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Bryan Dickerson has been playing professionally since 1980 and teaching since 1983. He earned his Music Performance degree from North Texas State University in 1986 and studied further in Boston with renowned saxophonists Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Viola and James Moody.
An active Portland musician, Bryan has played with many of the local greats including Randy Porter, Mel Brown, Ron Steen, Andrew Hill, Art Abrams' Swing Machine, the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band, Lily Wilde and Duffy Bishop among others. A major career highlight was a year-long stint with the late great bassist Leroy Vinnegar in a trio along with guitarist Dan Faehnle.
From 1987 to 1990 he toured internationally with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and has backed up jazz luminaries such as Cab Calloway, Billy Ekstine, Rosemary Clooney, Mel Tormé, Buddy DeFranco, and Ernie Andrews. He has also performed with national acts The Spinners, The Four Tops, and The O'Jays.
Along with the Portland Jazz Orchestra, Bryan is a member of the swing band Porkpie and the funk group Soul Vaccination.
Mary Sue received both her B.M. in Jazz Studies and her M.M. in Saxophone Performance from Portland State University, where she also served as the graduate assistant in Jazz Studies. She has played and studied with many
of Portland's leading jazz artists, including Glen Moore, Darrell Grant, Thara Memory, Rob Scheps and Alan Jones. She performs regularly with the Oregon
Symphony Pops and Portland Center Stage, and has appeared at regional and international jazz festivals, sharing the stage with reknowned jazz and R & B acts such as Dave Douglas and The Temptations. She has toured internationally with the groups Dub Squad and Flatland, opening for legends like Herbie Hancock, Steel Pulse and
Third World, and can be heard on numerous CDs, including her own quartet's latest album, released by Diatic records in the fall of 2007.
As an educator she runs a full studio of students in addition to leading improvisation seminars and adjudicating Solo & Ensemble festivals around the Northwest.
Currently, Mary Sue's other performing ensembles include the Andrew Oliver Sextet, Paxselin Quartet, Lily Wilde Orchestra, Pete Peterson Big Band, Music Population Orchestra, Xevi Nova, Cubaneo, Quadraphonnes, Swamp Cactus, and The Groove.
Tim Jensen is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and band leader. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he earned his bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University, and shortly thereafter traveled the U.S. with the national touring companies of Cats, Aspects of Love, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.
After freelancing in New York City from 1992-1995, Tim moved to Portland, Oregon where he has appeared on over twenty five recordings, including Gino Vannelli's Canto, Pink Martini's Hang on Little Tomato and Gary Hobbs' Of My Times. He performs with the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, The Bobby Torres Ensemble and several big bands in addition to leading his own various ensembles, and has also backed up many artists including Julie Andrews, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney, Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole, The Manhattan Transfer, The Ojays, Mary Wilson, Dianna Reeves, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Bobby Vinton, Frankie Vallie and Wayne Newton.
In 2001 Tim released his self-titled debut CD to excellent reviews. A Mind For the Scenery (Origin Records) followed, also to rave reviews. He is currently recording his third CD.
From Portland, Oregon, Scott Hall is a saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator, and winner of the 1994 North American Saxophone Alliance Young Jazz Artist competition. He has performed and recorded with a myriad of renowned musicians on both the local and international scene, including Jon Faddis, Arturo Sandoval, Peter Erskine, Jessica Williams, the Temptations, Jane Montheit the Oregon Symphony, Bobby Torres, Pepé and the Bottle Blondes, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Alan Jones, Randy Porter and David Friesen. With 15 years of teaching experience at grade school through college levels, Scott has been on the jazz faculty at Portland State University since 1997. He maintains an active teaching and performing schedule in the Northwest.
With his innovative style, Tim continues to gain notable recognition as one of the premier saxophone players in the Pacific Northwest, mastering the baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones. Tim began his professional career after receiving the Outstanding Soloist Award at the Berkley Jazz Festival in 1982, writing and arranging for the northwest R & B funk band The Linn Sisters, and co-leading the ten-piece powerhouse Body and Soul, a popular Motown cover band with whom he stayed until 1996. From then until 1999, Tim worked with the blues and R & B band Linda Hornbuckle, and has since shifted focus to his solo endeavors. He performs with The Swingline Cubs & Portland's premier soul and horn band, The Sandin Wilson Group, and also serves as the Jazz Band Instructor for the Riverdale High School and woodwind instructor for the Riverdale School District. He resides with his wife in Portland, Oregon.
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Born in Chico, California, trumpeter Rich Cooper attended Sacramento and San Fernando State Colleges. While in Los Angeles, he studied with Dalton Smith, who introduced him to Stan Kenton, an event which served to spark Rich's professional career. In addition to the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Rich performed with Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Harry James, Louis Bellson and Toshiko Akiyoshi, and subbed with the Terry Gibbs Big Band and Bill Holman Band.
After moving to Las Vegas and back, Rich worked extensively as a studio musician, recording for television shows (including Scooby Doo and several other Hanna Barbera cartoons), performing with Broadway shows, and traveling as lead trumpet for Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bette Midler, and Helen Reddy. He has also traveled in the backup bands for Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley, and can be heard on recordings by Prince and Jermain Jackson. Rich has resided in Portland since 1985.
