Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie and Mel Lewis, to today’s pop artists, Michael Jackson, Madonna, HarryConnick, Jr., David Sanborn and P Diddy. In addition to being heard on hundreds of jingles, feature films, network award shows and sports themes, Mr. Drewes can be heard every day on the popular children's educational show, “Sesame Street”. Currently, Glenn is working on his sixteenth Broadway production, “YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN”, and is currently leading his own jazz quintet, serving as a clinician for high school and college festivals as well as holding the coveted jazz trumpet chair for the Birdland Big Band. He is also teaching at C.W. Post University on Long Island.

Chris Jaudes
Trumpet

Chris Jaudes has just finished playing the Broadway production of “LoveMusik” directed by Hal Prince. He was recently cited in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for his outstanding trumpet solos in the Broadway hit production of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters.

A much? sought after lead player, his other Broadway shows include How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Flower Drum Song with Lea Salonga, Gypsy and Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters and Reba McEntire, Ragtime with Brian Stokes Mitchell, On The Town, Sunset Blvd. with Glenn Close, Steel Pier, CATS and Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby. He has toured with Evita, Peter Pan, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and South Africa Rejoice.

He can be heard on the Grammy award winning albums of Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy as well as cast albums of Flower Drum Song, Ragtime, Sunset Blvd., and Steel Pier.

Chris has been a featured soloist throughout the United States and around the world. His versatile playing style has given him opportunities to perform with The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Oklahoma City Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Carolina Pops Orchestra, as well as with a number of ensembles in the New York area. He has performed as a soloist at the New York Brass Conference, International Trumpet Guild Conference and the Brass Arts Festival in London, England.

Chris is honored to be a member of The Brass Band of Battle Creek, the premier brass band in the United States, and has been a featured soloist and clinician at both the International Women’s Brass Conference and the National Trumpet Competition in 2006. His new solo c.d. will be available at ChrisJaudes.com in December of 2007.

Chris serves on the faculty at the Juilliard School in the Jazz Studies program.

Nick Marcione
Trumpet

A respected performer and avid educator, trumpeter Nick Marchione has spent his entire life in music. Originally raised with a classical background, heswitched his focus to jazz while studying at the Mannes College of Music in NYC and has subsequently worked with such legendary figures as Michel Legrand, Phil Woods, Aretha Franklin, Paul Anka, and Jerry Goldsmith. Since 1999, Nick has lived in New York City working in the jazz scene as well as various Broadway shows including lead trumpet for Mel Brooks' The Producersand Disneys new musical The Little Mermaid. From 2002-2006 Nick was also a member of the world renowned jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

His impressive list of credentials includes work with singers Tony Bennett and Nancy Wilson, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, trumpeters Jon Faddis and Snooky Young, saxophonists Jimmy Heath and James Moody, and the great trombonist Slide Hampton. Nick is also in demand as a clinician and has presented master classes in Brass Concepts and Ensemble Playing in many colleges and universities including the Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario and the Casa de Musica in Porto, Potugal.

Raised in Philadelphia, Nick comes from a musical family. He started his musical studies at age 8 with his father, Tony Marchione; a renowned teacher whose pupils include Randy Brecker and Lee Morgan. His mother, Agnes Marchione, is a pianist and avid educator as well. Nick came to music as a classical trumpeter, but was soon bitten by the jazz bug. "That was a day I'll never forget," he recalls. "It was Christmas morning and as I rummaged thru all of my presents I came across 3 cassettes; the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, the Best of Chet Baker Sings and Plays, and the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet. I looked up at my father with shock and disappointment. Here all I wanted were toys and I was being given cassettes of guys I never heard of! He said 'Just give them a try. If you dont like their music, then you don"t have to listen to them.' Needless to say I loved it! Within minutes of playing the casstettes I was dancing around my room to these amazing sounds I never even knew existed a short time before!"

A classical major in College, Marchione knew that wasn't what he wanted to pursue, "But the teacher I wanted to sudy with Vince Penzerella, was only available to those students in the classical department. It was definately the right decision." During this time he would seek out older "more seasoned" jazz musicians for knowledge and advice. "That's something I do to this very day. We can learn as much, if not more, away from the instrument as we can on, and you never know who or where inspiration will come from."

After completing his studies at the Mannes College of Music he became even more active in the New York scene. Nick joined the world famous Vanguard Jazz Orchestra in 2005, joined the Birdland Big Band at its inception in 2006, and most recently has joined the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos based in Portugal.

