Lou Abbott, Percussion, Pompano Beach, FL
Lou Abbott is a multi talented guy. He does drums, vocals, piano, guitar, and is a songwriter and arranger. He holds degrees in Jazz, Commercial Music, and Percussion Performance. Lou has appeared with: Theodore Bikel, Carol Channing, Mandy Patinkin, Jackie Mason, Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, and the Woody Herman Orchestra, to name just a few.
Clipper Anderson, Bass
Clipper has spent the last several years building his reputation as one of the finest jazz bass players in the Pacific Northwest. He was described in Seattle's premier jazz magazine Earshot as being "...a player for the connoisseur to savor." The list of recordings on which Clipper appears is both long and impressive, including several with award winning Seattle jazz vocalist, Greta Matassa. He has recently performed with jazz artists, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Terry Gibbs, James Moody, Peter Erskine, Bob Berg, Jack Jones, and Buddy DeFranco.
As a seasoned educator, Clipper has taught privately at Spokane Falls Community College, Eastern Washington University in Cheney, and numerous clinics and festivals at schools and colleges. For the past nine years, Anderson has been involved in various groups participating in a program called "Music For Youth."
Steve Barnes, Vocal Jazz & Theory
Growing up in Ontario, Steve composed his first few dozen pieces at
age 6. He has served as pianist and musical director for many stage
productions, and has taken directorial roles in a number of vocal
groups including Western Washington University's Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
In 2006, he received his B.A. in Music Education from WWU.
Nicholas Biello, Saxophone
Saxophonist and composer Nicholas Biello is an active performer and educator in the New York Metropolitan area. Nicholas began playing music at a young age under the guidance of his father. After listening to the recordings of Charlie Parker, Nicholas was inspired to pursue a career in jazz. During the course of his collegiate education, Nicholas was afforded opportunities to study with and perform with jazz legends such as Jackie McLean, Slide Hampton, and Jimmy Heath. He has been a featured artist at the Pescara Jazz Festival in Italy as well as the Hartford and New Haven Jazz Festivals.
See his YouTube page.
Nick Biello Quartet playing John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" live at Pizza Lauretano in Bethel, CT, January 2008.
Darin Clendenin, Piano
Darin Clendenin grew up in Portland Or. He played w/Local greats Leroy Vinneger, Nancy King and Ron Steen. He has recorded w/Dave Weckl, Paul Mazzio, Jake Kot and Eric Marienthal. He moved to Seattle 7 years ago and became a favorite of vocalists like Edmonia Jarrett, Ernestine Anderson and Greta Matassa.
Theodore DeCorso, Artistic Director, Clarinet, Saxophone
Theodore DeCorso has performed extensively as clarinetist and saxophonist. He has appeared in solo and chamber recitals throughout the US and Europe including recitals at the International Clarinet Congress in London and Seattle and in Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. He was clarinet concerto soloist with the Arctic Chamber Orchestra on tour in the People's Republic of China and was the soprano saxophonist for the sound track of "Make Prayers to the Raven," a PBS TV documentary which was broadcast worldwide. He received a Master's Degree in Clarinet Performance from the Julliard School and a Ph.D. in Music from the University of Connecticut. He is currently Music Director of the Sun Coast Symphony Orchestra in Clearwater, Florida.
Ed Donohue, Trumpet
Ed Donohue, an active Seattle area free-lance jazz trumpet player, directs jazz bands and wind ensemble at Port Angeles Junior High School. Prior to his work at Blaine Jazz, Ed for 20 years was the featured guest trumpet, jazz and improvisation faculty at the University of Alaska Summer Arts Camp.
Bob Gray, Band Director
Trombonist, Bob Gray, is an active educator and performer in the Blaine and Bellingham areas. He received a B.A. in Music Education from Western Washington University and his M. Ed. from City University. He has been the Director of Music at Blaine High School and Middle School for over 25 years. In addition to encouraging the love of music in his students, Bob plays an excellent trombone in the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra and in other groups as time permits. He has been instrumental to the success of this Jazz Camp and is much loved by its participants.
Randy Halberstadt, Piano
Randy Halberstadt has been a major figure on the Pacific Northwest jazz scene for many years. A multi-dimensional pianist, he is equally at home playing be-bop, Latin, down-home blues, mainstream, free and eclectic jazz.
He has performed with Herb Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Buddy de Franco, Pete Christlieb, Bobby Shew, Joe LaBarbera, and many others.
On the strength of his large repertoire, great sense of swing, and acute listening skills, Randy has established himself as a first-call accompanist for jazz vocalists. He has performed with Sheila Jordan, Kevin Mahogany, Marlena Shaw, and Ernestine Anderson.
In 1997 Randy performed with the innovative Jay Clayton at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He is featured on Jay's 1997 recording Circle Dancing.