For the past 17 years Paul Mazzio has been an active freelance trumpet
player in the Portland area. His early training was with the
University of North Texas One O'Clock Band and international touring with
the Woody Herman Orchestra, playing the jazz chair in both bands. In
1986 he toured internationally with blues legend Delbert McClinton.
Paul has numerous credits in the areas of recording, show work and
jazz events, plus recording credits which include Gino Vinelli, Tom Grant, Randy
Porter, Gary Hobbs, Alan Jones, Ben Wolfe and many more. Show
credits include Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Tony Bennett and
numerous national touring broadway productions. He has also been
active as a private instructor, clinician and adjudicator for the past 25
years.
Trumpeter Matt Carr received both his B.A. and M.M. from University of Nevada at Las Vegas , where he later joined the faculty as an adjunct professor and taught Jazz History and History of Rock and Roll. He spent three years performing with the Lou Elias Relief Orchestra at the Tropicana, MGM Grand and Bally's, and spent thirteen years as the house trumpet player at the Imperial Palace Hotel.
Matt has played with Trip Tonight, Latin Project, and Latin Persuasion, and currently performs with 5 Guys Named Moe, the Bobby Torres Ensemble and Ramsey Embick and Los Montunos.
Born in Miami, composer and trumpeter Farnell Newton attended Philadelphia's High School of Creative and Performing Arts as well as the Denver School of the Arts. He is the nephew of both saxophonist/arranger Conny Murray and Sunny Murray, "the father of avant-garde drumming."
Farnell later attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied music performance with an emphasis in jazz with Wendell Logan and trumpeter Kenny Davis. While there, Farnell performed with musicians like Aretha Franklin, James Moody, Muhal Richard Abrams and Hugh Ragin.
Now residing in Portland, Oregon, Farnell performs regularly with Klezmocracy, Mel Brown, Thara Memory, Cana Son, Conjunto Allegre and Darrell Grant to name a few. Farnell has recently recorded his debut CD, co-led with pianist Marcus Reynolds.
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David Bryan is a trombonist and teacher very active in Portland’s musical community for the past three decades. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he lived briefly in the shadow of Fenway Park (go Red Sox!) before moving to Milwaukie, Oregon. David has a long-standing love of big band jazz, and has played with most of the top local bands in recent memory. While in college he became the lead trombonist with the Woody Hite Big Band, and continues to proudly enjoy that association. He has also performed as lead and solo trombonist on many Norman Leyden big band specials, most recently for Normans’s 90th Birthday Concert! Playing lead trombone with the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band has been another personal musical highlight.
David is also devoted to classical trombone as a member of the orchestras for the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre, and he has performed and recorded with the Oregon Symphony. He has also performed with major symphony orchestras in Honolulu and Seattle, and in the summer performs as principal trombonist with the Oregon Coast Music Festival. David enjoys playing early music with the Oregon Renaissance Band, chamber music with the Columbia Brass and large brass ensemble music with the Big Horn Brass, which he also conducts. David is inspired by the music students at Westview High School, where he is the jazz band director and assistant director of bands.
Portland-based jazz trombonist John Moak has performed with many notable jazz artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Doc Severinsen, Jack Sheldon, Dave Brubeck, Nat Adderly, Randy Brecker, Diane Schurr, Branford Marsalis, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Louie Bellson, Pete Christlieb, Herbie Mann, Rosemary Clooney, Ken Peplowski, and James Moody.
John has performed as a member of the Louie Bellson Big Band and Octet as well as the Clark Terry Quintet. Most recently, he has performed as a jazz artist and clinician as well as backing up Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Michael Amanti, Deana Martin, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Goulet, Shirley Jones, Tommy Tune, Michael W. Smith and Bob Newhart. He has also recently performed with the touring productions of Annie, The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hairspray, Chicago, and Peter Pan.
John has been a winner of the International Trombone Association's Frank Rosolino and Kai Winding Jazz Competitions, the Southern Comfort National Dixieland Championship and a finalist in the Cognac-Hennessey Jazz Search.
From Portland, Oregon, trombonist and Portland Jazz Orchestra co-founder Lars Campbell attended the University of Northern Colorado and Portland State University, where he received a degree in Jazz Performance. Trained in both the jazz and classical repertoires, he is a member of the innovative young jazz trio Chopslaughter, as well as the Bobby Torres Ensemble, Pepé and the Bottle Blondes, the Nu Shooz Orchestra and several Portland area big bands, and performs as well with the Oregon Symphony and Oregon Ballet Theater orchestras. He twice attended the Banff International Jazz Workshop, where he studied with Dave Douglas and Tony Malaby, and in 2001 performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
His discography includes appearances on Pepé and the Bottle Blondes' Pambrosia, Pink Martini's Hang on Little Tomato, Gordon Lee Big Band's Flying Dream, Tim Bryson Project's Playground and Tim Jensen's most recent CD (in production).