Nick continues to travel the world as a performer and educator; including upcoming performances with the Nick Marchione/Darcy Hepner Quintet next month in Toronto, and also as a special guest with Frankfurt Radio Big Band in April.

John Walsh
Trumpet (photo coming)

John Walsh (trumpet), who as a youth imagined he was born to play drums, became a trumpet player at age 12. He first studied trumpet with Fred Baker of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra before attending Western Michigan University to study with Dr. Steven Jones. In 1985, he came to New York City to study with Dr. Eddie Henderson at Long Island University. Since moving to New York, Mr. Walsh has performed and/or recorded with Tito Puente, Mel Torme, Lionel Hampton, Paul Simon, Eddie Palmieri, The Chico O'Farrill Orchestra, Chris Washburne & SYOTOS, Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Machito Orchestra, Johnny Pacheco, Wyclef Jean, Max Roach, Celia Cruz, La India, Tito Nieves, Ray Barretto, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and the Barrio Boyz, among many others. John recently became the newest member of the Birdland Big Band.

Isrea Butler
Trombone

Isrea Butler began his career as a trombonist with the 1st Marine Division Band in CA in 1996. While in CA, he performed with many jazz and Latin jazz greats as well as in various classical orchestras. He spent a year in Tucson, AZ, attending school and performing.

In 2000, Butler transferred to The Eastman School of Music in Rochester where earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degree. There, he studied with Dr. John Marcellus, Ralph Sauer, and Clay Jenkins. While still in school, Butler performed with both the Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonics in addition to many other jazz and classical groups in the upstate NY region.

Since moving to NYC in 2006, Butler has performed, toured, and recorded with many groups including: the Orchestras of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Charles Mingus, Frank Foster, Lionel Hampton, and Clark Terry. He also has subbed regularly on Broadway on The Color Purple and The Lion King.

In NYC, he performs with The Birdland Big Band, The Sultans of Swing, Andy Farber's Big Band, George Gee, Valery Ponomarev, and The Harlem Renaissance Orchestra. He can be seen regularly at Birdland, The Iridium, Fat Cat, The Garage, Café Iguana and Swing 46.

Michael Boscarino
Trombone

New York trombonist Michael Boscarino is a native of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. He began his musical studies at age 7 on the piano. At age 11, he began playing the trombone on the advice of his grandfather and hasn’t looked back since. Michael holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Youngstown State University and a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music.

While attending Youngstown State University, Michael was active on the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Youngstown freelance scenes and gained invaluable performance experience. His performance credits in these areas include; The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Three Rivers Entertainment, Redline, The Balcony Big Band, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band, Sabor Latino, Azucar, and the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.

In 2002, Michael spent the summer playing lead trombone in the Disneyland All-American College ?Band and was honored to perform as a featured soloist with the Tom Kubis Big Band in Huntington Beach, California. During the summer of 2003, Michael returned to California and attended the Henry Mancini Institute at UCLA on a full scholarship.

Michael has been a part of the New York City music scene since August of 2004. He enjoys a diverse freelance career and currently performs with a wide variety of artists including; The Birdland Big Band, Clem DeRosa & the American Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Kyle Saulnier and the Awakening Orchestra, Bobby Sanabria Big Band, Michael Arenella & his Dreamland Orchestra, Russ Spiegel's Big Bad Band, Chino Nunez & Friends Orchestra, Ray Rivera con Sabor Latino, Copacabana Orchestra, Silver Productions, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and Natalie Riccio, while doing various recording work as well. In New York, Michael has performed at such venues as; Birdland, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Jazz Gallery, Carnegie Hall, The Rainbow Room, Apollo Theater, Cachaca Jazz ‘n’ Samba Club, and Manhattan Center.

Throughout his musical career and studies, Michael has had the opportunity of performing with such renowned artists as; Christian McBride, Peter Erskine, Arturo Sandoval, Randy Newman, Bob Mintzer, James Moody, Gunther Schuller, Tom Kubis, Wayne Bergeron, Sal Lozano, Rick Baptist, Vince Mendoza, Dave Holland Quintet, Vinnie Colaiuta, Will Lee, Conrad Herwig, Michel Legrand, Sonny Fortune, Jimmy Heath, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Lew Tabackin, Dave Liebman, Candido Camero, and Buddy Morrow.

