February 25-26, 2005

RANDY REINHART, cornet
New York, NY

Randy has been playing his instrument of choice since he was nine. In 1976 Randy learned that the trombone position with The Jim Cullum Jazz Band was open and he taught himself that instrument and subsequently spent the next ten years with the Cullum group filling the trombone position and second cornet. Since returning to New York City in 1986, Randy has played with groups such as Vince Giordano's Nighthawks as well as performing at Michael's Pub, Lincoln Center and Dick Hyman's Jazz in July at the 92nd Street "Y". He has toured with Ed Polcer and most recently began working with Kenny Davern and will be touring the U. S. with Warren Vache, Jr., for George Wein's Festival Productions.

Russ was born in Denver in 1947, son of trombonist Russ Phillips, Sr., (1912-1987), the trombonist who replaced Jack Teagarden with Louis Armstrong's All Stars in 1951.  Russ Sr. played with Louis for 1-1/2 years before settling in the Chicago area in 1952.  Russ' life as a trombonist began backstage as a four and five year old listening to his dad play with the All Stars.  His education on the trombone started with his father and continued through grammar school, high school and college and included study with Bob Lambert and Frank Crisafulli of the Chicago Symphony.  Russ is adept at performing in a variety of musical settings, from classical ensembles and pit orchestras to big bands, small swing and traditional units and rock and roll horn sections.  He has performed with Howard Alden, Doc Cheatham, Kenny Davern, Bob Haggart, Lionel Hampton, Dick Hyman, Doc Severinsen to name a few.  Russ performs with his own 6-piece ensemble at Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago every Thursday evening, plus performing as a freelance artist at jazz festivals and parties around the country.

Anat is originally from Tel Aviv and has performed around the world sharing her astounding musicianship.  From Europe to Asia, from the Middle East to South America, Anat is rapidly becoming a major force on the global world music and jazz scene.  Aside from her extraordinary instrumental abilities on soprano and tenor saxes, clarinet and flute, she has a natural ability to absorb the music of different cultures, process it and interpret it with her own special take.  Anat spent two years in the Israeli Air Force Big Band after which she received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music bringing her to Boston in 1996 where she graduated with a BA in Professional Music.  For the past six years she has been a member of the Diva Jazz Orchestra and Five Play Jazz Quintet and is featured on their latest CD.  She is also an integral part of a group called Choro Ensemble, the only New York based ensemble dedicated to the authentic instrumental choro tradition of Brazilian music.  The group was a featured guest at the Apollo Theater with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.  She has performed as guest artist with many notable ensembles and orchestras including The New York Pops, The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra and with such artists as Flip Phillips, Bucky Pizzarelli and Ruby Braff.  The winner of several prestigious awards, her playing has received accolades from reviewers like Jon Pareles, Nat Hentoff, Dan Morgenstern, and others.  She is an innovator who also understands and respects the value of preserving traditional musical forms. 

JOHN SHERWOOD, piano
St. Catherines, Canada

John started his formal training at age five. At age three his father discovered he had an unusually keen ear for music and began a short series of tests to confirm John had been born with perfect pitch. His strong foundation in classical music is apparent but does not overshadow his ability to swing. As John's interest began to fade in the classical scene, his father introduced him to the music of Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson and Oscar Peterson. Immediately he began transcribing from the recordings and before long had developed a repertoire of jazz standards. Today he plays concerts regularly with Peter Appleyard and many of Toronto's finest musicians. Today John has his own sound. You will not hear as many of the Oscar Peterson lines and runs when he sits down to play, but the influence is unmistakable. John was able to look beyond the blinding technique and blistering tempos and realize what makes any piano player great: Touch. The way the note is articulated is what makes it special.

JAMES CHIRILLO, guitar
Teaneck, NJ

James comes from Bellevue WA and majored in music composition at North Texas Statue University.  From 1977-79 he worked regularly with singers Marilyn Maye, Vic Damone, Joey Heatherton, Lorna Luft and pianist Roger William and then spent three years with the United States Military Band at West Point NY.  In 1982 James moved to New York City and has studied and performed with many
of the great jazz artists including being a member of Benny Goodman's last band and the Buck Clayton Orchestra.  As "Fiddler" Clause Williams' guitarist of choice, he participated in President Clinton's inaugural festivities and performed at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall.  He was also a charter member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (1992-99) and has performed with Bob Wilber and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Benny Carter and the Lincoln Center Jazz Band directed by Wynton Marsalis (all for National Public Radio).  The National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a 1995 Jazz Composition Grant for the Homage Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra, written for clarinetist Ken Peplowski and the Loren Schoenberg Jazz Orchestra.

Nicki came to New York from Australia in 1994 on an Arts Council grant to study with the internationally acclaimed bassist, Rufus Reid.  Since her arrival she has performed with Clark Terry, Less Paul, Billy Taylor, Terri Thornton, Diva, Marlena Shaw, Warren Vache Jr., Rebecca Paris, Skitch Henderson, The New York Pops and Florida Pops Orchestras with Diva, Bucky Pizzarelli and others.  Nicki currently plays every Monday night at the Iridium Jazz Club with Les Paul.  She was born in 1970 in Newcastle, Australia, she started her musical training with the piano at the age of four, and soon after took up the flute continuing to play both throughout her school years but switched to bass at the age of fifteen because her sister, who plays alto sax, wanted a bassist for her group.  After completing high school, Nicki moved to Sydney to study jazz at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music and shortly after began to play with well known Australian musicians.  She has played on various Arbors Record dates under the leadership of Johnny Varro, Skitch Henderson, Johnny Frigo and Derek Smith.

For musician Sherrie Maricle, her drumset is a real-life metaphor of her career.  Just as playing the drums requires coordinating four limbs at the same time, Maricle's career coordinates musical mediums from jazz to classical to composing/arranging to teaching.  From the drumset she leads her big band, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and her quintet, Five Play.  From Carnegie Hall, she performs with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Orchestra and is also the creative advisor and coordinator of the orchestra's Educational Outreach Programs.  As an educator she is the Director of Percussion Studies at New York University and is an active clinician for Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals and Vic Firth Drum Sticks.  Sherrie is also a busy freelance performer and a published composer/ arranger in both the classical and jazz mediums.  As a composer, performer and educator, she has received several honors which include: The Kennedy Center Alliance Award for Outstanding Contributions and Achievements in the Arts; a grant from Meet the Composer; a Doctoral Fellowship from New York University and was voted the NYU Music Teacher of the Year in both 1998 and 2000.  Additionally, Five Play's premier recording, On the Brink, was voted the #1 CD of 1999 by Nat Hentoff in Jazz Times magazine. Website: DIVAJAZZ.com