While Halberstadt's own recordings showcase his formidable pianistic skills, they also establish him as a first-rate composer. Inner Voice features Randy's compositions in the jazz trio format, which range from blues to Latin to polymetric. Clockwork presents Randy's beautiful songs with lyrics (also written by Randy) and features five of the Northwest's best vocalists. Jay Clayton's remarkable gift for conveying the true emotion of a ballad is in evidence here, as well as her stunning prowess as a scat singer.
More recently, Randy has begun to demonstrate his talents as an arranger. He arranged most of the music for Seattle vocalist Janis Mann's recordings, "A Little Moonlight," "Lost In His Arms," and "So Many Stars" and for Greta Matassa's recording "Live at Bake's Place."
A full professor at the prestigious Cornish College of the Arts (in Seattle), Randy teaches jazz theory, piano, and ear training. He also teaches privately.
For further info on Halberstadt, visit his website.
Larry Holloway, Bass
Larry Holloway is a monster talent of the biggest of upright basses. His sound is generous and irrepressible. A regular on the Northwest and national jazz scene, Larry was recently heard performing with "STARDUST" in Blaine.
Several years ago, Larry began tuning his bass in fifths, an ambitious technique pioneered by his mentor, the great jazz bassist Red Mitchell. This gives him a much expanded range on the instrument, allowing him to grind the low notes even lower, and sing on the high notes with amazing drive and clarity.
Larry is definitely at the top of his field (or bottom, if you're a bass player), and much in demand. He is a Pony Boy Records recording artist and can be heard on his latest release with master guitarist Christopher Woitach. Other recordings are with the The Big Bad Groove Society , a popular contemporary sextet of big band road alumni and Lance Buller and the Monarchs, a "good times" swing band.
Greg Hopkins, Trumpet
Internationally recognized as an arranger, composer, and performer, Professor Hopkins is a beloved member of the Berklee Jazz Composition Department. For a detailed bio see berklee.edu
"I think you have to bring yourself into the music and not just replicate other people's music. That's my whole philosophy. I'll assimilate all I can about Duke Ellington's music, for instance. And I'll try to write some things in his style. Not steal, but borrow. Then I'll let that sit in my system and figure out how I want to use it. I want to create my own language. Some of his sounds, textures, or vocabulary might come out in my music. But my ideas will come out, too."
David Keim was born and raised in Bellingham (a true "Bellinghamster").
Early mentors were Nick Bussard (Fairhaven Jr. High School, and later Whatcom Symphony Orchestra) and Ralph Pauley (Bellingham High). Attended the highly regarded US Navy School of Music B. A. from Western WA University. Also attended North Texas State University which has long been considered the top big band (or lab band) jazz school. 1974-1976 Stan Kenton Orchestra. From the late '70s thru the mid '90s he freelanced in Seattle, playing numerous shows, e.g., Tony Bennett, Bob Hope, Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, etc. David also plays with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Brazilian-American Composer
Miguel Kertsman was born in Recife, Brazil, and grew up in a European home, surrounded by traditional Western classical music as well as the multi-ethnic music and rhythms of Brazil.
In 1984 he was awarded The Oscar Peterson Jazz Masters Incentive Award, and The Berklee Professional Music Scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, from where he graduated cum laude in record time in 1986. He studied conducting with Mo. Attilio Poto (Arturo Toscanini's protégé and Serge Koussevitsky's assistant in Tanglewood) at the Boston Conservatory, and composition with Bela Bartok's pupil, Jeronimas Kacinkas; later with Prof. Stanley Wolfe at the Juilliard School in New York.
Early performances of his chamber music and jazz works were presented at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, by the Knitting Factory, and BargeMusic in New York, while more recently two of Kertsman's symphonic works and his flute concerto saw performances, live radio broadcasts, and recordings with conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and as soloist Vienna Philharmonic's principal flutist Wolfgang Schulz in Austria and Slovakia in 2004 and 2005 - the commission of a second flute concerto by Marina Piccinini, and the Austrian Flute Society premiered at Vienna's Konzerthaus in late 2005.
Kertsman's two short interactive works for children, "Fidelio" and "The Wandering Troubadour" for children's opera were premiered in 2005 on the Opera Viva series at the Herbert von Karajan Centrum in Vienna, and subsequently saw performances at the Zurich Opera, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, and the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany. In 2006 his work "Stop It" (Give Peace a Chance), was premiered in Chicago.
Upcoming performances include events in the US, Japan, Brazil, and Europe.