Link: www.myspace.com/boscotrombone

Dale Turk
Bass Trombonist

Mr. Turk is a native of Cleveland where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He played behind many name entertainers with the Front Row Theater Orchestra and occasionally filled in with the Cleveland Orchestra. After two tours with the American Wind Symphony based in Pittsburgh he relocated to New York City where his flexibility has allowed him to play with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, New York Pops, record with artists such as Ray Barretto and David Byrne, and tour with the shows Les Miserables and Nunsense as well as the bands of Lionel Hampton, Gerry Mulligan, and Larry Elgart. He was a member of the Lew Anderson All-American Band for twenty-seven years. Dale currently plays regularly with the Birdland Big Band, the Howard Williams Jazz Orchestra, the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, substitutes in Broadway pit orchestras and with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and teaches in the Mannes College Preparatory Division.

Rob Middleton
Tenor Sax, Flute

Rob Middleton is a prize-winning composer and an active saxophonist and teacher in the New York area. He has performed with many jazz greats, including Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Phil Woods, Harry Connick Jr., Lionel Hampton, The New York Voices, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Lovano, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Woody Shaw, Oliver Lake, David Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Faddis, Joe Williams, George Coleman, Jimmy Cobb and has recorded with Lionel Hampton and others.

Rob's performance career has taken him to major jazz clubs and festivals in this country and abroad, including the JVC Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, and the Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France. His recent New York club and concert appearances include engagements at the Blue Note, at the Village Vanguard, and numerous performances at Birdland with the Birdland Big Band and at Merkin Hall in New York where the BMI New York Jazz Composers Orchestra has played his compositions. He has led ensembles large and small, including the NewYorkestra Big Band, which performs regularly in and around New York City, and the Rob Middleton Quartet.

His compositions and arrangements are performed regularly in the New York area. He writes for various ensembles including NewYorkestra, the BMI New York Jazz Composers Orchestra and the New Jersey based Composers Big Band. The bands of Ray Charles and Lionel Hampton have played his compositions as well. His arrangement of "Windmills of Your Mind", recorded by the Chico O' Farrill Afro-Cuban jazz big band featuring Rob as the soloist, can be heard in the 1999 hit movie "The Thomas Crown Affair". Rob’s other recordings include the recently released CD “Urban Soundscapes” by the band NewYorkestra.
Rob has guest conducted his compositions as well, in such settings as the Henry Mancini Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles in the summer of 1999. His music has been performed by elite college bands such as the Manhattan School Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra of the New Jersey City University, and McGill University in Montreal.

In addition to being a busy performer and composer, Rob is a professor of music at Caldwell College in Caldwell, New Jersey and an instructor at the Suburban Community Music Center in Murray Hill, New Jersey and maintains an active teaching studio in the area.

Nathan Childers
Alto and Soprano Sax, Flute

Nathan Childers is a saxophonist, composer, Yamaha Performing Artist and RICO Reed Artist. Nathan currently lives in New York City as a freelance musician.

Originally from Vermont, Nathan has been playing the saxophone since he was ten-years-old. He began his musical study as a pianist at the age of seven.

As a young musician, Nathan started playing professional gigs by the age of 13. He learned the ropes by tagging alongside his father (jazz trumpeter Gene Childers) as a sideman. After discovering a love for the saxophone, Nathan went on to earn three degrees in music, including an M.M. degree in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music; B.M. degree in Jazz Studies and Afro-American Music from the University of Massachusetts; and B.M. degree in Classical Saxophone Performance from the University of Massachusetts.

Nathan works with many of the world’s finest performers and ensembles. He currently performs every Firday with the outstanding Birdland Big Band, directed by Tommy Igoe. As a soloist and composer, Nathan has been recognized by several national organizations such as Downbeat Magazine, The Saxophone Journal, BMI Composers Workshop, ASCAP, Hilton Head Jazz Society and the US State Department.

In addition to a full performing schedule, Nathan is an active educator and composer. He is currently the Coordinator of the MILES Winds and Brass program at the Third Street Music School Settlement (the oldest community music school in the United States). Nathan is the founder of the Horizons Music Academy in New Canaan, Connecticut. He has also been an artist in residence at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Ithaca College. Nathan has been commissioned to compose on several occasions and is currently the staff soundtrack composer for the Visual Learning Company.

