March 31-April 1, 2006

JON-ERIK KELLSO, trumpet
West New York, NJ

Jon-Erik was born in Detroit and began playing in a big band at age 11, in the International Youth Symphony at age 13, and in a concert alongside Wild Bill Davison at age 17. He was with the James Dapogny Chicago Jazz Band and later moved to New York City to join Vince Giordano's Nighthawks. Jon is currently with Dan Barrett's Blue Swing and also performs at jazz parties and festivals around the world. You can hear Jon on several television and movie soundtracks as well as on recordings with jazz greats such as Ken Peplowski, Kenny Davern, Howard Alden and others. He has been featured several times on Arbors Records including two CDs as a leader and one with Ruby Braff. His debut album, Chapter One, captured the attention of noted jazz critic Owen Cordle, who wrote, "Kellso may be the best traditional jazz trumpeter to come along since Warren Vache. He has a fluent gift of melody and a knack for spicing it up with a Roy Eldridge-like rasp, a Howard McGhee-like excitability, and Rex Stewart-like tonal effects."

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. 

Johnny was born in Brooklyn and began studying piano at age ten. As a teenager he went to jam sessions on the lower East side where he met some of the greatest players of the era such as Willie "The Lion" Smith, "Big Sid" Catlett and "Hot Lips" page. Since that time he has played with Bobby Hackett, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davison, Pee Wee Russell, Yank Lawson, Peanuts Hucko plus working on the Jackie Gleason Show. His high visibility on the jazz scene has made him one of the more popular jazz pianists. As noted by many jazz critics, "The beat is always there."

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.

Paul Keller began studying string bass at age 12 and played his first jazz gigs in his hometown of Grand Rapids MI. He pursued a classical music education at the University of Michigan. Today he is one of the busiest jazz bassists in the Detroit Area leading a 16-piece big band which plays material from all periods of jazz history and is co-leader of a the Keller/Kocher Quartet. Paul is a prolific composer and arranger and plays at many festivals and concerts in the U.S., Canada and Europe. In 1995 he began working regularly with pianist/vocalist Diana Krall. Paul is currently on the faculty of the University of Michigan in the Jazz Studies Program and conducts improvisation clinics and workshops throughout the Midwest.

Pete began studying piano at age six.  After hearing the Army Big Band at an early age, he moved his focus from piano to drums and percussion.  Pete earned a Music Education degree from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids and as a member of the Aquinas College Jazz Ensemble he was honored with several awards for outstanding soloist and outstanding rhythm section player.  During the 1980's, Pete worked with many of the great musicians in the Detroit and Ann Arbor area and is an original member of the award winning Paul Keller Orchestra.  In 1993 he recorded "Black Butterfly" on Columbia Records with guitarist Russell Malone and appeared with Malone at major jazz festivals including JVC, Newport, Sunfest, Playboy Festival, North Sea Jazz Fest in Holland and the Istanbul festival in Turkey.  Among the many artists with whom Pete has performed are Lee Konitz, Frank Morgan, Warren Vache, Frank Foster, Mose Allison, Doc Cheatham, Sir Roland Hanna, Marian McPartland, David "Fathead" Newman and Maria Muldaur.  Pete leads his own Latin jazz quintet, Los Gatos, featuring the music of Cal Tjader and released their first CD in 2001.