Martin Kuuskmann, Bassoon Soloist
Estonian-born bassoon virtuoso Martin Kuuskmann is dedicated to redefine the bassoon as a top caliber solo instrument. His commitment to contemporary music has led to the premieres of several bassoon concerti written especially for him. He has appeared worldwide as soloist with numerous leading orchestras and festivals, including the New York Philharmonic and the Macao Orchestra. He has collaborated with jazz luminaries such as Joe Zawinul, John Patitucci, Gerry Mulligan. The New York Times recently praised Kuuskmann's playing as "Kuuskmann offered virtuoso technique and superhuman breath control..." Kuuskmann is a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music. For more info, please visit martinkuuskmann.com
Greta Matassa, Vocalist
In the Pacific Northwest, where she built her career, Greta Matassa wins wide acclaim. Four times, the readers of "Earshot," the Seattle jazz magazine, have voted her the best jazz vocalist in the the Northwest and she is currently nominated for the award this year.
Justin Melland Composer Justin Melland's ability to rapidly create rich, poignant music and his masterful command over a wide array of musical styles has quickly placed him among today's most sought after film composers. After finishing his Master's Degree in music composition at UCLA and UC Berkeley, one of his first composing positions was to write an original score for "The Death of Kevin Carter, Casualty of the Bang Bang Club" which was nominated in 2006 for an Oscar® by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is distributed by HBO.
With over 30 feature and documentary film credits to his name, Justin has become known for his wonderfully eclectic scores and his constant use of LA's finest studio musicians, which always elevate his music to the highest level of quality. This has made him the favorite of a growing number of award winning producers in both the live action and documentary film worlds which has created a very demanding but deeply rewarding composing environment.
In addition to his very full film composing schedule, he has also written the scores for seven successful television series: "Live Through This" (Fuse), "Inside" (National Geographic/PBS), "Undercover History" (National Geographic), "City Confidential" (A&E), "Frontline/WORLD" (PBS, Discovery/Times), The Human Weapon (History) and "Snapped" (oxygen).
Jon Mutchler, Piano
Jon Mutchler is one of the festival's long term instructors, teaching jazz piano, combo, and theory.
He has taught piano for over 25 years and is the house pianist at Semiahmoo Resort where he can be heard on Saturday nights. He has also produced 7 CDs of solo piano music, all available on Amazon.
He has a BMus degree in jazz studies and classical piano performance from Western Washington University and earned his MDiv from Regent College in Vancouver, Canada.
He is proud to be the son of jazz education legend, the late Dr. Ralph D. Mutchler ("RDM") and is raising a family of 7 children (several have attended the Blaine Jazz Festival) with his wife Diane. He is also the founding pastor of the Ferndale Alliance Church where he has served over 20 years and is an elected member of the Ferndale City Council.
In his free time (?!?!?) he trains for and participates in triathlons.
Christopher Woitach, Jazz Guitarist
Christopher is a jazz guitarist and composer, currently residing in Portland, OR. Mr. Woitach studied composition with David Borden and Bob Keefe in Ithaca, NY, and jazz guitar with Jim Hall in New York, NY. He has had a twenty four year career of composition, performance and teaching, working with many innovative players, including a year with cellist Hank Roberts.
Lev Zhurbin Hailed by Billboard Magazine as "one of New York's fastest-rising composers and instrumentalists", LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) stands at the forefront of his generation as the premiere bridge between the world's musical cultures. Ljova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He divides his time between performing as a violist in diverse groups ranging from his own LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, to string quartets, jazz combos and Gypsy bands; studying and arranging music for Yo-Yo Ma, Jay-Z and others; and composing original music for film, TV, dance, and the concert stage.
Ljova is the author of more than 70 compositions for classical, jazz, and folk ensembles, as well as scores to four feature and over a dozen short films. He is co-founder of Mediant Music, a new company specializing in music for advertising and media. In 2005, Ljova was one of six composers invited to participate in the Sundance Institute's Film Composers Lab. His music has been licensed by HBO, PBS, BBC, CNBC, and NHK networks, among many other independent projects. In 2007, Ljova worked as assistant to composer Osvaldo Golijov on his score to Francis Ford Coppola's film "Youth Without Youth", to which Ljova also contributed an original track, "Middle Village". In 2008, Ljova was guest faculty at The Banff Centre in Canada, focusing equally on composition, arranging, and viola performance. Presently, he serves as Musical Director for Morphoses / The Wheeldon Company.
With his main performing ensemble, LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, Ljova has appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (as part of the Sundance Film Festival), New York's Museum of Modern Art, Joe's Pub and other venues. The Ensemble released its debut CD, "MNEMOSYNE", in 2008, and is the featured ensemble on "Cupcake," a short film which debuted at Tribeca Film Festival.
Ljova released his acclaimed solo debut recording, VJOLA: WORLD ON FOUR STRINGS, on Kapustnik Records, in 2006. Previously, he has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on the bestselling Sony Classical CD "Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon", and with The Andalucian Dogs on the Deutsche Grammophon CD "Ayre", featuring the music of Luciano Berio and Osvaldo Golijov. (Both CDs were nominated for several Grammy awards.)