As an artist, Nathan strives to immerse himself into all types of music. He believes firmly in the process of collaboration and mutual respect across the musical spectrum. As written by Shaun Dale of the Jazz Review, Nathan has a "willingness to explore some unusual approaches that leave me wondering, in a positive way, what directions he may take in the future, but the place he's in right now is well worth your attention."

Performances and Recordings Include: Birdland Big Band, Buddy Rich Memorial Live Concert & DVD, Franki Vali, The Funk Brothers, The Temptations, The John Fedchock Big Band, Deana Martin (Daughter of Dean Martin), The Steve Schirripa TV Show for Fox Television (Band Member), Broadway Theater League Orchestra, Come Fly Away (Broadway: Pit Musician), Memphis (Broadway: Pit Musician), The Wedding Singer (Broadway: Pit Musician), Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Love (Off-Broadway: Pit Musician), 2007 Gracie Awards (Band Member), Sex And The City 2 (Motion Picture: On-Camera Band Member), Wall Street 2 (Motion Picture: On-Camera Band Member), Mike Stern (Guitarist: Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Brecker Brothers), Dave Weckl (Drummer: Paul Simon, Madonna), Will Lee (Bassist: Late Night With David Letterman), Conrad Korsch (Bassist: Rod Stewart), Molly Ringwald (Actress & Singer), Ana Gasteyer (Actress & Singer: Saturday Night Live), Neil Peart (Drummer: RUSH), Chad Smith (Drummer: Red Hot Chili Peppers), Terry Bozio (Drummer: Frank Zappa), Peter Erskine (Drummer: Weather Report & Steps Ahead), James Genus (Bassist: Saturday Night Live, Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock), Daryl Hall (Singer: Hall and Oats).

Matt Hong
Alto saxophonist

Matt graduated from Harvard University, and received a Masters from Manhattan School of Music. In the early 1990s, he taught jazz history at Harvard while maintaining a freelance music career in Boston. Hong has lived in NYC since 1993, and has played around the world with many bands including Guillermo Klein, Illinois Jacquet, and David Berger's Sultans of Swing. He has worked in the orchestras of many hit Broadway musicals, and currently appears nightly in the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys. He continues to lead his own projects as well.

Jeff Newell
Tenor Sax, Flute

"Merging his early love of bebop with a more lyrical, harmonically freer idiom reminiscent of Wayne Shorter, Newell has found his voice."
-Downbeat

Though his formal education is completed, Newell believes his musical learning never ends. In 1978, armed with a music degree - conferred with distinction - from the University of Nebraska and with a year of graduate school under his belt, he moved to Chicago to continue that education through additional study and playing jazz clubs and festivals. In the summer of 1994, always eager to expand his musical horizons, Jeff relocated again to New York City to take advantage of the opportunities only the "Jazz Mecca of the World" can provide.

Newell spent two years studying with nationally-acclaimed jazz performer and educator Bunky Green and a year with well-known teacher and tenor man Joe Daley. In 1989 he received a National Endowment for the Arts jazz study fellowship to study in New York with master jazz musician David Leibman.

His on-the-job experience had begun early as a member of the Neoclassic Jazz Orchestra, touring Europe fresh out of college. In Chicago, Newell became a constant fixture in that city's jazz venues and has had the honor of working with many of its best known musicians. In April of 1993, the Jeff Newell Quartet was awarded second place in the Cognac Hennessy Jazz Search "Best of Chicago" contest, out of over 60 entries. Newell has performed on numerous Chicago Jazz Festival stages (in 1993 and 1995 with his own groups) and has fronted his own band on the jazz stage of Chicagofest. He has brought his sound to the Newport Jazz Festival in Madarao, Japan, and has performed at the Mellon Jazz Festival in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He also has played the Jazz Oasis at Milwaukee's Summerfest, and has worked the Clocktower Jazz Festival in Rockford, the Elkhart Jazz Festival, and many other Midwest jazz events. He was invited home in 1991 and 1994 to perform as a guest soloist with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra.

In time for Mardi Gras 1994, Jeff formed the New-Trad Octet as a vehicle for his arranging skills and to pursue his interest in the rich musical history of New Orleans. Conceived to blend the traditional "second line" New Orleans brass band with a modern rhythm section and a fresh approach to harmony and improvisation, the New-Trad Octet was immediately met with critical acclaim. Jeff continues to keep the octet and his quartet busy in clubs and festivals throughout the country, while still enjoying the role of sideman with such performers as Kevin Mahogany and Marshall Vente. Jeff can also he heard in New York City on most Friday evenings at the world Famous Birdland Jazz Club with the Birdland Big Band

Adding to Newell's credits are the people he has worked with. He has played on stage or recorded alongside such jazz names as Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Phil Woods, Charles Earland, Houston Person, Brian Culbertson, Johnny Coles, Von Freeman, Ira sullivan, Paul Wertico, Paul Smoker, Bobby Broom, Fareed Haque, Richie Cole, Don Menza, Terrance Blanchard, Bobby Watson, and Kevin Mahogany.