Also a composer, he was recently commissioned by the Beaumont Middle School Jazz Bands to arrange two charts for big band.
Born and raised in Portland, Doug returned in 1983, after pursuing studies at the University of Nevada-Reno and a six-year stint working and playing in the Reno area.
He has performed with the Oregon, Columbia and Vancouver Symphonies, the Woody Hite Big Band, the Carlton Jackson-Dave Mills Big Band and Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd, and has an extensive history of show experience, having worked with Peggy Fleming, Manhattan Transfer, Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole, Don Rickles and Norman Leydon, among others. Doug was the drummer in the "cowboy jazz" band Los Cowtones for four years, and is a self-employed auto mechanic.
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Born in Longview, Washington in 1962, Alan was raised in Portland, Oregon where at the age of 6 he began playing the drums and guitar. In the fertile artistic climate of 1970's Portland he spent his early years listening outside of jazz club windows to such musical greats as Jim Pepper, Mel Brown, and Count Dutch. In fact, it was the organist from Amsterdam, Count Dutch, who after hearing the 16 year old at a jam session hired Alan to work with him on the road. It was a collaboration that was his first training ground and lasted until Dutch's untimely death three years later. Moving to Boston in 1980 he graduated from Berklee College of Music and spent 2 summers at the Banff Center for the Fine Arts in Canada.
New York City in 1984 when Alan arrived was, as always, a busy and exciting city for a young jazz musician. Alan quickly began organizing jam sessions at the Brooklyn apartment building he shared with Jim Pepper and bassist Ben Wolf. Through his association with Pepper, Alan came into contact with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry Elvin Jones, Ed Blackwell, Jaco Pastorius, and many others. By 1987 Alan had made a number of recordings and was working up and down the coast as well as in the city. Following were 4 years of extensive touring throughout the U.S. with The David Friesen Trio and in Canada with Kenny Wheeler.
Alan next moved to Europe, splitting his home between Vienna and Paris. He has since enjoyed outstanding success appearing in Europe's leading jazz festivals and touring in England, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, The Czech Republic, etc.
Alan happily composes soundtracks for film, dance and theater as well as writing for his own Jazz ensemble THE ALAN JONES SEXTET. He is very much in demand as a clinician and private instructor while continuing an active world-wide recording and touring schedule.
For over 30 years, Tom Wakeling has put his bass to work throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, most recently with saxophone legend Lee Konitz at the Mallorca, Spain Jazz Festival. His bass versatility has supported a wide range of artists including Arturo Sandoval, Mel Torme, Charlie Rouse, Diane Schuur, Ernie Watts, Carl Fontana, Javon Jackson, Don Braden, Della Reese and many others in jazz and pop music alike.
Tom has played in the orchestras of national touring shows such as Cats, A Chorus Line, Damn Yankees and the Joffrey Ballet. In addition, he has served as a guest artist at the Stanford University, New West (Canada), Centrum/Port Townsend and the Mel Brown Jazz Workshops.
Tom's first CD as a leader is entitled The Tom Wakeling-Brad Turner Quartet: Live at the Cotton Club. He can also be heard on recordings with pianist Lynne Arriale, singer Nancy King, pianist Steve Christofferson and many others. Tom has been featured on CBC Radio Canada's Jazzbeat and he continues to be a popular guest artist at music festivals throughout North America. Wakeling will release two new CDs in March 2008.
A native of Portland, pianist Dan Gaynor studied at Mt. Hood Community
College and Portland State University with teachers including Randy
Porter, Dave Barduhn, Darrell Grant and Glen Moore. He has been
gigging professionally since the age of 17 with musicians such as
Nancy King, Kelly Joe Phelps, Alan Jones, Glen Moore, Bob Mover,
Lawrence Williams, Esperanza Spalding, Rob Scheps, Robert Moore, John
Stowell, Ingrid Jensen, David Friesen, Ron Steen, Mel Brown, "Sweet
Baby" James Benton, Chris Conrade and many others. As an accompanist,
Dan has performed with performers including poets, painters, clowns,
actors and singers of every level. He appears on Oasis by David Valdez
& Pere Soto, both releases by Barbara Lusch (alongside Bobby Torres,
Reinhardt Melz, Rob Thomas, Essiet Essiet, Scott Steed and others) and
on Saffron Robe by Chopslaughter.
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Charley Gray, co-founder and director of the Portland Jazz Orchestra, is the Director of Jazz Studies at Portland State University, where he has taught since 1988. Having received his M.M. in Jazz Arranging and Composition from North Texas State University, his charts have been performed by the University of North Texas One O'Clock Big Band, the Kicks Band, Terrel Stafford, Dan Faehnle, Nancy King and the Pioneer Brass Quintet, among several other jazz artists and academic institutions around the U.S.
As a bassist, he has performed with the Bobby Torres Ensemble, the Kicks Band, the Carlton Jackson-Dave Mills Big Band, Latin Expression and Pepé and the Bottle Blondes, and can be heard on the Kicks Band's self-titled album and Gordon Lee's Flying Dream.
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