Barbara Cifelli
Baritone Sax, Flute

Barbara has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA from Suny Purchase. Barbara is the baritone saxophonist for the Birdland Big Band, however, she can freqently be heard playing other members of the saxophone family in addition to flutes and clarinets. An active freelance musician, Barbara has worked in a variety of settings from broadway show pits to the stage of Buster Poindexter to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. She is a member of the New York Nonet, The Ed Palermo Band, and the Diane Moser’s Composers Big Band. She is the leader of the classical trio, Skylark. She has taught for Concordia and Hunter Colleges, as well as for NYU.

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Learn more about
The Birdland Big Band

Special Guests

Here are a few of the musicians who regularly appear with the band as special guests:

Rolando Morales-Matos
Percussion

Rolando Morales-Matos is a percussionist and assistant conductor with Disney's production of The Lion King, Broadway New York - recipient of six 1998 Tony Awards including Best Musical, as well as the 1999 Grammy for Best Musical Show Album. Mr. Morales-Matos is a member of Ron Carter Foursight Jazz Quartet, an Extra- Percussionist with The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Rolando is a well sought after Latin and Classical Percussionist, he performs and records regularly in New York City with various Latin jazz groups and Chamber Orchestras.

He has recorded movie sound tracks including Failure To Launch, The Pink Panther and appears playing on screen in the Disney movie Enchanted. In 2006 Rolando was the recipient of Drum Magazine's World Beat Percussionist of the Year award. Rolando Morales-Matos is a professor at both The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, NYC. He also maintains a busy schedule giving clinics and master classes at many universities.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Percussionist Rolando Morales-Matos began his musical studies at the prestigious high school for the performing arts, Escuela Libre de Música. He received his BFA in music from Carnegie Mellon University, his MA from Duquesne University, and went on to complete his Certificate of Professional Studies at Temple University.

Rolando returned to Puerto Rico to perform with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and teach at his high school alma mater. While in Puerto Rico, Rolando also toured the Caribbean, United States and Europe with many salsa and popular bands. Rolando’s professional career has taken him all over the world, from Spain to New Zealand, where he has held principal timpani and percussion positions with their state orchestras. Rolando has given clinics at PASIC in 1999, 2001 and 2003, sharing the stage with Nexus Percussion Group as soloist. Rolando is an active artist and clinician for Pearl Drum and Adams Musical Instruments.

Conrad Korsch
Bass

Conrad Korsch is a New York City-based acoustic and electric bassist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator. Born and raised in Philadelphia until age 22, he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz Bass Performance from Temple University, where he attended on scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude and with other honors.

As bassist with Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, Andrea Bocelli, Bette Midler, Deborah Gibson, the Broadway show Swing!, the annual Jerry Lewis/MDA Telethon (NY broadcast) and the Saturday Night Live house band (substitute), Conrad has appeared on nearly every broadcast TV show which features live music. He can also be seen in several major motion pictures and DVDs, and has been featured in BASS PLAYER, BASS GUITAR, GIG, and NEW YORK magazines.

Having worked with such world class producers as Steven Epstein (on the Grammy nominated "Swing!" Broadway Cast Album), Richard Perry, John Leventhal, Billy Mann, and David Torn, he has acquired a long list of recording credits including Carole King, Joan Osborne, Marc Cohn, Madeleine Peyroux, and Gavin DeGraw. A versatile "doubler" on acoustic and electric bass, his performance credits range from Lincoln Center's "Brazilfest" to David Krakauer's "Klezmer Madness", jazz vocal group Manhattan Transfer to singer-songwriter Roseanne Cash, and Broadway shows to Motown's The Fifth Dimension. He has also recorded and/or composed and produced music for TV/Film/Internet and various artists, which has led him to establish his own music production company, "Scrumptious Music".

A passionate singer-songwriter as well, Conrad has recently been performing and recording his own music in between (and during) world tours with Rod Stewart. He has taught for the University of the Arts, Swarthmore College, NYC Bass Collective, Sam Ash Music Institute (Manhattan), and NARAS' "Grammy in the Schools" program, and is a member of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians.

Please check out www.conradkorsch.com.

Tom Kennedy
Bass

“TK” has been a first-call bassist on the Music scene for many years. He began playing the Acoustic Bass at age 9, and it was only one year later that Tom was building a high profile career in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. By his late teens, he had already performed with Jazz veterans James Moody, Sonny Stitt, Freddie Hubbard, Barney Kessel, Eddie Harris, Nat Adderly and Stan Kenton, to name a few.

At the age of 23, Tom relocated to New York and immediately became involved in numerous musical situations. Recording master Guitarist Bill Connors' electric album "Step It" and extensive touring with legendary jazz group "Steps Ahead" brought immediate recognition. Since then, his credits include performances and/or recordings with such greats as Tania Maria, Mike Stern, David Sanborn, Diane Schurr, Michael and Randy Brecker, Joe Sample, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Ernie Watts, Simon Philips, Virgil Donati and Bobby McFerrin. He has also been an intriqual voice in master drummer Dave Weckl’s Band for over 9 years, and is represented on all of the band’s recordings. Tom released his debut solo CD "Basses Loaded" in 1997, and his second solo release "Bassics" in 2002 featuring Guitar legend, Mundell Lowe. He is due to release his third solo CD with many guest artists (including Tommy Igoe) within the year.
Website: www.tomkennedymusic.com. 

Will Lee
Bass

It's after midnight, and the eerie-eerie sounds of Miles Davis' muted trumpet on the stereo drift into the bedroom of three-year-old Will Lee... From that point on, music was in his blood. His father plays piano - "His Bebop chops are the best" according to Will - and has also played trumpet and bass violin professionally. Will's mother sang with big bands. Since his birth in San Antonio, Texas in 1952, his parents' talents led Will on a circuitous route from one instrument to another -- torturous piano lessons, a short relationship with violin, demanding trumpet lessons taught by Dad, and French horn...

Will then took up drums after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, and by the time he was 12 had formed his first band in Miami. The band members each earned $9 a night playing the popular surfing tunes characteristic of the 60's. But in Miami, drummers were a dime a dozen. Will, with his diverse talents, shifted to bass, an instrument that offered more opportunities. Quickly becoming a successful bass player, Will was part of a succession of bands including top 40 bands with names like "Chances R" "The Loving Kind",and "Green Cloud."

Will had a formal musical education at the University of Miami, where he studied French horn for a year and then s witched to a bass major. After classes, he worked on bass fundamentals listening to not only the Beatles, but also Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, The Rascals, Motown, Sly & the Family Stone, etc. He would put it all into practice six sets a night gigging with various local bands, including an innovative horn band called "Goldrush."

The Will Lee reputation spread throughout the music world, and brought New York looking for him. Trumpeter Randy Brecker called Will out of class one day and invited him to NYC to audition for "Dreams". In New York, Will's career soared. He toured with B.J.Thomas, Horace Silver, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, The Brecker Brothers, and Herbie Mann. Gaining experience in the commercial field, Will found himself in high demand. As a bassist and singer, he's recorded with an extensive array of top performers including Ricky Martin, Burt Bacharach, Bee Gees, George Benson, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luther Vandross, Mick Jagger, Cyndi Lauper, Barry Manilow, Miami Sound Machine, Buddy Rich, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Grover Washington Jr., Cat Stevens, Vanessa Williams, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Kool & the Gang, Billy Joel, Barbara Streisand, Carly Simon, D'Angelo, Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Pat Metheny, and Steely Dan, to name a few!

In addition, Will played in the New York "24th Street Band" which had great success in Japan, giving him a solo artist career that yielded him a top 5 single. Most recently, his solo CD entitled "OH!" reached the #1 position on the "Jazz Beyond" chart there.

Grammy Award-winning Will Lee can now be seen every week night across the US playing at the Ed Sullivan Theatre as the bassist with Paul Shaffer and the "CBS Orchestra" on the wildly popular "Late Show with David Letterman" and you can hear him playing, singing and speaking on many commercials on both television and radio.

He delivers more than just fine music for his audience; his unique combination of talent and love of of entertaining provides good feelings for all who hear him play and sing. For more on Will's career, please visit: www.willlee.com  and www.thefabfaux.com.